Great Neighborhoods, Schools near Main Naval Base

I would recommend Va. Beach over Norfolk any day! Especially with kids. The school system is so much better. I live in the Windsor Woods neighborhood. It is very family oriented. Windsor Woods Elementary School is a close knit group with plenty of parental involvement. I went there as a child and now my kids go there. There have been many families come back to this area so their kids could attend the school. There are several houses around here for sale right now. We are just blocks away from Mount Trashmore. It is a great park where kids can play, walking/running/biking trails, skate park, etc. This area is all about the kids! If you wound like any more information you can email me at ____@____.com.
A.

Hi B.!

What you are asking for does not exist. Sorry! (You coming from prototype school?)

My best friend is a realtor, and she would tell you to move away from the naval base area. First of all, you're not going to find the schools you are wanting, and secondly, you're not going to find much in your budget. You MIGHT get lucky with a townhome, but you won't find a single family home at 200K.

VA Beach is nice, with my only complaint being heavy traffic. For the best schools in VA Beach, the Cox school district is the best, BUT you'll need to more than double your budget to 500K+.

Chesapeake is where we live, specificallly Great Bridge. GB has some of the best schools in Chesapeake, including middle and high schools. We're not far from VA 168 and I-64, and hubby is in a car pool that takes about 30 minutes each way. You'll be able to find plenty of bang for your buck, but at 200K, you might have a harder time. Like I said earlier, that will likely find you a townhome, not a single family home.

Suffolk is even further out, about 45 minutes. The schools are decent, and the housing prices are a little less.

Now, for the $20 questions: have you contacted a realtor and/or relocation specialist? What about applying for your mortgage? If you use Navy Federal, they have a list of preferred agents who are relo specialists, AND you can get closing cost rebates. PLEASE PM me before your house hunting trip!!!! This is a great time to purchase a home, but you really need to know the areas and some local facts.

Hi B.
I am a Realtor in Virginia Beach - There are several great areas here, Chesapeake, and Norfolk that would meet your requirements. You will probably want a home newer than 1978 so that you don't have to deal with lead paint issues (if you have young children). There is also a new law being passed that is giving first time buyers a tax credit of $7500 for next year's taxes. Please feel free to contact me if you need any assistance - have lived in VB since I was 4 (basicallly forever). I have two grown daughters and a 2 1/2 year old :)

thanks and good luck!

I personally prefer Va Beach, but I did grow up in the Norfolk area. Both of parents were military and we lived in the Bayview area. There are some really nice homes there in your price range. I went to Bayview Elementary and that was really nice. There are also some nice private schools in that area too. Hope this helps.

I would say that VA Beach is ur best bet. My boys go to Alanton and i love it!!!! Some of the best schools r Alanton,Linkhorn,John B Dye,Hermatige,Red Mill,Strawbrigde and Corporate Landing(which is an all year school). Good Luck!!!

Hi B., my husband and I are also Navy members. We have lived here for 6 years and have 3 kids. We will be moving soon to IL. Anyway...We live in Virginia Beach and my oldest son (6 years old) went to Malibu Elementary. I loved this school. The teachers were great, they had several fund raising idea's. My favorite thing about the school was the size of the class. There were only 15-20 students per class and they had teachers assistance. The school rating is pretty good, reading is 90 and Math is 85.7. http://www.ed.gov/parents/landing.jhtml We live only 15 mins from the base so the drive isn't bad. Downtown Norfolk has allot of shopping and dinning and the Virginia Beach Town Center has all the newer restaurants such has Cheesecake Factory, PF Changs, Bravos, Ruth Chris....and many more. I love living in Virginia Beach, I hate that we have leave. If you are looking for a daycare...the Rosemont Kindercare on Lampl Avenue is the best!!! We started going there when we moved to VA. We have become very good friends with every teacher there, they are like family now, it's going to be a sad day when we move. I hope i was able to give a little incite about the area. Enjoy the move to VA. There is alot to do here, I know alot of people say they hate it here but I love it, plenty of things for the kids to do. There is always something going you just have to look for it!

I am a Norfolk transplant originally from Northern VA. I love Norfolk! If you look in the Ocean View/Bay View/Wards Corner areas you will find homes in your price range but they may be on the small side. We have good public schools as well as many private schools to choose from. My husband has lived in Ocean View since he was 2 and I think it's a great place to raise a family. It's also very close to the base and downtown (about 10-15 min.) Good luck on the search!

That is an awful tall order but if you are wanting to be in Norfolk you may want to try the Bayview neighborhood. As with all neighborhoods there are some sections that are not so nice but others that are nice. The elementary school is Bayview elementary and is pretty good. The commute would be maybe 15 minutes to the naval base (which believe me is a huge plus because traffic on the interstate can be a bear when the ships are in). If you go to another city such as Chesapeake, there are some really great neighborhoods (I would check great bridge) but your commute as just jumped to 45 minutes or more. Anyways, I hope some of this helps.

