Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Ch..ch..ch..ch..changes!

After a long period of waiting in limbo (and the resultant not knowing where I'd be living a few months from now) for news of a possible fantastic job opportunity with my company in Virginia, I finally found out today precisely what the position entails, and I accepted it without hesitation. Fortunately my wife and I had discussed it at length beforehand, despite not knowing the full job description, and she's fully on-board.

I will be in charge of routing and switching for the WAN (wide area network) and support LAN (local area network) at HHMI's new research facility in Ashburn, VA. I'm really excited about the opportunity and am looking forward to all the learning I'll need to do before I start and after I begin. I'm sure the excitement will wear off when it's time to start packing, though, as this will my first major move since 1995 and the first since having acquired a wife, family, and house full of possessions.

Congrats! Bay Area to VA? Man, you'll love those housing prices...

Yes, that's one of the reasons we even considered this cross country move. While the prices are definitely lower, I'm still looking at about an hour-ish commute to work from the more affordable (i.e. under $350k -- and that's really stretching it) houses.

Sounds like a su..su..su..su..suite offer. Congrats

Congratulations and warmest wishes, Peter!

Congratulations, Peter! Certainly an exciting opportunity for you.

Congratulations, and all the best, Peter! Virginia is much closer to Cleveland than SF, so I expect more visits to your in-laws with a side trip to hear the Rockets.

Not sure where Ashburn is, but here in N. Virginia (Falls Church, Fairfax County) prices are ridiculously high. With $350K you cannot even purchase a nice 3 BR condo.

Congratulations on your new job, welcome to VA and good luck with your house search!!

Congrats, Peter!

Bren R.

Ashburn is in Loudoun Co. on the 7 a few miles east of Leesburg. We explored the area back in January and would naturally like to live as close to there as possible. House prices will naturally dictate my commute time, however.

Ajax,

We were already planning on being in Cleveland this Christmas independent of the job news. And you can bet you'll be seeing more of me. At only a short day's drive away, Cleveland is now the place that has the closest family.

Congrats Peter. I just went through a mini-move and job change (although the two are not related). Being single, I have very little junk to move. Still, it was a hassle, though. I can only imagine trying to move a family across the country. My move was only twenty minutes away. Made numerous trips in my car (still am). Getting a new job is exciting and nerve-wracking. But change is good! Again, congratulations and good luck!

Yeah Peter, looks like you're about right on those home prices. Took a quick look and this one fit; but certainly no bargain.

You know you're welcome here anytime, Peter.

Congratulations Peter! It sounds like a good opportunity. I
hope all goes well for you and the family with the move and your acclimation to the new job. Moving is stressful on the whole family even the little ones though with them you don't see it all the time.
Best,
oz

Congratulation, good luck and Godspeed! Does this mean more or less chances of a Texas visit?

Pete - congratulations!!!

John K is correct, you will find the price of housing in that area to be stunning. I expect you have already used the internet to do some real estate research. The good news is that the taxes are surprisingly low (especially in relation to the California).

We had a sprawling training facility in Leesburg and I made several trips to conduct contract training for our Sales Reps. Got to know some of the staffers there. A few of them lived in West Virginia - might be something to consider.

Anyhow, enjoy the job as it sounds like a winner.

Ray

I echo those congratulations. This is for u.

Peter,

Great news, dude...New job, new home, new town, a chance to start over somewhat .

Trading one coast for the other...sun for snow? J/K

Good luck on the house hunt...always a challenge but interesting to say the least.

Enjoy!

Best regards to you and your family.

WhatFurrer

Peter,
Good Luck on your new job and the opportunity awaiting you and your family. Dennis and I will Miss you especially if we need help with our BFD calibration. Good Luck..
Lee

$350K - a nice 3BR condo? Where?

My wife and I sold our 624 sq. ft. one bedroom apartment for $340 last year. My neighbor (who is in D.C., not Virginia - so there is a difference) just sold her 800 sq. ft. one bedroom for a whopping $525!

Ashburn should be a little cheaper. It's really quite nice out there. You'll be very close to Horse Country (Virginia raises more horses within its borders than every state in the union, save two - KY and TX), which is gorgeous country. In addition, there are some really nice golf courses, crime is virtually non-existent, and UVA is a short commute for your kids when they get to be college age.

Welcome home, my friend. I've spent my whole life here, and don't see myself leaving the area any time soon.

Thanks for the wishes everyone! This job will likely mean less traveling for me, so my jet-setting days might be over soon.

Hi Adrien, that was my point: it is hard to find a nice large condo for $350K in DC area, let alone a dettached house!! However, Ashburn is two hours away from DC with no traffic. As such, Peter can find a good deal for a house out there, as long as he does not need to come over to DC for work every day. House prices in N. Virginia suburbs close to DC are so high now. The newly built one-bedroom condos around where I live are sold for upper 400K nowdays!!

Congratulations and best wishes. I'd be interested to hear a story or two on adjusting to live from the Bay Area to the South.

jr

I think you just wanted to move closer to Axiom for the snowmobiling get together this winter! That looks like a beautiful place to live and work - congratulations on the new position!

Two years ago Ian and I had the floors sanded and refinished in our house - we had to move EVERYTHING out. It was a very good exercise in getting rid of clutter!

Congratulations.
Packing, moving and unpacking is real work. Try to schedule some fun time for the whole family to make it a little easier.

Congratulations Peter - that's fantastic! New responsibilities, new challenges, new location, and new pay!! Pretty exciting. I took the "virtual tour" of the facility - what a beautiful place to go to work at.

