BP Newbie from Virginia Beach, VA looking for a MFH to house hack

[Shannon Brill]

Hello fellow BPers!! I joined BP several weeks ago and it's been full steam ahead looking for my first investment here! I'm in pursuit of a MFH to house hack in Virginia Beach or Chesapeake, VA that falls within an elementary school district that has a rating of 8 or greater. The MFH also has to have a backyard for my 2 dogs. I'm starting to feel like this is a tall order, but there has to be something out there and I'm determined to find it! :) This has already been a very exciting journey and I look forward to learning and building a solid foundation for my REI portfolio here on BP.

[Patti Robertson]

You are going to have to pay top dollar if you can even find something that meets that criteria. There are some duplexes at the Oceanfront, but not many. Right now VB only has 3 duplexes listed for sale in our MLS, and they are very expensive - $399K, $875K, and $929K. Yikes! There were 8 duplexes sold in VB in the last 6 months and the average sale price was $342K. I actually sold the lowest price duplex, which sold for $195K to an owner occupant. That elementary school is only rated a 4 though, so it would not have met your criteria.

Norfolk has the same number of elementary schools rated an 8 (the highest score of any elem in either city according to greatschools.org) - 2 each.  Norfolk has many more duplexes than either VB or Ches. You may want to open up your search criteria to include Norfolk.

Other than schools, city, and back yard fence, what is the financial criteria you are working with?