Confused about cost of living in Hampton Roads (crime, how much)

[chesapeakesim]

Originally Posted by pbehson

I am sorry but, do you live here? Are you trying to suggest that the median price of a home in VB is nearly $400k? Look in the Pilot home weekend section, there are plenty of homes for $400k but many more in the $250-$350k range.

Also, have you noted the unemployment rate here (in VB it is always below the national avg) vs. anywhere in NC (you suggest Raleigh and Charlotte) - the state is >10%. It may be a little expensive here but Raleigh and NJ aren't any better. (I was an engineer in Raleigh and born and raised in NJ).

Unfortunately I do live here , well in Chesapeake not VA Beach. And I have seen prices first hand as my wife and I have been watching the market for the past 2-3 years. In my post I was only showing what was on realtor.com for a median house price (not including townhouses or condos). So my main point was someone could look at those stats and say to get an average house I only need to spend $280K, but in reality to get an average house you would be spending much more than that. It's true that there are probably more high end homes on the market now as these are the ones that people can not easily afford, not sure if it skews the numbers that much though.

I have seen statistics give a median price for HR / Va Beach anywhere from around 220K to well over 300K, so I wouldn't go by statistics alone. I would go by real life examples. So if we compare VA Beach to say Charlotte, here is an example of what $280K might get you in VA Beach.

3929 Old Farm Ln, Virginia Beach, VA, 23452 - MLS ID#0911601 - Single Family Home real estate - REALTOR.com®

And in Charlotte.

5714 Painted Fern Ct, Charlotte, NC, 28269 - MLS ID#847043 - Single Family Home real estate - REALTOR.com®

Yes, I know that location makes a huge difference and I have no idea where in the city these houses are located, but do a general search for your price range in both areas, there is a huge difference. Just look at what $300K will get you in Charlotte

6012 Sugar Cane Ct, Mint Hill, NC, 28227 - MLS ID#846837 - Single Family Home real estate - REALTOR.com®

The house actually has a yard and trees. What would that go for here, like $600-$700K? Some stuff in Charlotte may be more expensive, like bread or electricity or whatever, but the difference in housing more than makes up for it. Assuming you are able to find a job in a place like Charlotte, why would anyone not choose to live there over VA Beach???

[rtandc]

Wow chesapeakesim talk about kicking a place when it is down......It is not even fair trying to compare a place like the Charlotte area to the Hampton Roads area. I mean come on Hampton Roads is not that bad but a Charlotte it will never be.....I love Charlotte, it is one of my favorite cities to visit. It has great outdoor activities along with big name entertainment and sporting events.

Norfolk actually tried to mirror its downtown off of what Charlotte was doing back in the 80's and 90's and it still tries today with little to no luck.

Charlotte was able to re-jump start its downtown area by bring in several large banking/financial institutions and by doing so many fortune 500 companies followed. Today Charlotte is one of the major U.S. financial centers in America...And Norfolk... that is what it wanted to be also......but today well it's still just Norfolk.

Hampton Roads has the military, and the government ties that goes with it but not much more...and that is fine with most people living in the area......Hampton Roads even today is still trying to find its identity and what its future really holds. Charlotte knows what it is and what direction it is heading in the future.....The only bad thing you might be able to say about Charlotte is that it is growing to fast.

So again I am all for comparing other areas across the nation to Hampton Roads but lets at least make it a fair fight.........

[telemonster]

I think his point is, Hampton Roads is nothing. Therefore, there is no justification for the high prices of houses. I guess the real justification would be that there were more lower income people that were given access to shady loans, and they all competed with each other running up the prices of homes trying to buy any house (with their 0% down) since it will make them rich.

[rtandc]

LOL Telemonster, you make me laugh...everyone of your post is always about money and home prices......Why are you here in Hampton Roads if there is no money to be made, go find that promise land and make yourself rich, if you cant do it here.....But trust me money is not everything, happiness is what most people strive for.....and many people are happy living here, they like the beaches or the weather or have family in the area....
Man if I hated this area as much as you seem to, I would live in a tent in the woods if I had to just to be out of the area.

But I must say your post cracks me up, your last post in this thread is almost as good as the beanie baby reply.....LOL

Now you say this area is "nothing " because of the high home prices, well I will give you a little clue, the same high home price issue is occurring in most parts of the US. So I guess the better part of the US is "nothing" by using your statement because Hampton Roads is not weathering this problem on its own.....

So sure there are places (this week) where you can live financially better then you can in Hampton Roads based on certain job skills....so my question to you again is .....why are you still here?

[SiestaBay]

Originally Posted by rtandc

money is not everything, happiness is what most people strive for.

That's only what they say once they realize they're not going to make a lot of money... just sayin'.

[telemonster]

Originally Posted by rtandc

LOL Telemonster, you make me laugh...everyone of your post is always about money and home prices......Why are you here in Hampton Roads if there is no money to be made, go find that promise land and make yourself rich, if you cant do it here.....But trust me money is not everything, happiness is what most people strive for.....and many people are happy living here, they like the beaches or the weather or have family in the area....
Man if I hated this area as much as you seem to, I would live in a tent in the woods if I had to just to be out of the area.

