everything looks better on the internet....or is located in the ghetto...

Portsmouth is so hit and miss...Norfolk is a miss...Virginia Beach is expensive...Hampton is another Portsmouth...Newport News and Suffolk are too far!

the housing market is so overpriced here. using my price range...and searching like greenville and smithfield nc...i can get houses almost 3x bigger than what i can get in a va...

my top two choices so far:

$162,900 2 BR, 2.5 Bath, 2-story


$196,400 2 BR, 2.5/2.5 or 2 and 2 1/2 baths? i guess thats 3?, 3-story



1st one is in Virginia Beach, 2nd is in Portsmouth

1st has a community pool and is more traditional, where as the 2nd one is located next to a golf course and has a community pool and community gym and is brand new...1st was built in 1985

payments on 1st one are better, obvious from price...where as 2nd would stretch me damn thin, but id be more willing to get a roommate for sure to help with mortgage..

the 1st one will most likely stay about the same value, where the 2nd one will grow in value as stated...so its an investment i guess.

i probably wont live there over 5 years. but im tired of paying over 1k for rent when i could pay the same to buy...

so basically what im curious about is...has anyone had the same problem? buy something to invest in, or buy something that will probably either go down or go up...unknown.

thanks
Steven

[Edited on June 27, 2008 at 7:42 PM. Reason : these are both townhouses]

[Edited on June 27, 2008 at 7:29 PM. Reason : i live in virginia beach, va]

6/27/2008 7:29:08 PM

My wife and i were really thinking about starting negotiations on a particular house. After seeing it three times (once along with both sets of parents), we thought it was a go. Sadly, it turns out that it was in one of the most densely foreclosing areas in Charlotte Plus, on the 3rd run through there, the subdivision had a whole area full of duplexes

it's definitely on the down for the time being. It's listed for $165k, owner bought it for $155k, and I'd put down a starting point of $115k, knowing the neighborhood. But either way, I wouldn't want my wife in a neighborhood like that by herself at night and for us to deal with a bunch of riff raff.

[Edited on June 27, 2008 at 7:39 PM. Reason : ]

6/27/2008 7:37:13 PM

they are both in good neighborhoods. the 2nd one is still being developed and the 1st is near where i live now...so i know that area pretty well.

6/27/2008 7:56:05 PM

haha

don't live in Portsmouth

there's no sketchier city in that area

you should check out Chesapeake if you want somewhat cheaper

[Edited on June 27, 2008 at 8:23 PM. Reason : what area is the first one in? ]

6/27/2008 8:21:47 PM

the 1st one is off Holland Rd. Chimney Hill is the neighbor hood. Virginia Beach area.


right now i live off S. Independence Blvd. Brenneman Farms is the neighborhood.

Cheasepeake was expensive it seemed to me

6/28/2008 2:43:40 AM

did that used to be a church?

6/28/2008 3:13:57 AM

anyone have any good advice or experience with Realtors in Raleigh. We're going to be beginning the process of looking within the next couple of months.

6/28/2008 5:58:48 AM

Im not in raleigh, but I used Allen Tate to help me find my home in WS. I had a great realtor that was patient and did everything he could to hook me up

6/28/2008 6:06:52 AM

that first house reminds me of the Amityville Horror house.

6/28/2008 6:35:15 AM

I feel your pain. We are moving to Philadelphia in a month. Nothing says overpriced like a 500 sq ft 1 bedroom for 1100/month. Either pay twice what we pay in NC or live in the ghetto. and probably die.

6/28/2008 10:25:31 AM

Minka, Marge Bish is who my grandfather used when he came back to the states, and who my bf used to find his house.

She's really good for first-time home buyers.

6/28/2008 10:41:05 AM

Quote :

"did that used to be a church?"

no, that is the style of condos/townhouses in that neighborhood.


hammster, yea it sucks. if you try and get the more sq feet for your dollar you run yourself right into the ghetto or you get a 100 plus yr old home with the floors falling out...it SUCKS.

6/28/2008 12:20:33 PM

i had a great time house hunting.

6/28/2008 3:50:55 PM

my dad lives in chesapeake... i like the food and stuff

but he's gettin the hell out because he's tired of the traffic and the ever-growing urban sprawl

i think he's planning to live out into the middle of nowhere in the tidewater

6/28/2008 4:16:45 PM

traffic does blow here...god damn people slowing down in fucking tunnels or rubber necking wrecks on the HOV

6/30/2008 7:39:53 PM

Dude no offense but you're not even on the tip of the iceberg when it comes to overpriced houses. I live in Washington and I payed almost $300k for a 1600 square foot house. It's way worse the closer to Seattle too. But honestly.... even that is nothing compared to the market near San Diego.

But best advice..... buy something you'll enjoy living in. As a general rule, buying a house is not a great way to "invest" unless you catch a huge upswing. You are paying let's say 5% in interest, plus improvements to the house, maintenance, etc. It takes forever just to break even, and from what it sounds like, you might not be living there a real long time.

6/30/2008 9:37:09 PM

got a 2 bed/2.5 bath townhouse for 181, 900 in chesapeake....its nice....i love it!!

8/8/2008 8:01:33 PM

i spent 3 days househunting and ended up buying the second place i looked at

8/8/2008 8:04:42 PM

this was like my 30+ house

8/8/2008 8:06:13 PM

i had something very specific in mind and told my realtor i'd only be in town for 5 days to look at places and pretty much had to find something

i screened out a bunch of places through mls listings she sent me but since i was looking to buy brand new it made my decision much easier!

the only thing i didn't get that i wanted was a bathtub in the master (the second bathroom has one) and the one thing i got that i didnt give a shit about was a fireplace (gas) but it turns out that fireplaces are insanely common in houston.. go figure!

8/8/2008 8:11:57 PM

yea i wanted wood floors and a loft and 3 bedrooms...but yea....that was out of my price range in the va beach area!

8/8/2008 8:16:03 PM

Tell your buyer's agent to get off her ass and stop showing you crap.

8/9/2008 1:24:37 AM

Philly is cheap as shit compared to sf and new york.

move to germantown, its pretty cheap there.

and you can buy shitty rowhouses in the ghetto for 100k which is pretty nice.

8/9/2008 2:22:54 PM

^^i picked them, but it sucks when they look good on the internet and look shitty in person..haha

[Edited on August 10, 2008 at 8:37 AM. Reason : sort of like most girls on myspace.]

8/10/2008 8:36:58 AM

The myspace angles... now available for houses?

8/10/2008 9:12:20 AM

indeed. hardcore angles

8/10/2008 10:20:38 AM