Hello B.,

Welcome, my hubby is Navy and we have been here since 1993. The commissary on the base is GREAT for grocery shopping. We have a great n'hood here in Norfolk called Pinewell, its very close to the base, about a 10 minute easy drive. But the houses may be a bit more than 200k, like 250 or so for some up to the 300's and there are some rentals open. The elementary we are zoned for is Ocean View Elem, I think it gets good scores the people are super nice there, we just toured it recently and our neighbor teaches there. In the spirit of full disclosure though, we have opted not to send our son there, he's super smart and we are going to try homeschooling next year, we aren't sure that they can really meet his needs there, they do have a gifted program but we have been wanting to try homeschooling and the private school (St. John's Lutheran) ends at 1st so now seems like a natural time for us. Anyway, we are 2 blocks from the Chesapeake Bay, close to nice parks and can walk to our brand new, wonderful library 2 blocks away. If I can answer any other questions just ask! You can contact me at ____@____.com area is great, lots of fun stuff to do and see!
Take care, S.

We are Navy and my husband commutes to Norfolk Naval Station in less than 30min because he arrives at the ship before 6am. It is longer if traveling at peak commute hours. We moved here about a year ago. We are in the Great Bridge/ Hickory area of Chesapeake. It looks like a longer commute on a map but the traffic is really not bad here(we came from Southern California). My kids attended Butts Road Primary, Intermediate, and Hickory Middle School last year. They are all very good schools with lots of opportunity for parent involvement. We bought a smaller house in order to be in this part of town and we are pleased. There are lots of shopping and restaurants nearby. It is a very quiet area and I feel 100% safe when my husband is out to sea. We used an amazing realtor that we were referred to by a friend. I highly recommend him. I would give him a call. A.J. "Vinny" Barbaro. He is retired Navy. ###-###-#### or 1-866-305-6776 or ____@____.com

Diamond Springs Estates or Gardenwood Park is in the Bayside School district. My kids went from k thru 12 in this district. The neighborhood has lots of families, and there are homes for sale right now, most likely in your price ranges. The Naval Base Norfolk is about 15 minutes away, Little Creek base is about 5 minutes. There are plenty of restaurants close by, and 2 grocery stores less than 5 minutes, Food Lion and Farm Fresh. A little farther, there is also Kroger. Walmart is a few minutes away. Hope this helps!

Hi B.!

There are so many really nice areas to pick from here in Norfolk and Va. Bch. I raised my kids in the Granby school district, the schools are acredited and very parent oriented. House prices are more realistic these days, so finding one in your price range should be an easy task. The realtor company that has many listings is William E. Wood, the realtors are very helpful and patient. This area is mostly military and everyone is very hospitable here. It's that "Southern Hospitality" kinda thing. Another suggestion, you could call the non-emergency number of police depts. and ask about the different neighborhoods, (the realtors are not allowed to disclose that kind of info.) but, there is plenty of housing near the bases. Good luck with your move and welcome to Norfolk in advance!

P. R.

Hello, My husband is in the Navy and from our driveway to his parking spot is just under 7 minutes. Our neighborhood is Commodore Park (aka The Christmas Lights Neighborhood). Many people put up lights at Christmas, hence the nickname. It is beautiful. The school our kids attend is Calcott elementary. Our neighborhood is very friendly and I am glad we moved in here 3 years ago. We do have 3 houses for sale in our neighborhood right now and are all between 200K and 230K. We are approx. 5 minutes from the NEX and Commissary. It is approx. 2 minutes from the Ocean View Beach. Lots of shopping in either direction and easy access to I64 and 564. This is a prime location to get about anywhere in just minutes. I also teach in a private school here in Norfolk called Christ the King www.ctkparish.org. It takes me about 10 minutes to get to school. If you need any other information please feel free to contact me. As someone else mentioned, check the reality websites for info on houses. Good Luck in you search!

I want to add that where you choose to live is based on personal preference. As some have mentioned since my response, they would not live in Norfolk. That is there personal opinion. I have lived in Norfolk for 11 years and love it. In the neighborhood I live in, everyone watches out for everyone. The people here are friendly. If you need anything the neighbors are there to help. My husband was deployed recently and I had two emergencies. Both situations my neighbors came out in pouring rain to help me fix the situation. You can't ask for better neighbors. Again, Good Luck on your search!

not many houses are under 200,000. i ive in a neighborhood in cheapeake on the virginia beach border thats ok not bad but nothing great about it either. we are a group of twin homes where two houses are joined by the garage. houses here go from 160-190. we are tucked behind two neighborhoods on either side that are nice single family homes that cost alot more. if you raise your price a tad you can go to rosemont forest or maybe a few others in virginia beach. they are as low as 215 if you get a townhouse. the school here is good i like the one my daughter goes to they all seem so friendly and nice. the ones for rosemont forest are also nice and liked by many. by the way we are tying to sell our house for 180,000 if you are interested. other than that i can't think of a neighborhood that on a whole has houses that cheap although if you keep looking one might pop up because the owners need to sell fasst or because they dont want to do the minor repairs themselves before selling. feel free to ask me more if you want. good luck.