But I must say your post cracks me up, your last post in this thread is almost as good as the beanie baby reply.....LOL

Now you say this area is "nothing " because of the high home prices, well I will give you a little clue, the same high home price issue is occurring in most parts of the US. So I guess the better part of the US is "nothing" by using your statement because Hampton Roads is not weathering this problem on its own.....

So sure there are places (this week) where you can live financially better then you can in Hampton Roads based on certain job skills....so my question to you again is .....why are you still here?

I happen to work for a good company, and have an interest in the success of the company. I have my eye on Raleigh/Durham though.

The point of this topic is about the high cost of living, so high home prices are on subject.

My comment regarding the area being nothing come back to beefs I've had:

Lack of independent media. Not much in the way of small time print publications (Portfolio, Nine Volt and many others were all Landmark controlled, and therefore had advertising rates that could hit $900+ for a single issue).

Never was public access television. All cities except perhaps JCC wrote in the contracts there would only be educational / gov't access television. They then constructed rules to block citizens from using those resources.

It seems silly, but if you visit places like Austin and see that these things give the area some flavor, it's nice.

Jobs for the most part are fairly weak.

It goes WAY beyond home prices.

And yes, the general attitude is, "DUDE! LEAVE!" but it's worthwhile I think to at least put it out there as to where I see the failures.

I know home prices in the area are going to drop 40%+ from what they were in 2007. So this won't be a big issue in the future, but the other issues will still remain.

Sorry, Hampton Roads is soul-less :-)

[GoPhils]

Originally Posted by rtandc

Wow chesapeakesim talk about kicking a place when it is down......It is not even fair trying to compare a place like the Charlotte area to the Hampton Roads area. I mean come on Hampton Roads is not that bad but a Charlotte it will never be.....I love Charlotte, it is one of my favorite cities to visit. It has great outdoor activities along with big name entertainment and sporting events.

Norfolk actually tried to mirror its downtown off of what Charlotte was doing back in the 80's and 90's and it still tries today with little to no luck.

Charlotte was able to re-jump start its downtown area by bring in several large banking/financial institutions and by doing so many fortune 500 companies followed. Today Charlotte is one of the major U.S. financial centers in America...And Norfolk... that is what it wanted to be also......but today well it's still just Norfolk.

Hampton Roads has the military, and the government ties that goes with it but not much more...and that is fine with most people living in the area......Hampton Roads even today is still trying to find its identity and what its future really holds. Charlotte knows what it is and what direction it is heading in the future.....The only bad thing you might be able to say about Charlotte is that it is growing to fast.

So again I am all for comparing other areas across the nation to Hampton Roads but lets at least make it a fair fight.........

Maybe you should check out the Charlotte forum...seem to be many threads about the extremely high unemployment rates there and even one about Charlotte's lack of identity.

Both the job market and real estate market is bad in most parts of the country. Maybe Hampton Roads is a little behind on the home price decline, but in my opinion (no I don't live there) it seems to still be about average or even cheaper than many similar cities. (Regarding Charlotte, as me and others have mentioned, there is no beach in Charlotte, so in a lot of places, if you want the beach, you gotta pay for it.)

But yeah, it seems like most cities have their problems, and there will usually be both people who love it there and hate it there. I guess some cities just have more of one or the other, although I still can't quite get a read on which one Hampton Roads is.

[pbehson]

Originally Posted by telemonster

I happen to work for a good company, and have an interest in the success of the company. I have my eye on Raleigh/Durham though.

The point of this topic is about the high cost of living, so high home prices are on subject.

My comment regarding the area being nothing come back to beefs I've had:

Lack of independent media. Not much in the way of small time print publications (Portfolio, Nine Volt and many others were all Landmark controlled, and therefore had advertising rates that could hit $900+ for a single issue).

Never was public access television. All cities except perhaps JCC wrote in the contracts there would only be educational / gov't access television. They then constructed rules to block citizens from using those resources.

It seems silly, but if you visit places like Austin and see that these things give the area some flavor, it's nice.

Jobs for the most part are fairly weak.

It goes WAY beyond home prices.

And yes, the general attitude is, "DUDE! LEAVE!" but it's worthwhile I think to at least put it out there as to where I see the failures.

I know home prices in the area are going to drop 40%+ from what they were in 2007. So this won't be a big issue in the future, but the other issues will still remain.

Sorry, Hampton Roads is soul-less :-)

There is medicine for depression.

[hcaleman]

If you want to complain about a soul-less lack of culture place come live in Dubai for a few years and watch modern day slavery in action. All this whining about how bad various cities are in the US cracks me up.

[Erma]

Originally Posted by hcaleman

If you want to complain about a soul-less lack of culture place come live in Dubai for a few years and watch modern day slavery in action. All this whining about how bad various cities are in the US cracks me up.

I hear ya! Some of the peeps that keep complaining won't take the time to scope out other places that are in far worse shape to appreciate what they have.