Living in Ford's Colony Williamsburg Virginia

[@dragonson72]

You miss spoke Sam Patrick Henry Mall is in Newport News, not Hampton

[@samsansalone]

Ha! Sorry about that, glad you mentioned it. I must have been picturing Coliseum Mall when I was saying Patrick Henry.

[@danielstevexc]

Great video. We are moving there this summer and we did look at Kingsmill and Governors Land. Loved Kingsmill but our wait time wasn’t long enough since there are fewer homes. More selection in Fords Colony and with little research we jumped in. Moving from Northern VA so it’s way less expensive, but still not cheap. We are retirees, half anyway, one of us will commute for a while. Enjoy your videos.

[@thefortunefitness7455]

Patrick Henry Mall is in Newport News and its no worse (probably better) than most malls not named Lynnhaven lol

[@anthonyrecchia4444]

Yay! Excited to see another Williamsburg video.

[@samsansalone]

Yes!!!! And more coming!

[@dawnswan1035]

You are spot on with Ford's Colony cons. We have been looking for two years, and the houses with the box, connected to another box, after little box rooms is maddening! If you find a great house, the house placement can be wonky such as the front of your house faces the garage of your neighbors, or a house squeezed into the rear of the pie shaped lot. Then there are the backyards, if you can find a true backyard. These can be a 3' strip of grass across the back of the house, with the rest of the yard dropping off and unusable, or it slopes straight up into a heavily wooded lot. One con you didn't list, is with red hot housing market, many of the houses are not in good condition; seriously overgrown bushes, rotting soffits, moss and in some cases tiny mushrooms growing on the north facing roof, and lots and lots of musty smelling houses. I guess thought the HOA would have some guidelines regarding exterior upkeep. So disappointing. We've decided to look in Govenor's Landing and Kingsmill and see if we have better luck. Thanks for your reviews, they are very helpful!

[@samsansalone]

Hey Dawn! Appreciate your kind words - I haven't seen the same as you have as far as overgrown foliage, etc for the most part, though I have seen some houses that have looked like that. The Fords Colony HOA does have guidelines on landscaping, as building new there is also a requirement for landscaping depending on the neighborhood built in. The houses are awesome though can be a maze but there are also some great builders in Fords Colony that design quite nice floor plans. So it really does depend for me. I like Fords Colony for the clubs and neighborhood feel along with the amenities for the price, though I also like Governor's Land and Kingsmill for other reasons. Governor's Land's primary downside keeps ending up being the up-front fee of $30K to get into the community. Anyway, thanks for your feedback so much! Best of luck to you in your house search, as well!

[@BethCollier31]

Miss Dawn, you are so correct! Lived in FC for 10 years without any real problems but when I put my house on the market, that's when the challenges began. First, the HOA Covenants and architectural review requirements kicked in, and their are no "grandfather" items. If your home was built 30 yrs ago, you are stuck bringing them up to the latest Covenants and this can be quite time consuming and expensive and you won't necessarily get that money back upon selling. Second, be prepared for a few spiteful neighbors to come after you to chop down trees, take down a fence, mitigate and other issue before you move. If they get the HOA involved, the HOA will send you a letter stating what must be done or they will hold up the closing on the sale of your home. The board of the directors is known as the board of no. They are not diplomatic empathetic people. So although Sam is correct about the amenities and nice aspects of living in Williamsburg, please do your own thorough research about living in FC. Do not rely on comments from realtors. Thus neighborhood has an abundance of cold hearted people. Sorry, but I actually lived and experienced it. I know of 3 families who sold in less than 5 years because they could not stand the gossipy difficult neighbors and the pressures from the HOA. Keep looking. Port Anne is a smaller but better neighborhood. Good luck

[@BethCollier31]

An honest review! Thank you. Sometimes I feel like a lone wolf. But I lived there for 10 years so I know what you say is true! This is not q neighborhood for the faint of heart. You u need a strong constitution and deep pockets to live there. There are drainage problems everywhere and once you buy, you are stuck with the problems and they are your responsibility regardless that you did nothing on your property to cause the problems. There are many spiteful unreasonable neighbors and they will walk around looking over your property and tell you what they think you should be doing and will readily report you to the Board or HOA. This is not a neighborhood of nice people. So as long as you know what you are getting into, take care and have plenty of money for landscaping, tree trimming, culvert maintenance, drainage problems, insect control on and on and on. Good luck

[@2good4uyt10]

id like to say it is one of the best places to sneak into and go bass fishing in the town

[@computerconvenience]

Great video

[@prone2101]

Would I have to pay a tax on my vehicle every year living in Va? Any info? Thanks!

[@dragonson72]

Hey Sam can you review Kingsmill next

[@samsansalone]

I'll do Kingsmill, for sure!

[@BethCollier31]

Hey Sam, you live in FC for a few years then come back and tell us how you liked it or not.

[@rtp1968]

These are my style of homes.

[@corvusglaive3805]

Really feeling the intro music. What’s the cost of living in fords colony?

[@samsansalone]

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[@rdvaughan70]

fords colony,,, RICH FOLK COMMUNITY!!!! WHOA!!! i was a contractor there back in the late 90s 2000s, its like buying a ferrari, if you ask how much YOU CANT AFFORD IT lol

[@samsansalone]

Ha! Well I will say there are some spots that are a bit less, but you're right. It can get quite pricey. Small word that you worked there!

[@rdvaughan70]

@@samsansalone they had some serious rules for contractors...they gave us sh....they had issues with us taking our shirts of while sweating and working, wanted us to quiet or air compressor, oh and heaven help you if you work past 4pm, even kings mill wasnt that bad,the reason williamsburg has such lower taxxes is the tourist industry and very high dollar people living there, but bless tham, them busch gardens anhauwseir executives gota live somewhere

[@BethCollier31]

Mr Vaughan, I lived there for 10 years. The HOA is demanding and the Covenants are insanely detailed and extensive. The Board is unsympathetic AND YET there are still homes in disrepair and landscaping can't keep up with the drainage problems along with some very unreasonable spiteful neighbors. Believe me, it was a blessing to get out of there altho I enjoyed living in my extremely well built home. Once you leave some of those neighbors, you feel like you can breath again.

[@rdvaughan70]

@@BethCollier31 they are crazed out there. let the place fall under its authatarian rule

[@rdvaughan70]

@@BethCollier31 i used to think kingsmill was rich snotty assholes til i went to fords colony

[@josiahphillips2303]

Great area!

[@samsansalone]

Yeah I really enjoy this area, as well as a few others near Ford's Colony.

[@zunedog31]

God, $0.84 property taxes in Williamsburg. I love Newport News but it is obviously not as nice as Williamsburg and tax is $1.22!

[@samsansalone]

I know, right?! I love it!

[@BethCollier31]

If you can afford to live in Ford's Colony then you can afford to pay the property taxes. I mean, seriously, the HOAs and the costs of continual hoke upkeep including what the HOA and Covenants demand and all the additional special assessments do not deter you from Ford's Colony but the property taxes are a concern? Please. As far as Newport News, most of the homes there are cheaper so you are paying less even considering the higher property tax.

[@zunedog31]

@@BethCollier31 Err.. I was saying how cheap the taxes there are compared to NN, which isn't as nice.