Living in Norfolk Virginia

HISTORY LESSON

Now, let’s get into the good stuff. Let’s talk history first. Norfolk was founded in sixteen eighty two and incorporated in seventeen thirty six. Norfolk is one of the oldest coastal cities in Virginia and is currently the second most popular city in the entire Commonwealth of Virginia. Behind Virginia Beach, of course, bordered on one side by the Elizabeth River and the other side, the Chesapeake Bay. Norfolk’s natural harbor is the perfect place for establishing the world’s largest naval base, as well as a growing port of call for a luxury cruise ships. That’s because not many weekends go by without a concert happening. Sporting events, something in the community. What festival in Norfolk? Just wait until the casinos here. Oh, my goodness. Right. Oh, yeah. It’s going to be a good time. So living in Norfolk is a beautiful experience and sure to keep you busy as you want to be. Yeah, for sure. And of course, it has its drawbacks like any other mid-sized location, but with a ton of great spots, relatively low cost of living and massive upside for real estate appreciation. Norfolk can be a terrific place to call home.

PRO’S OF LIVING HERE

So let’s start with the pros. Norfolk has a plethora of pros. For starters, Norfolk has a very low sales tax rate, which we really appreciate. Really awesome. We eat out a lot. Our kids are getting older, so we don’t do a lot of cooking at home. And that can make a difference in that monthly budget, as well as if you like to shop for shoes and clothes and those sorts of things. So the sales tax is really low. The property taxes are the fourth lowest in the entire country, which is nuts when you think about it, because Norfolk is a pretty big city. But to have some of the lowest taxes in the country is crazy. There’s a ton of beaches and one hundred and fourteen miles of shoreline right here in Norfolk. There’s world class cuisine, a great culture, a ton of great nightlife and entertainment. So if you like live music, Norfolk could be a spot for you. So if you’re considering relocating to Norfolk. Here are some fun facts to consider if you had to toss you the beaches. Right. Let’s talk about beaches, because I love the beach so much for your beach is probably the most popular beach vacation spot here in the state. But Virginia also has quality beaches along the eastern shore coastline, and Norfolk is one of them. Norfolk maintains three beach parks, Community Beach Park, Ocean View, Beach Park and Sarah Constant Beach Park, various festivals. Live music can all be enjoyed in these areas. In addition, there are other beautiful beaches up and down the coastline. So for the lovers of the water in conjunction with outdoor entertainment, that’s us and maybe you. Norfolk is certainly has a lot to offer. Absolutely.

COST OF LIVING

Cost of living. Cost of living is comparatively lower than the upscale Hampton Roads counterparts, believe it or not. It’s slightly below the country’s average. As a matter of fact, in Norfolk, the average cost of utilities, groceries, housing, transportation, they’re all below national averages. And there’s some other ways to save money. Kind of great shopping outlets like a ton of great outlets here in Norfolk. You know, you have the normal Sam’s Club and Costco and big box grocery places.So depending on the time of year, you can purchase local produce as well at Farmer’s Market.So if you’re smart, lowering your food costs and lowering your cost of living can help you make a little bit more money getting to which. Let’s talk about making some money in real estate. Over the past decade, home appreciation in Norfolk has been above national average, been right at three percent. However, appreciation of the past two years has been closer to nine to 10 percent. In some areas, you’re seeing like one percent a month appreciation. Demand is crazy for this area. As of now, the median home price in Norfolk is around two hundred and sixty thousand dollars. The average age of the homes around here is fifty five years old. But if you think about the median price, two hundred sixty thousand dollars, it’s actually not bad when you think about a mid-sized city like Norfolk. So a lot of this is due to the high concentration of military installations and military personnel in the area. Renters make up over half of the populace of Norfolk. Vacancy rates stay below three percent on a regular basis. So essentially what that means is that the housing market for real estate ownership is extremely strong. Housing is not extremely easy to come by in general here. Once you own a home, whether you decide to sell it or rent it, the fact that supply cannot keep up with demand essentially tips the odds in your favor of it being a profitable venture. Whether you decide to sell it when you want to move or whether you decide to hold it as a rental. Likely if you’ve taken a three to five year snapshot, you’re going to be very happy with the financial results. We still think there’s a lot of upside for Norfolk as long as demand continues to outpace supply. So we’re a big buy for Norfolk.

EMPLOYMENT

Employment. The job market in Norfolk has increased by one point three percent over the last year. Over the next 10 years, we predict job growth is going to be thirty one point two percent increase. That’s amazing. There are a lot of both blue collar and white collar job opportunities. And some of the main employment sectors outside of the military and government contracting are things like advanced manufacturing, business management and professional services, health care, life science and biotechnology, information technology, insurance, maritime transportation, shipbuilding and logistics, so there’s a lot to offer there.

