San Francisco Bay vs. Hampton Roads (Virginia Beach, Norfolk: renting, car registration, low crime)

[darkblue]

Even at this time , There is new communty coming on Princess Anne behind home depot. It consists of Townhomes, condos and single family homes.Doe you know the price range?
starts from 300k and ends at 750k.
So who is buying hme at 750k. Prices in Virginia Beach are not going down.They are flat.

I still wonder how people get money to buy homes ranging 450k to 750k in this area.
May be Lethal's points are correct.

Originally Posted by HR_Native

You forgot one. People who already owned here before the huge increases over the past five years. They're using the amazing return on their investment to purchase another home in the same price range. Although, this is probably increasing their debt and I can't understand why anyone would ever do it, except to escape a worsening neighborhood.

For the record, I agree with Lethal's points, and I can understand it if he seems a little angry. I was born and raised in Norfolk and have lived my entire adult life in VB. Until the wages in this area are adjusted to be more in line with the housing prices, you will continue to see more and more foreclosures (and poverty level standards for those who struggle to save their most important investment) overtake the area. It's impossible to get ahead in this town unless you move away, get the wage you're worth and then return. I'm now in the process of looking for an area where I can do just that.

[rtandc]

Originally Posted by darkblue

Even at this time , There is new communty coming on Princess Anne behind home depot. It consists of Townhomes, condos and single family homes.Doe you know the price range?
starts from 300k and ends at 750k.
So who is buying hme at 750k. Prices in Virginia Beach are not going down.They are flat.

I still wonder how people get money to buy homes ranging 450k to 750k in this area.
May be Lethal's points are correct.

Maybe Lethals point is correct if you think this area is all doom and gloom as far as the job market if you are a young inexperenced worker.....I have been in Va Bch off and on since 1966....
I have been at my present job for over 20 years...My wife has been at your workplace for almost 30 years.......I live in one of those 750K+ houses that you speak of....Sure I am reaching that 50 age group but most of my neighbors are much younger than me...most are in their mid to late 30's and both husband and wife have jobs that pay well....
My daughter is still in the area in her mid 20's....Both her and her husband have well paying jobs in this area so I know they are out there for the younger folks....in fact it is harder for someone in my age group to find a well paying job than someone in the 20's....I would guess that if everyone drove though these "high dollar" neighborhood and looked around you would see that most of the people living in these newer homes are in that 30ish age group...That should tell you something

[Lethal_Poison]

Originally Posted by rtandc

My daughter is still in the area in her mid 20's....Both her and her husband have well paying jobs in this area so I know they are out there for the younger folks....if fact is it is harder for someone in my age group to find a well paying job than someone in the 20's....I would guess that by looking at my neighborhood that most of the people buying these newer homes are in that 30ish age group...

It depends on what the "20" or "30" somethings do here. If they work for the government, work for a government contractor, or own a business, yeah, sure. There are good jobs involved with that. Primarily these are tech or manual in nature.

I bet they dont work in the following fields though that all pay much better or even exist at all in "real" cities.

1. Financial Analyst/Accounting
2. Sports Management/Agents
3. Marketing (not the "tele" variety)
4. Lower end medical positions
5. Engineering
6. Non goverment related tech work
7. Investment Banking
8. Corporate management in which you or your family doesnt own the business


By the way, what is your definition of "well paying"?

[HR_Native]

Originally Posted by rtandc

Maybe Lethals point is correct if you think this area is all doom and gloom as far as the job market if you are a young inexperienced worker.....I have been in Va Bch off and on since 1966....
I have been at my present job for over 20 years...My wife has been at your workplace for almost 30 years.......I live in one of those 750K+ houses that you speak of....Sure I am reaching that 50 age group but most of my neighbors are much younger than me...most are in their mid to late 30's and both husband and wife have jobs that pay well....
My daughter is still in the area in her mid 20's....Both her and her husband have well paying jobs in this area so I know they are out there for the younger folks....in fact it is harder for someone in my age group to find a well paying job than someone in the 20's....I would guess that if everyone drove though these "high dollar" neighborhood and looked around you would see that most of the people living in these newer homes are in that 30ish age group...That should tell you something

I'm in the age group you've defined as "younger" (over 30 under 40); however, I'm not inexperienced or unmotivated. I've been in my field for 10 years and I'm not seeing anywhere near what I need to see to afford a 750K house payment on a 30 year loan. I'd be glad to be able to afford a 400K house payment in this market. Part of the reason you can afford that much house is probably due to the fact that you've been a homeowner for a significant amount of time and you've benefitted from the natural building of equity and the unnatural rise in housing costs over the past 5 -7 years.

