Possibly moving to job in Norfolk or Portsmouth-need advice (Virginia Beach: short sale, real estate)

[nwin]

I've searched through some of the other threads on the first few pages, but only one seemed to match pieces of my story, so here goes:

I may be moving to work in either Norfolk or Portsmouth next June (2019). I'm in the military and would be stationed at either Crawford St. in Portsmouth (which I believe is Olde Towne) or on Main st. in Norfolk which appears to be near the Town Pointe Park.

I'm married with a kid on the way. My wife and I are in our mid-thirties so we're pretty much done with the nightlife, especially with a newborn coming. We would prefer to buy something if possible but we would be looking at around $300k, so not sure if that's really doable with what we would want. I see houses for around $200k in the Virginia Beach area, but I'm not sure if that would be realistic based on the following:

-We don't want a condo with shared walls.
-We would prefer a backyard
-we like more suburb areas than city living
-I'd like to keep my commute within 30 minutes. From what I've heard, this might be a pipedream, but figured I would ask if it's realistic.
-Low crime a plus
-School districts might not be too important for us, as our son will only be 4 when we leave, but it could be nice to help with resale values on the house if we buy.
-I would want to avoid the two big tunnels/bridges if possible (I think this is 664 and 64?)

Also, do people not have much hardwood flooring in their homes? Everything I'm looking at seems to have carpet. And are basements not really a thing in Virginia either? I'm coming from the Northeast where most houses have basements and hardwood flooring so I was just curious.

Thanks for any help you can offer and where (if any) you would recommend living.

[jillybean720]

Most houses here don't have basements because of our proximity to the water. Houses are typically built on a concrete slab or on a small crawl space. It's not that we don't want/like basements, but rather that you can't really have them here. And, because of this, you'll also find a LOT of garages that have been converted to additional storage and/or living space (since we don't usually have enough snowy days to make a garage a must-have for many people here). I grew up in New England and miss basements very much!

If I were you, I'd wait on house hunting. You need to know if you'll be commuting to Norfolk or Portsmouth because even though they look close on a map, it will make a difference.

You shouldn't have too much trouble keeping your commute to under 30 minutes, but, again, you need to know exactly where you're commuting to because 30 minutes to one won't necessarily be 30 minutes to the other from the same starting point.

You should actually be able to get everything on your list for $300k, especially if you're not too worried about school districts (Norfolk and Portsmouth schools are not great; Virginia Beach and Chesapeake are much better, in general).

If you're only going to be here for about 4 years, you may want to reconsider buying. I don't think the housing market is all that great for you to not end up losing money on a 4-year turnaround after considering closing costs, maintenance, repairs, etc. But that's just my opinion (having personally experienced having to go through a short sale because of being upside down in a mortgage). Granted, I'm not military, so I'm sure they provide financial options or assistance I wouldn't have access to.

[nwin]

Originally Posted by jillybean720

Most houses here don't have basements because of our proximity to the water. Houses are typically built on a concrete slab or on a small crawl space. It's not that we don't want/like basements, but rather that you can't really have them here. And, because of this, you'll also find a LOT of garages that have been converted to additional storage and/or living space (since we don't usually have enough snowy days to make a garage a must-have for many people here). I grew up in New England and miss basements very much!

If I were you, I'd wait on house hunting. You need to know if you'll be commuting to Norfolk or Portsmouth because even though they look close on a map, it will make a difference.

You shouldn't have too much trouble keeping your commute to under 30 minutes, but, again, you need to know exactly where you're commuting to because 30 minutes to one won't necessarily be 30 minutes to the other from the same starting point.

You should actually be able to get everything on your list for $300k, especially if you're not too worried about school districts (Norfolk and Portsmouth schools are not great; Virginia Beach and Chesapeake are much better, in general).

If you're only going to be here for about 4 years, you may want to reconsider buying. I don't think the housing market is all that great for you to not end up losing money on a 4-year turnaround after considering closing costs, maintenance, repairs, etc. But that's just my opinion (having personally experienced having to go through a short sale because of being upside down in a mortgage). Granted, I'm not military, so I'm sure they provide financial options or assistance I wouldn't have access to.

Thanks for the information! Regarding buying, we're eligible for VA loans which are $0 down eligible, but that certainly won't help us if we're trying to hedge against losing money on the real estate, so I'll keep in mind your stance on buying. The last thing I want to deal with is a short sale.

Are there any places in particular that stand out as places to live for Norfolk or Portsmouth commutes? We won't even find out where we're going to be until March 2019, so this is more for us to see how high we want to place either area on our potential moves (we basically get a list of 10 places across the country and rank them in order of most desired>least desired).

[Lockdev]

jilly's advice is spot on.

I wouldn't buy a house around here unless you have some money to put down and you plan on staying a while(more than 8 years).

House pricing here are extremely volatile. When house prices fall, they fall fast and hard. The house I'm currently went from being valued at $390k to $280k during the last housing crash.

[lovnova]

Third on the housing advice. Real estate appreciates here very slowly if at all. It's not like some other parts of the country. It may not be worth the trouble / cost and risk to buy and leave in 4 years. I never liked renting vs. buying but sometimes it's the best option.
But only you know your situation and whats best for you and your family.

[nwin]

That's interesting on the housing-I assumed it was akin to DC where values just continue to rise. I'm glad to hear that isn't the case this early on in the process.

[lovnova]

Originally Posted by nwin

That's interesting on the housing-I assumed it was akin to DC where values just continue to rise. I'm glad to hear that isn't the case this early on in the process.

I lived just outside DC and owned/sold several properties. Last one was in 2014.

The RE market in the DC area and this area are nothing alike. Night and Day.

Good luck with whatever you do.

[jillybean720]

It was actually a property in the DC area we were forced to short sale. We bought a townhouse in Woodbridge literally about 2 months before the housing market crapped all over itself. We never had a penny of equity in that home and were still upside down when we sold it 7 years later. Areas of NoVA closer to DC and the Dulles corridor rebounded much better/faster. When we bought a home in Sterling (Loudoun county), we were able to turn a profit after living there only 2.5 years. Here, our current home is valued higher than when we purchased it back in late fall of 2014, but I see homes in my neighborhood sitting on the market for some time, which tells me the "market" may think our value is one number, but the actual buyers seem to have a different idea. Also, we've put in probably $20k in improvements since we purchased, so even with a higher resale price, we'd probably be at a slight loss after seller's closing costs if we tried to sell.

So, in my experience having lived and owned homes in both areas, this area's market is definitely not that of the DC suburbs. And the buyers in the two areas are generally looking for very different things, so what sells well in one won't necessarily sell well in the other.