House Hunting 101 - Virginia Beach Neighborhoods

This is a true story of couple who bought a home in 2008. They are fantastic people and we had loads of fun house hunting. Our adventures taught us some valuable lessons from which everyone can benefit.

The Jones (I changed their name) wanted to retire in a waterfront villa with a private yard. This sounded great to me. I love waterfront villas! And who doesn’t, especially when price is no object.

Alas, price was an object, as it always seems to be. I was tasked to find the perfect waterfront retreat for around $400,000. This was a classic case of managing expectations. I’m not in the business of telling people “no, you can’t have that,” but this time I had no choice. “Mr. Jones,” I said, “you can’t have that.”

“Try harder,” he implored. So I did. There are $400,000 waterfront homes in Hampton Roads and we looked at all of them. Few had “private yards” and none could be classified as “villas.”

“Hmm,” said Mrs. Jones. It seems like the really nice waterfront homes are out of our price range. I didn’t say “I told you so,” but I really wanted to. So I said, “maybe we can find something that has a private yard!”

I quickly realized that what the Jones wanted most was “new.” They said they wanted private but they would truly light up every time we saw something new. When I say “new” I don’t mean a new home. It could have been a new kitchen or a new deck. They loved new.

Looking to the left, Mr. Jones said, “Uh-oh, high density housing.” Keep in mind we were driving past some really nice condos, no government projects in sight. As it turned out, the Jones didn’t like condos. What they didn’t know was that this area is full of very nice condos. Does anyone want a $500,000 condo? I have several to choose from!

Guess what. A week later they bought a brand new condo in Virginia Beach for $400,000. And it was on the water! Actually it was more of a water feature. There was a fountain in the middle of it.

So, what is the moral of the story? Some may say “you should buy a condo.” That’s not right because that choice is simply personal preference. The point is that you can’t find out what you want until you get out there and look around.

I can give you a personal tour of 10 homes in under four hours. And that includes a one hour lunch break at Panera, my favorite house hunting lunch stop. You will learn more in those four hours than you will by spending two hours per night for a month (60+ hours) on homes.com or wherever.

What is your time worth? Start saving it today! I know you think you can find the perfect place online but I’m here to tell you that you probably won’t. You will most likely pick the perfect place based on a combination of your agent’s recommendations and your own research.

Fill out the form below to get started. I look forward to getting to know you. That’s the first step in finding you the perfect home!

WilliamLayton.com