I agree with Lethal on the point that if you're not in government contracting and have already got some type of government clearance, you aren't going to do well in my chosen field. Any jobs that are available outside of the government/military sphere of influence are hiring less experienced personnel at cut rates because there is a glut of people for skilled postions and peopel are taking what they can get. The businesses don't care if there is a more experienced person when they can hire two newbies for the price of one good employee. I'd consider changing fields, but that means school ,and school means another expense. An expense that I really can't afford to take on, as I'm focusing on keeping my family in an area that is relatively safe and has good schools.

When I consider that more affordable housing can be found in places with higher average incomes, it does tend to frustrate me. Another frustration is that being born here has actually been a disadvantage as no one will sponsor someone who is non-military for a TS clearance, hence no decent paying positions.

I'm not all gloom and doom, this is and always has been my home and I don't speak ill of the area or the people. What I do lament is that the current economy is just not favorable for a lot of people and either the home values are inflated or the pay scales are low.

[rtandc]

Originally Posted by Lethal_Poison

It depends on what the "20" or "30" somethings do here. If they work for the government, work for a government contractor, or own a business, yeah, sure. There are good jobs involved with that. Primarily these are tech or manual in nature.

I bet they dont work in the following fields though that all pay much better or even exist at all in "real" cities.

1. Financial Analyst/Accounting
2. Sports Management/Agents
3. Marketing (not the "tele" variety)
4. Lower end medical positions
5. Engineering
6. Non goverment related tech work
7. Investment Banking
8. Corporate management in which you or your family doesnt own the business


By the way, what is your definition of "well paying"?

What my neighbors make a year is none of my business...I dont think they want me coming over to look at the income tax records every year...but just so you know I dont work in any of those 8 fields but my first real job when I decided to get serious about making a life for myself was in one of those eight...My daughter does not work in any of those fields but my son in law does......Not to get too personal but they both are still in their 20's and are both already in the low 6 figure range each per year.

My definition of being well payed is based on the number of years you might have with a company or the number of years you have in your field of expertise (schooling, on the job etc)....the more you have the higher your pay should increase......

Sure you can not expect to start at the top within any field. You have to work your way up.......but the problem that many young people have is they just look for any job and not think about where that job might take them in 5 or 10 or 20 years..........All 8 of those job listing you posted can give you the experence to move foward into well paying jobs within a few years of starting out......

If you have 5 years of experence working on a job and have not achieved your short term goals that you set for yourself then you should move on...be it with another company or be it back to school for addition or totally different training in another field.....You need to set not just short term goals but long term goals for yourself and attempt to meet them....

I goofed off after getting out of high school, and had more than a few jobs that were going no where because I was not interested in going anywhere myself.... I thought it was more important to hit the beach on a good surf day than go to work and it took me into my mid to late 20's to even get serious about finding a "real Job" so it is never to late to get started....
If that means you cant find something here in the Tidewater area than move some place you can find what you are looking for......But complaining about not being able to find a "real' job paying "real' money on a forum is not going to solve anything...

[Lethal_Poison]

Originally Posted by rtandc

If that means you cant find something here in the Tidewater area than move some place you can find what you are looking for......But complaining about not being able to find a "real' job paying "real' money on a forum is not going to solve anything...

I would gladly move, no problem. Moving costs money though. So the only thing I can do until I can scrape together enough to move, is complain, and prevent people who are already lucky enough to be out of the area, from coming here.

[Lethal_Poison]

Originally Posted by rtandc

All 8 of those job listing you posted can give you the experence to move foward into well paying jobs within a few years of starting out......

No not really.

For instance, accounting. Without a major corporate presence, there is no demand for senior level accountants or CFOs. That means, accountants, especially corporate ones, largely are relegated to "staff" level positions.

Lower level medical positions are going absolutely nowhere, and thats the case most places, but they pay MUCH better in other areas.