EDUCATION

Yeah, in terms of education. I’ll just start out with like a direct disclaimer. We always encourage people to do their own research. Educational needs are very niche and unique to each family. With that said, there are five high schools, nine middle schools and thirty four elementary schools in the area and 16 additional educational programs before the college level. So do your own research. Even the website’s locally kind of differ based on what you focus on and your family needs in terms of education. It’s worthy to note that there’s a number of private school opportunities in Norfolk as well. So do your research and make sure that you feel good that Norfolk has what your loved ones need in terms of their education.

ATTRACTIONS

Norfolk has a ton of entertainment value. It is the home of historical attractions, unique retail shop, world class museums and a ridiculous number of delicious restaurants. Art museums just saying most attractions are within a short walking distance. A car ride or a tram ride? Yeah, dude, you can golf, sail, kayak hike all within minutes of the downtown area, which is kind of crazy. Pop in and grab a shower or go downtown. Check out a concert tour, the beautiful harbor tour of the city by light rail and bike on foot. There’s so many excellent family friendly activities in Norfolk as well. Besides water sports, there’s the Norfolk Botanical Gardens, which is beautiful at Christmas time, by the way. It’s beautiful year round. But Christmas, their display is insane. The Virginia Zoo, which is a family favorite for ours, we usually get season passes. It’s a really great zoo here in like the southeast area. It’s one of the best ones. There is not a case, the Maritime Discovery Center, and those are just a few. So a couple of other things to think about. There’s some really cool like triple-A sports options here. Number one, the Norfolk admirals, our local hockey team, it is probably the best entertainment for like a fifteen dollar ticket you’ll find anywhere in this area. It’s very fun, competitive atmosphere. The locals that show up now, the crowds probably get to fill up maybe 70 percent of the stadium. But the people that are there really love their team and it makes for a good time similar to the Norfolk tides. Also a great bargain, really a cool stadium. There’s bathrooms and watering holes and like places to move around all over the stadium. Very fun. I love taking my son there for baseball games quite regularly. We’re out there like wrestling for a foul ball and enjoying the seventh inning stretch. So good times at the stadium to and at the Tides game. You can check out like firework shows on the weekends after the games. So speaking of that downtown area, we’ve got the Norfolk scope that is a huge hub for like big concerts shows, comedians come there. Are the WWE like basically you think about it and you can see a huge venue. It’s for the kids. so Norfolk Scope is like your. Oh, this is awesome. And just a walk across the way. You’ve got Chrysler Hall. That’s more for the artsy people. You can view a you can view the ballet theater. And they also have the symphony, which is absolutely beautiful. And a lot of times we’ll go in the Christmas time to listen to that. La la la la la la la la la la.

NEGATIVES

Let’s get into the negative stuff. Let’s go to the negative, Nancy, side of cons. Going to give some cons for Norfolk or I’ll start with a con. Norfolk has a crime rate 50 percent higher than Virginia average. It is thirty seven percent higher than the average in the US. For cities of similar size, it has a crime rate of forty two per 1000 residents. Yeah, it’s kind of a rough stat. So it is what it is. There’s a little higher crime, a lot of downtown area. So it’s just a reality that you have to be aware of. And we’ll leave it at that.

WEATHER

September and October are the most beautiful months of the year here. They really are. You’re talking like days during the day and low 60s at night, just beautiful. The evenings make for great fireplace chats and pumpkin spice coffee and holding hands with loved ones and that sort of thing. So that’s the weather in a nutshell onto our three favorite eateries. Why don’t you get us started? Get started. Luna Maya has got to be one of my favorite spots.

FAVORITE EATERIES

La Luna, Maya in Norfolk. Now, it’s really busy. So you want to make sure you get a reservation or get there a little bit early and be ready to stand and go to the bar, get a drink while you’re waiting for your table. But their food is fantastic. Little on the pricey side, but worth every dollar. You’re going to spend. Not if you get the brisket burrito, it’s worth it. Mine would be the waterside district. This place features the best of like national and local restaurant options. It’s been totally rebuilt redesign. It offers live music both indoors and outdoors, which is really cool, year round a variety of festivals throughout the year. They have multiple indoor bars, outdoor bars, pool table. There’s a cornhole outside. You can go yuck it up with strangers and make new friends. There’s an arcade, all sorts of games and that sort of thing. It really has a great venue for sports, entertainment or dinner with the family. So it’s a very. All encompassing a large place, and it has a World-Class waterfront marina view, so if you’re visiting, you absolutely have to go check out the waterside district. It’s just an awesome place to hang out. And last but not least, Peck-n-Pour that is our absolute favorite, or at least my absolute favorite. If you like beer and wings, you have to go to peck and pour. It is a small little quaint hole in the wall, hole in the wall, but it is to die for food. The service is normally really, really great. We love you, at peck and pour people. And yeah. Yeah, that best wings in Norfork, for sure. Great selection of draft beers and that sort of thing. I’m Jonathan. This is Rachel Beasley, We are That Fit Team, we hope you like this video? We are professionals in real estate and passionate about people. And we’ll see you next week.