How does the average person survive here? (Virginia Beach, Chesapeake: salon, 2010)

[hollygolitely]

that'd be wonderful

the traffic isn't sounding too bad anymore and i'm finding some nice areas that i'd like to consider living... the job market leaves much to be desired and considering the rent prices i've seen so far i do wonder how people make it... i think how someone said about the military and family of military being there has a lot to do with it... but i'm still looking so who knows... and i'll still be pestering with questions

[Erma]

Originally Posted by darzz1

This is a forum to ALL. So why not let people express there feelings.. good bad or ugly. That's what a forum is for.. So people can give there OWN
opinion.

I have to agree with the other poster. I don't know how people survive here and make ends meet. We were lucky we bought our home years back. But, I totally agree RE: cost of living, traffic, overcrowding and same strip Malls on every corner.

This is NOT meant to offend anyone. I'm just stating my opinion.

It depends on what you do for a living, how much education you want to have to move into the white collar world or a great blue collar job. I bought my first home in Virginia Beach when I was 27 and single. I paid my power bill on time, my monthly budget was only 45 dollars. Instead of running the AC 24/7, I only ran it when I was home and ran a fan when I was away to circulate the air. Sacrificing isn't starving. You just have to use some discipline. I didn't eat at fast food places and ate out in restaurants with friends once a month. I didn't go out drinking in a bar every weekend. Instead, my friends and I would have get togethers at each other's house and bring our own drinks.
As far as the same ol' stores, I know I don't have to travel 5 or 10 miles to the grocery or 7/11 in the mornings for coffee. They are just around the corner and that's fine by me, I can walk, bike or save gas! :-)

[darzz1]

Originally Posted by Erma

It depends on what you do for a living, how much education you want to have to move into the white collar world or a great blue collar job. I bought my first home in Virginia Beach when I was 27 and single. I paid my power bill on time, my monthly budget was only 45 dollars. Instead of running the AC 24/7, I only ran it when I was home and ran a fan when I was away to circulate the air. Sacrificing isn't starving. You just have to use some discipline. I didn't eat at fast food places and ate out in restaurants with friends once a month. I didn't go out drinking in a bar every weekend. Instead, my friends and I would have get togethers at each other's house and bring our own drinks.
As far as the same ol' stores, I know I don't have to travel 5 or 10 miles to the grocery or 7/11 in the mornings for coffee. They are just around the corner and that's fine by me, I can walk, bike or save gas! :-)

Exactly,,, that's all I was trying to say to the other Poster on this forum.
It's all a matter of opinion.. you don't mind same stores on every corner.
I find it extremely generic and takes away from any charm this area could
have.

Not all people go out drinking or blowing money and still have a hard time making it. We're just pointing out the cost of living and purchase price
of homes are pretty pricey when compared to the salary's people make.

So.. it's just a matter of what you like! Some people love it here in Va Bch and enjoy living close to the beach.

I just find it too congested for me and too much crime!!

[yankee73]

The cost of living index of the VB area is listed on this website as 106 (where 100 is average) Official Virginia Beach Economic Development Community Profile page

For metro areas, the cost of living is much lower here than other cities. I think there is a fair balance between income and costs (as fair as you can get in a metro area in the US right now).

[Erma]

I've been to some charming cities...they have alot of crime too, unfortunately. It takes away from the beauty. Today's world is much different than 10 years ago, people just don't respect anything that belongs to someone else or they think because it belongs to the city, it can be destroyed. They have no idea that the taxpayers, you & I, hard working individuals pay for those things. I don't know where you've lived Darzz, but I can tell you, HR isn't top of the list for crime. In fact, we're at the top of the list on where to raise a family.
The purchase price of homes went up when the real estate market boomed for sellers. Now it's pretty much a buyers market. The game plan behind appraisal value being high, is the amount of taxes the property owner has to pay, so it's all politics and thank heavens they put a freeze on it from going up anymore.

[Shoobie]

Two words for any property owners that are renting out apartments: Utilities included.

You can keep your 2 pools, 5 basketball courts, 2 tennis courts, weight room, and sauna. I want my water, sewage, heating, and trash payed for.

[Erma]

Originally Posted by Shoobie

Two words for any property owners that are renting out apartments: Utilities included.

You can keep your 2 pools, 5 basketball courts, 2 tennis courts, weight room, and sauna. I want my water, sewage, heating, and trash payed for.

I agree! Shoot, back in college I paid 112.00 a month for a 2 bedroom with utilities included. If people want all that stuff, let em' pay 1200 a month for an apt.

[dallen0001]

Chesapeake is probably one of the cheapest areas around. I recommend buying a newly built house. I forgot the company's name (-edit- I remember something called "Dragas" but not quite sure if that is correct. They build cookie cutters type houses and they're pretty good start homes), but they are building all over Chesapeake and the houses start around 100-250K.

Most people who currently have homes in VA Beach, and Chespeake bought it about 10-15 years ago when the prices were nearly 1/3 of what it's going for now. A 500K house was probably 150-250K 10-15 years ago. My parent's home cost around 300K in the past, now they can sell it at a minimum of 700-800K. One thing I'm even more surprised about is the houses in Aragona. I remember they were selling for like 68-150K, now you can't even touch it without spending 250-400K.

Indeed the prices are pretty terrible right now. I highly recommend finding a low cost apartment and saving up by investing the money.

[CosmicWizard]

dallen0001 wrote:

Most people who currently have homes in VA Beach, and Chespeake bought it about 10-15 years ago when the prices were nearly 1/3 of what it's going for now.

Your statement is very accurrate! When I lived in VB, I purchased a 1360 sf home in Great Neck estates for $110K in 1991. It TRIPLED in value to $329K in 2006 when I sold it.

[Shoobie]

*Adds "Buy expensive home in Virginia Beach..." to his to-do list*
...
*Marks out "Get out of debt.*

;_;