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Old 02-18-2010, 08:10 PM
 
2 posts, read 5,153 times
Reputation: 10

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Hello,

I've been reading the posts on this forum for about two months. Thank you for all who have previously posted. It has been very helpful. People seem to either love it or hate it.

I just found out today that my husband and I will be relocating from Westchester County, NY, a NYC suburb, to the Norfolk area. He'll work at the port.

I'm pretty excited because we've been in the NYC area for a decade - steadily moving further and further away from the city - and we're tired of the noise, traffic, long commutes, taxes and everything else that comes with living in the Northeast.

I have no idea where we will live, never been there, but I'm up for an adventure. Although the talk about high housing prices, no jobs and trash do have me concerned.

I have a few questions which I haven't been able to find the answers to. So, if you could please help me:
-What are some good websites to get info about specific neighborhoods?
-How are the rental and sales markets doing there? Are prices falling?
-Where's the best place to go to find rentals? I'm leaning toward renting a single family home.
-Lastly, any recommendations on where to live? I know this has been covered exhaustively, but no harm in asking again since everyone's situation is unique. We're homebodies who just like to hang out with our dogs and throw a ball around the yard. And, of course, a safe area with little noise.

Thank you for your assistance.
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Old 02-18-2010, 09:58 PM
 
Location: Miramar Beach, FL
2,040 posts, read 3,857,482 times
Reputation: 934
Be very AFRAID...........


j/k
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Old 02-19-2010, 06:11 AM
 
1,477 posts, read 6,004,064 times
Reputation: 1116
Quote:
Originally Posted by iam2vb View Post
Hello,

I've been reading the posts on this forum for about two months. Thank you for all who have previously posted. It has been very helpful. People seem to either love it or hate it.

I just found out today that my husband and I will be relocating from Westchester County, NY, a NYC suburb, to the Norfolk area. He'll work at the port.

I'm pretty excited because we've been in the NYC area for a decade - steadily moving further and further away from the city - and we're tired of the noise, traffic, long commutes, taxes and everything else that comes with living in the Northeast.

I have no idea where we will live, never been there, but I'm up for an adventure. Although the talk about high housing prices, no jobs and trash do have me concerned.

I have a few questions which I haven't been able to find the answers to. So, if you could please help me:

-What are some good websites to get info about specific neighborhoods?
Not realy sure where you could find web sites about certain neighborhoods
I dont think you will find any...my neighborhood has a web site but is password protected so it will do you no good, most neighborhoods that have web sites are more of the civic league based format...I think you will just have to go with word of mouth on most....Many people pick certain neighborhoods because of crime stats or local school zones or the commute to work etc.....what ever is most important to them


-How are the rental and sales markets doing there? Are prices falling?
Prices have fell quite a bit but are not done falling by any means. Lots of rental properties both single family and apartments in the area, I dont think rent prices have fell as much as sale prices yet. Lots of homes for sale right now, over 13K listings in the greater Hampton Roads area. Many of those listing are just dreamer prices where people are still asking way to much for their home, some are just wishing, others are stuck at their asking price because that is the price point they need to break even on their home...Like many places across the USA short sales and bank owned homes are leading the way as far as sales and are controling the price points...The average price of a home selling right now in Hampton Roads is about 190K...Now dont get very excited about that price point because you will get very little for 190K..maybe a condo or an older smaller built home in a not so good neighborhhod....A standard grade spec type home with 4/5 bedroom and 3 baths with say 2500-3000 sq feet is still running about that 350-450K....


-Where's the best place to go to find rentals? I'm leaning toward renting a single family home. Your best bet would be with any local real estate agent that deals with rentals, you can also look at the local paper online and see what is listed....Every Saturday the paper has a local real estate guide in it....even places like craigslist has tons of rentals, you just have to be much more careful with scammers if looking on places like that...


