Physician and wife and 2 pooches- Moving to Portsmouth-VA (Norfolk: for sale, apartments)

[bendthespoon7]

Hello,

We are relocating to Portsmouth-VA by the end of march and I would really appreciate some help here...My husband is a physician and got a job at the Naval Medical Center and we are having the hardest time deciding what to do in the sense of buying versus renting. First and foremost, we cannot find any houses to rent that would fit the bill ( and when you have dogs, things get a lot more complicated). We need to be near the Medical Center ( specially knowing how the traffic there can be an issue) but Im very scared about all the info I found on the city. We are looking for houses in the Parkview area (maybe buying a decent priced home to rent it later?). Im not sure if that neighborhood is considered safe? Im working at home at the moment and will start my masters in counseling soon (hopefully) . Im active and love having long walks with my two pups in the morning..My husband is a cyclist and probably will ride his bike to work ( again, another reason to be close to the Medical Center)..Is that neighborhood right for us? What should be avoided like the plague? We live in Olympia WA right now and while there's tons of homeless and punks in the downtown area, we never had an issue here ( but we live in a very private area outside the city). Any help would be very much appreciated..

[fmac]

There are a number of very nice neighborhoods in Portsmouth and others not so nice. In Parkview there are currently 6 rentals and 2 homes for sale listed in the multiple listing service. One thing I recommend to clients is to contact the police who will tell you where there have been problems in neighborhoods. You do not say how long your Husband will be at the Naval Hospital. Active duty?? If you are only going to be here a few years, it may be financially advantageous to rent....or at least rent until you find the area in which you would like to buy.
The area around the hospital has many condos, apartments and older homes...some attached...some detached. Some of the older homes are going through renovation. You do not say how large a house you need. Nor breed of dogs. A number of folks will not rent to folks who have "pit bull" family in the dogs due to liability reasons.
If you could be a little more specific, perhaps I could provide more information.

[bendthespoon7]

Hi fmac,

Sorry about omitting details, My husband is a contractor and so far we know we are going to stay for one year..If we like the job and the location, we might stay more but if job isn't great and location too, we will move after one year. Our thought on buying is that we can get something with a good price that can be rented in case we decide to leave.
We need a house with fenced yard. We have a 2 year 5 months old golden retriever/border collie mix that weights 35lbs and a 2 year old old pomeranian/cocker spaniel mix that weights 21lbs. While they are very well socialized and well behaved (They usually don't bark and never chewed on furniture- even when they're teething) I know landlords do not like to rent for people with pets ( some pet owners give the whole class a bad name).
All the rental homes we looked online so far do not look suitable for our situation. In a ideal world we would like to get a house no bigger than 2,500 sqft but with a big fenced yard, safe area, close to the Naval Medical Center and ready to move in. There's one rental on Ann St that looks ok but the area does not look good..Ann St looks like has a lot of vacant houses and the street itself does not cause a positive first impression...

[fmac]

Sent you a direct message with some information.

[luvlivininva]

My husband and I were in exactly the same situation a year ago when we moved to the area. He works at the Naval Hospital also. We are empty nesters and wanted something safe and convenient. We ended up choosing to rent a brownstone in Ghent and it was the perfect decision. We live near Ghent Square and it only takes him about 15 minutes to get to work. We love our neighborhood and have never had an issue with crime. Before we moved to the area, we were thinking that we would want to live in Portsmouth, but after visiting the area and talking to a few co-workers, we quickly decided that Portsmouth wouldn't work for us. Best of luck in your search for a new home and welcome to the area. I hope you love it as much as we do!

[Coconut1]

It would be extremely foolish to buy something if you've never been to, or know what the area is all about.

You're best off renting for now. You don't need to focus your search solely on Portsmouth as you'll have a reverse commute if you decide to live in Norfolk.

Come here, rent first, then decide whether you want to stay.