Areas to avoid in Norfolk and Virginia Beach

[Benjamin Ford]

I live a couple hours away from Norfolk/ Virginia Beach area but am looking to begin investing there in the next six months. Prior to the storm, I had been visiting on the weekends to try and familiarize myself with the neighborhoods and look at potential deals. I was wondering if those of you who are more familiar with the area could recommend good areas/neighborhoods or disclose areas/neighborhoods that might be considered "D" or "F"?  

[Patti Robertson]

My no buy neighborhoods are Huntersville in Norfolk and Prentice Park in Portsmouth. That said, there are certain streets I am open to buying on in each of these neighborhoods and streets in other neighborhoods I won't buy on. Primarily I try to stay away from gangs and areas with visible drug and prostitution activity. The two Norfolk neighborhoods with the most gang activity are Huntersville and Berkley. They are on different sides of the river and are rival gangs. You can google Norfolk, VA gangs and get some info. One thing I learned from my contractors is that when you see shoes hanging from electric wire, the color of the shoes indicates the type of drugs that are being dealt within the close circumference of the shoes. Typically the worst neighborhoods are also the neighborhoods that have a preponderance of 100 year old houses, although we have some high end neighborhoods that fit this category too. I don't personally buy 100 year old houses either.

Feel free to reach out if you want to get together when are in town.