Portsmouth VA Housing

[narcusprince]

Hello, I am a fourth year student stongly considering internship in Portsmouth VA, wanted some advice about whether to rent, buy a condo, or purchase a house. I am anticipating a GMO tour and am very curious as to how many of you handled housing your intern year knowing you would leave in a GMO tour.
Thank you

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[IgD]

If you know you are only going to live in a place for a year I think the safest bet is to rent. When you buy property you have to pay a lot of closing costs. Generally I think it takes a few years to break even or come out ahead with real estate.

 

[backrow]

If you plan on doing a GMO tour then definately rent. It would be highly unlikely to stay in the Portsmouth area for a GMO tour so it would not make sense to purchase and pay all the fees associated with buying and selling a house. I think you'd be likely to lose money in the end if you bought.

 

[Tooth]

I'm from Virginia and I wouldn't be caught dead owning a home in Portsmouth. Maybe in Williamsburg, but uggghh, Pourtsmouth👎

 

[Founder]

Like any city it depends. The condos around the hospital are pretty nice. The Norfolk Ghent area is also pretty nice. It is trying to reshape it's image to be more for yuppies. There are a lot of restaurants, shopping, clubs, bars, and stuff to do in the Ghent area.

 

[megadon]

I lived in the area from 2000-2006. There is only one good neihborhood in Portsmouth, old town. Other than that, wear a kevlar vest and helmet to and from work. Everyone lives in Norfolk, Suffolk, Virginia Beach, or Hampton. The traffic absolutely sucks, so if you can wallet a real estate deal in old Portsmouth, go for it, it is really cool. The drive from VA beach will always suck, but you get more radio time. Norfolk is super close, and is a cooler town in my opinion, I still have a house there, wanna make an offer? VA beach is suburbia, bed bath and beyond and what else. Norfolk is the little restauraunts, arts, etc.

Bottom line, if you don't live in Portsmouth, you're going to have to take a tunnel to work. There is no way around it (except for Suffolk, but that's a drive). People in hampton roads are among the worst drivers, bar memphis. So it always sucks.

My advice, find a dig in old Portsmouth, but not Portsmouth, after that Ghent, Meadowbrook, or Largemont.

 

[Founder]

I wouldn't recommend VA Beach. I live in the area now and the traffic from VA Beach, depending on what time you go to work and leave, will be absolute murder. And there is road construction in Norfolk so expect delays to the tunnels.

I'd go for the Norfolk Ghent area and try to get an apartment around there. I hear the homes/apartments around the Eastern Virginia Medical School campus and the Senata Hospital/CHKD are relatively cheaper than other parts of that area but are still very nice.

 

[pgg]

Everyone lives in Norfolk, Suffolk, Virginia Beach, or Hampton. The traffic absolutely sucks

I live in Suffolk. There is zero traffic, ever, getting to and from the hospital in Portsmouth. The worst it gets is the surface street between the hospital and the freeway, at about 5 PM every day ... and even that is only backed up in the left lane (ie, people heading east on 64, which doesn't affect smug Suffolk residents like me). It's about 25 minutes from the downtown Suffolk area to NMCP. 25 minutes, coincidentally, is about my attention span for audio review books, so that works out nicely.

 

[trixmd]

Western Branch is part of Portsmouth, and a lot of attendings (more than a couple orthopods and general surgeons, the occasional dermatologist and radiologist) live there. Older homes (think early 20th century) with big lots, some on the water. Reasonably good schools - one of the prior ortho chair's lived there and sent his kids to the public schools. Not brimming with culture, but pleasant enough.

Having said that, I live in Ghent, have no kids, and spend a lot of time walking to local bars, restaurants, stores, the museum, the opera house, etc. I really like it there.

I wouldn't necessarily write off doing a GMO in the area either - after all, NOB is the largest Naval base in the country, if not the world. If that's what you want, then I'd contact the detailler soon. Like today.

However, I'd rent a place for the first year, at least until you know your post PGY1 year fate (straight thru, GMO'ing, off to flight surgery or DMO/UMO school) But that's just me.

Trix

 

[The White Coat Investor]

I live in Hampton and have a 30-45 minute commute. I also wasn't willing to live in Portsmouth. Virginia Beach is nice, but I would be very careful living on the other side of any tunnel except the monitor-merrimac bridge tunnel.

 

[megadon]

The problem with Virginia Beach (besides being suburbia) is you have to use the dowtown tunnel. It stacks up every morning and every afternoon. I don't recommend Hampton, but that is solely based on my bias from living there. You have two choices there, either 464 (I think, it's been a year) and take monitor merrimack, which doesn't back up, or take Hampton Roads bridge tunnel (which always backs up, especially in the summer) and then downtown or midtown tunnel. However, the Monitor Merrimack is the long way around, but faster. Norfolk to Portsmouth, midtown tunnel, but it's single lane both sides, undivided. People in Hampton roads have tunnel phobia, once they get in, someone slows down, which stacks up traffic for hours.

I am EXTREMELY biased, but Ghent or West Ghent, or downtown Norfolk is really the best option for renting and commuting to Portsmouth. Once again, let me reiterate how bad most of Portsmouth is. Only about a mile or two from the hospital is Norfolk Naval shipyard. If you've never been to a shipyard, they ain't in the best neighborhoods. At least from what I have seen at Norfolk, Groton, No-Can-Do Hawaii, and Newport News.

Also, I'd advise renting, until your residency solidifies or you know that your GMO tour will be in area. Interestingly enough, I still have a house in Meadowbrook that we are going to pull from the market this fall if still hasn't sold and convert to rental. It's a buyer's market in all of Hampton Roads since the war started, Navy cut back on PCS orders in order to foot their allotted portion of the bill. So Hampton Roads is one of the softest markets in the country right now.

 

[The White Coat Investor]

You have two choices there, either 464 (I think, it's been a year)

So Hampton Roads is one of the softest markets in the country right now.

I think he means 664.

Hampton Roads market has been okay. Houses have been flat for the last year, condos and townhomes have gone up about 6%. Could be a lot worse.

Lastly, I'm not sure I could recommend most of Hampton either. If I were going to be an intern I would get as close to NMCP as I could without living in a scary neighborhood. You don't want to drive very far after 30 hours of work, trust me. I lived 1/2 mile from my residency hospital and thought I was going to fall asleep on the way home.

I know of several residents who live on a boat near the hospital. Have you considered that? Docking fees with utilities run around $300/month and your boat payment/mortgage would probably only be another couple hundred.

 

[Founder]

I was flipping through the "Homes" section of The Virginian Pilot today (our local paper) and there seem to be some very good apartments in Ghent for sale. I'd recommend those. I don't know if you want to buy, but with all the expansion going on in downtown Norfolk, if I could I'd buy something down there.