Engineering/non government tech jobs- Yeah, you can get experience that hopefully gets you a government job, which is exactly what I was talking about before. This areas dependence on government cash is embarrassing.

Investment Banking- Yeah, no. There is little to anything around here that would help you much as an investment banker. Not very many publically traded companies wanting to issue IPOs in Hampton Roads.

Sports Management- Of what? The Tides?


By the way, if what you say about your daughter is true, she is doing better then 99.9% of all mid 20 year olds, who have a median income under 30k. She is a tremendous exception, rather then the rule. In fact, youd have to remove her from a bell curve because shed be way outside of any reasonable confidence level.

[Lethal_Poison]

Originally Posted by rtandc

.... I thought it was more important to hit the beach on a good surf day than go to work and it took me into my mid to late 20's to even get serious about finding a "real Job" so it is never to late to get started....

This is not the first time youve seemed to insinuate that Im some how a slacker, and it is my fault I dont have a well paying job.

I have a bachelors degree, and two associates degrees. I have glowing reviews from every place Ive ever worked, including letters of recommendation. I have a history of working on a much higher level then the position I was hired for, and correspondingly always get the favor of top level management.

Unfortunatley, when I decided it was time to move on from my last job, interview after interview I had was for jobs that had requirements far under my abilities and wanted to pay wages lower then what I was making already. I found very few jobs that were even near my level, and I needed to work with a placement agency to find those.

Here is a quote from one of the placement agencies I decided to not work with

"You really arent worth 35k in this market. Maybe when you get 5 years of experience."

That came from someone who is supposed to SELL me.

Ironic thing? The median entry level wage for an accountant nationally is 48k. Here I was told that it would take me 5 years to make 3/4's of that. What a joke.

I did eventually manage to get what I set out for, but I think it was largely because I am able to talk such a good game (obviously I can back it up). I am making more then anyone my age that I know, actually, much more. Im making more then anyone I know that isnt managment level in the accounting field. Yet, my wage is still only a fraction what the average college grad can find elsewhere.

[rtandc]

Originally Posted by Lethal_Poison

I would gladly move, no problem. Moving costs money though. So the only thing I can do until I can scrape together enough to move, is complain, and prevent people who are already lucky enough to be out of the area, from coming here.

Slow down Lethal one post at a time man.....I dont mind your complaining about this area because if you look at many of my post I am not thrilled with this area either but my personal experences does not have to do with the job market but with other areas that I feel are below average....a persons salary is only one facet of his or her lifestyle and it is up to each person how much of a % this requires to live in a certain area...Many people live in the area they do because of many reasons......the environment, family, recreation, and lifestyles are all other reasons.....

I was not talking about you as far as young people looking for jobs I was talking about young people in general....

My only point was that there are jobs in this area that pay very well for this area but maybe they are not in the same fields that your expertise is in.....If that is so then I would make the move to an area that has more career choices for you....
If you have the experence that you state then you should be selling yourself to areas of the country that have the demand for your job skill...Dont sell yourself short by using excuses like the "cost of moving expense are holding me back". Many companies will pay for your move if you have the experence that they are requesting......

There is no promise land out there that pays big money for every job imaginable and each market will be compatable with the cost of living for that area....the only difference you will find will have to do with supply and demand based on the number of qualified applicants for that position....And that being said sure I could go to New York or LA and make a much higher salary then I receive here but the cost of living difference would default my salary increase....

Me, I cant wait to retire and move to Montana. So I like to read many post within that subforum and if you look at the Montana forum you will see many post this like this one where if you dont have certain experence in certain fields you will make well below the national average as far as pay...I have been wanting to live in this section of the country for a number of years but I did not have the experence in those fields and was to old to start a new career "LOL" so it was not feasible for me to make this move until I retire......So again it is good to know what job skills are needed for someone looking to move to Montana just like someone wanting to move to Virginia or any other city or State across the nation to make a living in order to maintain or increase the lifestyle they are accustom to...


You have stated several times what you feel are the top paying jobs for this area and you may be right I was just making a statement that my family members and myself are not within those job desciptions you listed for the most part so my statement to you and others reading these post is that there are well paying jobs outside those listings iin this area f you have the desire to seek them out.

[Yac]

Guys, get back on topic, please. You can discuss this using DMs.
Yac.