I can't beleive the housing prices!!!! Holy crap!!! Ashburn only has a population of 50,000 and there is nothing decent under $350K?!?! Man oh man I've got to stop complaining about the real estate here.

Here in SW Ontario, I live in an area called the "Tri-Cities", which has a population of 415,000. (We are about 60 miles from the GTA Greater Toronto Area - Pop 5.7Million). Here, you can buy a really nice, fully detached 3bdrm house (1200 to 1500sqr ft) for $190,000 to $250,000. Jump up to a 4bdrm 2500sqr and you'll pay $325,000 to $390,000. And everyone complains how crazy the prices are!

Did somebody say snowmobiling????

I grew up in New England where my brothers have now become snowmobile addicts. We grew up on dirt bikes and quads but never really got into the snowmobiling thing. But now since I have moved away to southern California (11 years) they have taken the sport up and just love it.

So where and when is this snowmobiling fest??

By the way. . . .congrats Pmbuko .. . I hope that Virginia treats you well. I can certainly relate to the whole housing cost thing as the cost of houses in my area has gotten completely out of control. A half a million dollars for a crappy condo is just plain ridiculous. (of course I may be saying in a year or two that I only wish that I could find a nice little condo under 3/4 of a million .. . but such is life.

Oh man, snowmobiling is FUN! On the open lakes you can be running at incredible speed (even a slow driver like me gets up to 75 mph!) and that's a gas. But the best part is the trails. Up here you get to see some beautiful lakes and stunning woodland vistas that you would have no way of getting to on foot in the summer. I wasn't sure I'd like the sport but I became a devotee in one trip flat.

peter, congrats on becoming an adopted Virginian! i'm sure you'll love it. oh yeah, Old Dominion Brewing Company is in Ashburn; make sure to try the Oak Barrel Stout, it's delish!

I don't know why, but I don't seem to enjoy any Old Dominion beer by the bottle sold on supermarkets. However, their offerings on tap in bar and restaurants are great! I have recently tried their summer wheat ale, and amber lager, and they are so good!

Hmm that is kinda odd. I've had the lager and ale in bottles from Kroger and they've both been top notch. I need to hit the road and visit the brewery, I've read they've got a brewpub there. Maybe next time I head up to IKEA I'll swing by...

My wife and I are taking a red-eye out to VA tonight and will meet with a Realtor and a mortgage broker while we're out there (through Saturday). Hopefully the numbers the broker comes up with mesh with the numbers we've figured ourselves so that this homeowner thing can actually become a reality for us this year.

God, I hope this goes well....

Peter - I wish you the best of luck, my friend. I am positive that it will all work out. As much as we tell frightening stories about real estate, etc., I don't have a single friend who was looking for a home that couldn't find one that was great that he couldn't also afford. Just keep an open mind, and remember that someone's right there behind you to buy your home at a profit in a few years when/if you decide to move on.

Happy flying - get some sleep on the way in.

Good Luck Peter! We will all be sending our good wishes your way.
oz

i hope things go well for you Peter. Having just gone through a move myself in the past year, i fully appreciate how exciting/scary/stressful/etc it can be! I'm sure things will work out great for you.

It'll work out, Peter. Good hunting. Let us know how it goes.

Good luck Neighbor!!

Things are looking up. Taking prices, commute conditions, and overall community feel into consideration, we've narrowed down our top location choices in Virginia to the Reston/Herndon and Leesburg areas.

Tomorrow we're checking out some areas in southern Maryland.

Ahh, yes, congrats Peter! I haven't been reading the forums as much lately and I just noticed your post. Good luck with your new responsibilies, I'm sure you'll do great!

Southern Maryland can be quite nice. Bethesda and Rockville are great places to live. Also consider the Fort Washington section of PG County.

Leesburg is a great place to live, especially if you're a golfer. It's horse country out there - nice and quiet, but close enough to the city and other amenities to not feel like you're stranded in the middle of nowhere.

We saw a nice townhouse in Leesburg, but most of the properties didn't thrill us. I am not a golfer, either. Rockville and Bethesda are out of our price range, especially since we want a yard for our dog, and are also a bit too far from Ashburn.

The places we liked most were Reston/Herndon in Virginia and Frederick in Maryland. We'd might possibly be able to squeeze enough money out of my paychecks to afford a townhome in Reston/Herndon. The neighborhoods are nice and have a lot of walking trails and conveniently located stores and schools. The commute from there to Ashburn was surprisingly good. (We did a bunch of trial commutes to/from Ashburn during rush hours while we were out there.)

I'd have to say, however, that Frederick was our favorite, especially the character of the historic downtown area. On top of character, we discovered that we can afford a 3-br, extra family room, finished basement, big back yard, single-family home very close to that area -- basically a dream first home all for less than a townhome in Reston and comparably priced to a townhome in Leesburg. Seems like a no-brainer, but the commute from Frederick to Ashburn is about an hour. (To put that into perspective, my commute in CA is about 10 minutes.) I'm ready to accept the commute, but my wife is hesitant as that will mean less time with family in the morning and the evenings. A valid concern, but we have to balance a lot of things in choosing the right home.

Next step is to contact a lender in the D.C. area, though.

Sounds like a decent sized home. I'm curious, how do the prices compare vs the Bay Area? I KNOW it's a lot less, but I have no idea how much.

I'm talking around $300k for the home I mentioned. Same home out here would be twice as much or more, depending on location.