Posted on 08/03/2009 12:12:58 PM PDT by Oshkalaboomboom
My sister, who has lived outside of the US for almost 15 years, is moving back to the Norfolk, VA area in 2 weeks. She tells me that the real estate agents she has contacted have told her that she can't get a decent house for less than $350,000 (one she looked at online was $378k) and the houses in her price range are tiny, basically starter homes. Is this true for that area? Personally I find that hard to believe in this market.
She is looking to live in Norfolk (her husband will be working there), Chesapeake, VA Beach, etc. She wants to enroll her daughter in Bishop Sullivan (?) High School so she'd like to be somewhere near there. She heard the public high schools weren't very good so she wants the Catholic school.
Are there any Freepers from that area who can give an accurate assesment of the real estate market and recommend some areas for her to look? She wants 3-4 bedrooms, a garage and either a swimming pool or a swim/tennis community. Where I live $350k will buy you a nice house.
I suggested renting and taking more time to look but she said rents are higher than the mortgages, she doesn't want to spend $1500-2000/month on rent.
Any advice will be appreciated. Thanks.
Ooooh baby. My favorite kind.
I would suggest a realty web site. It also depends on what she considers a decent house. A lot depends on the neighborhood and the proximity to work/school. Traffic can be a real pain sometimes, especially around the bases.
She might want to use realtor.com.
My suggestion is to go here:
Put Norfolk in the search box and your price range and see what comes up. The mls numbers are live links and most listings have lots of photos.
Very good Advise. Best to rent an inexpensive basement from someone with a private home and build up the money necessary if they really want to be home owners.
Plunging in without a good financial foundation, given what we see in this market, is a prescription for disaster. Being house poor and driven later into bankruptcy is no fun.
Better to get the foundation and a good 20% and not fool with the PMI.
And By The Way (BTW), houses are not cheaper than rent - they suck you for maintenance and much more. What you get (hopefully) is privacy and a little investment for the future. Better to do it right.
Pay the Price for a Real Home, Lay the Foundation Now! It is a solid Budget and a real plan.
http://www.realtor.com/ provides a decent idea of housing in an area!
In that area, you have to pay a lot to stay out of certain areas. Newport News has some pretty good places.
Virginia has suffered the same foreclosure nightmares as the rest of the country. I live an hour or so east of Richmond and there are plenty of houses available. A house that sold for $375K in 2006 can be had for about 2/3 that today.
Don’t believe the on-line ALS. Get a copy (or on-line) of the local newspaper or talk to a mortgage banker that is local.
There are deals out there.
BTW Sullivan Catholic High is in VA Beach (don't expect a solid Catholic education from there...after all it's namesake is retired now but he WAS the most Liberal bishop in America) but the public schools are very good in Va Beach. Can't say the same for Chesapeake and Norfolk but they're good at the Beach.
As someone else suggested, you can go to http://www.zillow.com and look at their “zestimates.” Another thing you might want to do is look at the property appraiser’s website for that county. You can search their database. http://www.norfolk.gov/receivable/
Another site to look at is www.zillow.com — it’s a good starting place but I wouldn’t use it as gospel.
5 seconds ... LOL
Scratch that idea...Newport News is the most crime ridden area in Tidewater. It's also on the other side of the bay...weekday commutes this summer to get across the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel have been as long as 5 hours!
How about a Townhouse in Hampton for $215k
check your freepmail-
Get the truth from Zillow — it’ll tell you what property has actually sold for recently in that area. Not just current asking prices.
zillow.com
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