Moving to Norfolk

[djmcmath]

After a brief stay in the NorthEast, the Navy is probably sending me to Norfolk. Can you believe they want me to be The Navigator (ach!) on a Real Live Nuclear Submarine? Nutty. However, now that I have paper orders in hand for a transfer in April, I'm starting to look seriously at housing. Some questions for the locals:

1 - I'm living there for 3 years, tops. Given the uncertain state of nationwide real estate, is buying even a good idea, or am I liable to be better off renting? Thanks to some RE gurus here on Pelican (see the RE Bad News thread), I now understand how to make sense of numbers, but I'd like more specifics about the Norfolk area market. Anybody with local experience testify? What's liable to go up? What's liable to be worthless? Townhomes better investment than single family places? Is there any professional organization that does studies on local housing markets?

2 - Assuming I'm buying, the most I can really feel happy and comfortable with is about $250K, and would rather spend less than $200K on my first home. Given that budget, what market am I looking at? $250K buys a 1-room shanty with an outhouse that I share with the child molester nextdoor? I'd like at least 1200 sqft and a garage -- am I being unrealistic?

3 - Continuing on the buying assumption (I have no questions about renting; BTDT), can anyone recommend an agent? Do I even need one, or are the hassles of buying a house from a distance going to be something I can deal with without an agent? Thoughts?


I know this is way off-topic, but outside of politics, this forum is one of the best resources I've ever stumbled across. Thanks in advance.

Dan

[singpilot]

Dan;

Spent a couple of nights in ORF last week. Was really cold with the wind off of the bay. The commute traffic was heavy, but at least moved for the most part. Stayed in the hotel with the Shula grill. I'll bet it's pretty in the summer with all the water and the boating.

Looks like a nice transfer. Of course, you may not be seeing much of it.

[austin552]

Sing,
Shula was pretty good huh?

Dan,
I was born there. There is ALLOT of comute traffic but Va Beach or Chesapeake is your best bet unless you fall in love with Ghent and can afford it. There is always something going on and I make it up there once a month or so. pm me and I will tell all...
Austin

[allaircooled]

Just got stationed here myself. Closed on my house in Chesapeake on Monday. I paid $210k for 3 bed, 2 bath, 2 car garage house. House appraised for $221k! Anything below $200k in this area is crap in my opinion. The market has slowed down allot around here but with all the military people shifting out and in here I don't think resale can be too bad but I am no expert by any stretch of the imagination. If you want I can give you my agents contact numbers. I highly recommend using an agent especially since you don't pay for them, the seller does.

[arcsine]

Dan,
Won't you be underwater in the boat six months a year? Is there any advantage to taking the money and investing it somewhere and then if the next assignment is dry, buy a house you can actually spend time living in.

[Neilk]

To follow Gary's thought, how long will you actually be in Norfolk? If you are on a sub, what kind of internet access will you have? How will handle PPOT withdrawal? Not to mention chicks and sun?

[turbo6bar]

http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=100505&ran=193286

Appreciation is slowing, inventory is climbing, and speculative demand is waning. This is NOT the time to be testing the waters. I think you would avert great risk by renting for 6-8 months or even 1 year. Under the worst case, you would likely miss out on low single digit appreciation, and under the best case, you would avoid going upside-down on a 2006 purchase.

From the article:

"I think it's going to pick back up, but the indicators I've had is that it won't be the appreciation and the feeding frenzy that it has been for the last three years," he said.

[Seahawk]

Dan,

Just got back from Norfolk...didn't stay at the Shula-based Hotel this time!

If I were in your shoes (single, no residual attachments) I would rent (figure three year tour includes two cruises and work up's, stupid inport OOD/CDO watches and assist visits).

Rent a room/apartment on Willoughby Beach, Ocean View, etc. (best commute) and enjoy being single without worrying about your equity when you are at sea.

Norfolk/Va Beach can be a lot of fun...

[stevepaa]

Dan, I second the renting suggestion and stay on that side of the tunnel crossing, horrendous traffic problem. good luck What class are you getting onto?

[djmcmath]

Renting suddenly seems like a pretty good plan. I just ran some quick numbers -- assuming 3 years in the area, and a 70% optempo, with 14 hour work days (Ha! That's optimistic!) and a 1-in-8 duty rotation, plus some other fudge factors, it looks like fewer than 4000 actual hours in wherever I call "home" over a 3 year period. That's an interesting note.

turbo6bar -- thanks for the link. I don't know if you knew it when you forwarded that, but they have all kinds of interesting stuff in the RE section, including a "What have homes near XXX adress sold for recently?" That's kind of handy.

NeilK -- PPOT withdrawal is going to be a real challenge. Chicks don't usually go out with me these days anyway, knowing that I'm in the Navy, so that won't be a change. And I lived near Seattle for the last 4 years, so I'm not at all used to seeing sunlight anyway. Life on a submarine really represents very little difference from normal for me.

Willoughby rentals ... let me see here, I could get a 2-br apt on Willoughby for about half of my housing allowance, living 10 minutes from work. I could pocket $700/mo just on housing allowance, and have a view of the water. Wow, that's kind of tempting. In fact, that's _really_ tempting.

allaircooled -- that's an interesting data point. Looking at real estate listings online, it's tough to tell whether or not a $200K home is a junker or a real deal. The payments for a $200K home work out fine for my housing allowance, which is nice, but I'd hate to find myself struggling to sell it for $150 3 years down the road. Are you on one of the boats?

The other cog in the monkey wrench is that my orders are still up in the air. It isn't final until I actually report to the USS Norfolk and do turnover. The orders actually have a note that says, in effect, "On arrival in homeport, but before actually reporting, call the detailer to make sure there isn't someplace he'd rather you be." One more nail in the "rent for a while" coffin -- good call turbo6bar.

Seems that Norfolk is a well-traveled area. I'll buy everybody a round of drinks when I get into town. Seriously, thanks for the help -- PPOT comes through once again.

[allaircooled]

I seriously doubt (im no expert) that if you bought a house for $200k that in 3 years it would be anything less that you what you bought it for. Just because the market is slowing down doesn't mean the prices are going to drop. You wont see gains like they did a couple of years obviously. I am sure someone will disagree but I think it was Money magazine that had the projected real estate returns for this year and Hampton roads was like the second or third highest nation wide. I just can't stand apartment living. Especialy with no garage.

My opinion on the houses below $200k as being crap is just my opinion based on all the houses I have seen the past 2 or 3 months looking.

Not sure what boat I'm going to. I just got off limdu and in the process of negotiating orders. Surface Navy by the way, you would know us as targets.

Chris

[austin552]

There's always Portsmouth(P Town). Just a stones throw away from Norfolk.

[djmcmath]

Originally posted by allaircooled
Especialy with no garage.

Same here -- my apartment in Bangor had a garage, my place here in CT doesn't. I don't know if I could ever stand to live long term with no garage. Aargh.

My opinion on the houses below $200k as being crap is just my opinion based on all the houses I have seen the past 2 or 3 months looking.

And for all those disclaimers, it's still better than my impression, not having spent any time at all in that market.