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Do not buy in this community!
1) For starters virtually every house in the community has had serious construction issues - most often concerning plumbing but there are a variety of other issues such as:
*high levels of Radon gas in basements
*improperly installed finishing materials
*improperly prepared landscaping using sand/other discarded building materials resulting in dead plants
*Cheap paint with very thin coating that flakes off (typical builder paint job)
*Many issues with appliances breaking after few years
One house had had foundation support issues.
Building issues just seem to get worse with each builder that takes over the neighborhood - there have been a high number of foreclosures
2) Utility bills - particularly sewer is unusually high - it's the 2nd highest in the state.
*The minimum water/sewer bill is $57 - for a family of 4 you would be looking at a water bill of $80-$100 at least per a month if you use water moderately.
*The utility company that handles the water/sewer is also notoriously disorganized - many people have received $250 water bills (for one month) with no change in water consumptions - not leaks - no running toilets etc. This happens to me once a year at least.
*The water company has flunked water quality tests at least 2 times in the past 4 years. This includes excessive organic matter in potable water and excessive cancer causing compounds (Trihalomethanes). This is in fact true for the Charles Town in general - the bottled drinking water at Walmart flies off the shelves...
*There had been an enormous amount of legislation (3-4 years ago) against several water companies (including the one servicing our area) in West Virginia.
3) Abusive and incompetent HOA.
*The HOA recently served up violation notices to home owners - their method of determining violations is biased and incompetent. Most of these people it would appear have been victimized deliberately - some for complaining to the HOA and this is the HOA attempt to quiet them, some were possibly turned in by neighbors, some live near where the new builder is trying to sell houses and are being slammed with violation notices due to the builder. Most cases of violations were clearly not fairly applied - as people with the same violations as those who received violations did not received notices.
*The HOA is mismanaged - only the HOA president determined who one the last election (the entrenched one - himself and the vice president) - that is he tallied the votes. He is also the sole treasurer...
*The HOA constantly makes bad decisions
*HOA president and vice-presents easily found caught in lies and have very low integrity
*The HOA almost went broke last year .. so they say..
4) No facilities - no playgrounds, no common area unless you count pathways.
5) Many other issues some of which may be very serious - not at liberty to discuss at this time but will update later
6) Finally one of the very best reasons not to buy in this community is that the real estate deals available elsewhere in the county are fairly good and plentiful (better neighborhood with many many more amenities, houses on lots 1 acre or larger, houses closer to DC in VA or MD).
Awesome community and a wonderful place to live! Nearby Harper's Ferry West Virginia, the Appalachian Trail, farmer's market, cultural events in Shepherdstown WV and Frederick Maryland, close juxtaposition to both Maryland and Northern VA and the MARC train make this area an ideal place to live and raise a family!
I too lived there and found that my bills where too high. Plumbing was a big problem. My hot water heater got on fire twice. Good thing it was still in warranty both times. At the time by kids where not allowed to play basket ball in front of the home. I was reported to the hoa. My cooling system kept running. I needed that to get fixed. Forget about the sewer bill. I was afraid to water my plants. I cost me more money to get rid of my water then using it.
I too live in this community ( 4 years) and feel that this is not true or the author of the above clearly does not have all the information they need to make such a statement.
#1 - Richmond Homes was the first builder in this community, I am assuming the author is refering to them about the serious construction issues since they were the first to build in the community finishing about 50 houses. There have been a few (maybe 8 homes?) with issues I would not call serious since they were all corrected by Richmond. I will say that most told me that it took a long time for them to repair, causing frustration. But these were.. one person had plumbing freeze during a harsh winter causing a pipe to break and water damage. Another pipes not properly installed in the laundry room causing a slow leak (two houses) Windows not properly sealed allowing wind into the house (two houses). But surely not anything structural or not able to fix.
*The radon gas problem was identified along with a lawsuit from another nearby develpement that had our same builder (Richmond American) They came to all the houses, preformed a test and installed fans into the houses that the radon levels were too high...at no cost to anyone that needed them.
*Cheap paint (I am assuming you are referring to builders paint) which is included in the price of the house...white throughout and a low grade watered down base coat. I do not think this is of a very good grade and for me personally, it is not the quality of paint I would want. Richmond is not a paint contractor, they are a builder. If you wanted it painted color, then it was an additional charge or you could paint it yourself (we did) or hire a contractor to do it.
*appliances...I know a couple of niehbors who's refridgerators ice machine went bad, but not the builders fault. They should have been under warranty anyway so no one should have been out of any money.
#2 Utility bills: The water/sewer bill is a little high if you are comparing it to VA (leesburg or closer to the city however, this is a smaller community with fewer housholds therefore the higher utilities. I would rather pay a little more for my utilities than to have to live closer to a big city.
As for the water test flunked...I think that should be worded diffently...if it had flunked, they wouldn't let you drink it. There is a letter sent out each year to notifiy you of the test results and to let you know what is showing up in the water...but whatever is showing up, cannot hurt you.
#3 this is the one that really doesn't make sense to me. There are covenants, bylaws written for the community. Every neighbor received a copy of these. You are given guidlines to adhere to in order to keep the community at a certain standard. If you are doing something that is not in line with the covenants, or bylaws then you should be notified to comply. The HOA is still not totally controlled by the HOA, even though our developer has claimed bankruptcy and doesn't help us financiall or with any other problems, the President and VicePresident have been the only source of keeping us on track. The signals from the neighbors and walk throughs are the only means to keep our neighborhood looking good. So if you are one of those who is not in compliance with the covenances, then you should have chosen to live somewhere else where the covenants are more suiting to you. And the Pres & Vice pres are volunteer positions that were voted in...if you didn't vote, then shame on you. I think they are both doing a wonderful job givin the bankrupt developer. And I think the reason that the money was low was becasue the developer was to pay the snow removal last year and didn't have the money to do it before he claimed bankruptcy. I know the financials are posted on the website, you do the math...it all makes sence to me. I do not see where there is money missing. Maybe if some of the neighbors who owe dues (I heard that there are several that have never paid anything) would pay, it would be a little better.
As for the pres & v-pres being caught in lies...I never heard or witnessed anything of the sort...what in the world are you talking about? They are both hard working good neighbors always willing to help people out. How can you make that statement. I would really like to know what you are refering to.
#4 No facilities...you are correct about the playground. It was supposed to be put in but the developer went bankrupt before it was completed.
I like living at Demory Farm. I will continue to live here. Ryan Homes is doing a wonderful job of completing our development so we can move on to finishing it off with the asphalt and maybe down the road a playground or who knows what. Right now, I am just hoping that the neighbor with the bad taste in their mouth, has had a turn of opinion, if not maybe they should move somewhere else.