Northern Neck/Midd Penninsula - Land vs RE agents (Virginia Beach: real estate, houses)

[AK1662]

My husband and I are beginning to search for land for vacation/retirement property. Since we have come from 2 land locked states (VT and currently PA), I am in search of salt in the air! As much as we would like to have waterfront property, it is definitely harder to find deals. As long as I can walk to a beach, I'll be happy. I've started checking out realtors' web sites and have seen some possibilities (<$75000). I've inquired about specific listings, but find that other than the cursory response, none of the agents are proactive (some aren't even reactive, since I requested photos from one and never got them). Not one has come back with suggestions of areas to look in, or suggested other properties which may meet our criteria. I realize that on the food chain, we are plankton. Can anyone recommend either a good realtor that actually lives up to their outstanding service claims, or other resources?

[Johnnybgood]

Hello,
I am laughing at your discription of "a problem". You have no idea of what you want or where you want to even look at real estate and you expect a Realtor to go to work for you. All Realtors work on commission and only get paid when they sell. They have house payments, car payments, gas bills etc. and if they jumped when everyone with a temperature of 98.6 or above shouted, they would all be on welfare. The Internet is a great resourse for you. You need to pin down a spacific area. Visit the area. If you find the area appealing, visit a Realtor's office and pick up information and maybe even see a couple properties. The Northern Neck and the Middle Pensula are two completely different places eventhough they adjoin eachother on maps. There are a few exceptions but most waterfront property in both the Northern Neck and Middle Pensula is PRIVATE PROPERTY and there is NO walking to the waterfront. The State of Virgina does have a few public boat launch sites. If you want to walk to a beach, you may want to take a look at Virginia Beach.

Another note about Realtors: the Realtor most likely to give their time to someone like you will be a new Realtor ie one with nothing else to do. Be understanding and appreciate Realtors, don't bad-mouth them...

Good luck.

John

[Waterfront]

I live in the Ophelia, VA area and there are communities with 'inland' lots that provide access to the beaches, community pavilion, fresh water swimming pools, tennis courts, etc.. Two that come to mind are White Sands Harbor and Harbour Pointe (had a weekend place in HP for 8 years). Both have access to the beach on the Potomac River, but we do have sea nettles here in the summer months, so you might want a swimming pool as backup!

You can go to this website - http://varealestatereviews.com/ - and request a free copy of Northern Neck Real Estate Review publication. I think you can get two free copies. Also, if you click on the publication icon, it will take you to a web page with lots of realtor websites.

I am not a realtor, but I do have a personal favorite that I might recommend but I'll do that in the PM.

I can relate to your 'bottom feeder' feelings, but you just need to lose that. There's probably several properties waiting for you!

Happy hunting!

[AK1662]

To those who have responded (including a real estate agent) thank you, I appreciate your thoughtful advice.

To Johnnybgood:
Glad I could provide you with some amusement. Based on your description of realtors, since they are the professionals, what better way to begin our process than to consult with them and seek their advice? This has always been a successful strategy for us in the past as we have bought houses or property in Northern Virginia, Vermont, and now Pennsylvania. Even in those previous instances when we bought only land and subsequently built, this has worked to our advantage. Our experience over the last twenty years has been that the most successful realtors are precisely those that do "jump" (your phrase) whenever they are approached by someone - you never know who someone is until you begin to work with them.

I am well aware that the Northern Neck and the Middle Penninsula are as different as Norfolk and Roanoke, we are simply trying to start by casting a wide net over the myriad areas that encompas the Cheseapeake basin. My husband would ideally like property on Mobjack Bay, but we want to be flexible and open to whatever possibilities exist, and where we might get more property for our money, this being for a possible vacation site.

Anyway, thanks for reading my posting.

[stephenson]

AK1662,

We're doing the same thing - also looking in Northern Neck area - Reedville, etc ...

How has your search gone? Any tidbits you could share based on your experiences?

We are in Fairfax County, VA - getting ready to pull the plug here - really liked the laid back Reedville feel ...

Any comments would be very much appreciated.

Thanks!

George