-Lastly, any recommendations on where to live? I know this has been covered exhaustively, but no harm in asking again since everyone's situation is unique. We're homebodies who just like to hang out with our dogs and throw a ball around the yard. And, of course, a safe area with little noise.
That is the million dollar question only you can answer, most people will tell you either the cities of Va Bch or Chesapeake especially since your DH will be working in Norfolk....Also most people will tell you to stay away from most places in the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth.....
Thank you for your assistance.
Thats is about all I can tell you until you have more detailed questions like price points you want to spend, what type of neighborhood you are looking for etc

Last edited by rtandc; 02-19-2010 at 06:33 AM..
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Old 02-19-2010, 06:53 AM
 
134 posts, read 543,887 times
Reputation: 44
Look on norfolk.craigslist.com and pilotonline.com to get an idea of the rental market. Pilotonline also has a crime map so you can see which neighborhoods are undesirable.

If your husband is going to work in Norfolk I'd suggest living in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, or Chesapeake (not the western branch area though).
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Old 02-19-2010, 07:25 AM
 
Location: Baltimore
5 posts, read 8,103 times
Reputation: 15
Right now I am hoping to move to the Norfolk area for my own reasons. I have posted on this forum to get advice and get a feel of things. From what I see fromthe little time I have read this forum is Norfolk is a lot like other cities and towns, with its pulses and minuses. Also alot of those in ths forum are younger people in their 20s or early 30s with a total different view of what they want out of life than I do. It is all a matter of perspective. For instance, as a kid we lived next door to a nice middle class medical student and his wife and kids. On the surface great, right. Nice town house, solid middle class area, places for kids to play, school to walk to, it seemed great. Well the medical student was into German military music of the World War 2 era. I grew up being bolted right out of bed at 2AM by German military marching brass band recordings with Seig Heils being screamed in the background as he jacked the volume when he got home after his late shift. Those days there were no noise laws were we lived. Oh by the way he complained about my rock music when I was a teen, too. Enjoy your adventure and don't let anyone take it away from you. After New York and its drama, you just might find your paradise.
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Old 02-19-2010, 08:54 AM
 
Location: Miramar Beach, FL
2,040 posts, read 3,857,482 times
Reputation: 934
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nicbeth View Post
Well the medical student was into German military music of the World War 2 era. I grew up being bolted right out of bed at 2AM by German military marching brass band recordings with Seig Heils being screamed in the background as he jacked the volume when he got home after his late shift.
Whaaa??....I thought I had some crazy neighbors in the past but this takes the cake.
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Old 02-19-2010, 09:20 AM
 
Location: Hampton Roads, Virginia
1,123 posts, read 5,323,851 times
Reputation: 710
Quote:
Originally Posted by EMERALDGIRL View Post
Whaaa??....I thought I had some crazy neighbors in the past but this takes the cake.
That is crazy!
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Old 03-05-2010, 10:44 AM
 
24 posts, read 67,350 times
Reputation: 18
Moved to Norfolk a few months back, was also unsure for years, yes YEARS to make a decision to move from the burbs (predominantly white, high income, great schools suburbs) to Ghent, Norfolk...could not sleep well for MONTHS after our move and can now say this is one of the BEST decisions our family has made in a while! Yes, have had a couple of experiences where some people seemed a bit out of line, but nothing traumatic. Couple in their 40's with children here. Children love being able to walk everywhere too.
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Old 03-05-2010, 03:19 PM
 
Location: Huntersville/Charlotte, NC and Washington, DC
26,691 posts, read 41,629,721 times
Reputation: 41324
Quote:
Originally Posted by IloveGhent View Post
Moved to Norfolk a few months back, was also unsure for years, yes YEARS to make a decision to move from the burbs (predominantly white, high income, great schools suburbs) to Ghent, Norfolk...could not sleep well for MONTHS after our move and can now say this is one of the BEST decisions our family has made in a while! Yes, have had a couple of experiences where some people seemed a bit out of line, but nothing traumatic. Couple in their 40's with children here. Children love being able to walk everywhere too.
Do you have your kids in the Norfolk public school system? If so, how do you feel about it?
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Old 03-06-2010, 12:03 PM
 
1,790 posts, read 6,503,764 times
Reputation: 1003
Can you also elaborate about the feel of community in Ghent? Currently I live in a suburban solid middle class established neighborhood but it has little sense of community to it. Neighbors pretty much keep to themselves and most don't seem very outgoing or anything. I yearn for something more urban with a sense of place and community.
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