How to Factor Commute When Buying Real Estate

Adam Garrett
Aug 23, 2023
5 min read

Updated: Apr 7

Above: Berkley Bridge Opening in Norfolk - Image by Adam Garrett

There are some factors to keep in mind when considering what areas you want to consider in Hampton Roads with an emphasis on your commute:

Qualitative Considerations in Proximity to Weekly/Daily Locations Where You Plan to Be

Proximity to where you/those in your household would typically drive on a weekly or daily basis, i.e. work, place of worship, gym, school, etc. obviously is very important. When considering this aspect of things, I think it's best to take both a quantitative and qualitative approach.

First let's take things qualitatively:

A. Do you like driving, not mind it, or hate it?

B. What are some of the ways that you currently maximize your commute while staying safe on the road, whether audiobooks, audio-learning via Youtube, voice notes, phone calls with bluetooth (when legal), or otherwise?

C. How much time do you take away from your family with a longer commute? How does that impact your family and your relationship with your family?

D. What quality of life could be better at home if you were further away where you can afford a better home for less? Would you have activities available further away from work that wouldn't be as readily available if otherwise, especially if at your home (i.e. if more distant you might be able to have waterfront, while you might not have that opportunity for the same cost in the same sort of home closer to work unless working in a rural area or low value area).

E. Will a longer commute negatively contribute to your sleeping habits or other disciplines that you do before or after work that are beneficial to you, your work, &/or your family, like exercise, focused prayer, focused meditation, book reading/listening, etc., that will either need to be completely removed or that won't be as effective if done while multi-tasking and driving?

Quantitative Considerations in Proximity to Weekly/Daily Locations Where You Plan to Be

A. Car depreciation, gas, maintenance, tolls, higher car insurance costs, higher propensity of wrecking with more mileage, & other costs incurred - there are many ways to calculate this statistic, whether the IRS method or otherwise. A safe 20+ year-old low mileage vehicle that requires low maintenance for its age and also gets high MPG is a great vehicle for a long commute. Conversely, a brand-new luxury vehicle with low MPG, and that is relatively unreliable (i.e. a new Range Rover SUV) will cost significantly more for that long commute.

B. The value of your time - if you are getting absolutely no value out of the time during your commute, and don't see a strong prospect for that which you would actually gain much value from, you could count this time as a complete loss, and take the difference between a close home and distant home, calculate the hourly annual difference based on your prospective travel, then multiply those hrs by your hourly wage (after calculating your hourly wage if you don't work by the hr). Related: Capitalize on Your Commute

C. Job performance impact by longer or shorter commute - while for most this would be a net negative, for some it can be a positive such as if highly maximizing your commute. For instance, I make a number of calls and at times gain knowledge through audios (whether Youtube learning, audiobooks, the Bible app for me as a Christian, or in some cases documents that I convert to audio) and am able to get a higher % net of my time from a longer commute in terms of job performance because of how I structure my commute with multi-tasking. I am in the minority though I'd say & my multi-tasking has been a contributing factor to some very close calls on the road. I also purchased a vehicle with multi-tasking in mind, with integrated Android Auto, automatic emergency braking, automatic lane change avoidance, adaptive cruise control, etc. Once fully self-driving cars become an option, I will highly consider that option to be safer.

D. Tax differences & other cost differences such as mortgage amount

Area Quality vs. Home Quality

Typically, the best areas will have higher priced homes vs the exact same home in a worse area, all other factors the same. Some prefer a nicer house for less money, and choose to go to an area that isn't the best possible for it, while others go to communities where just the land value for a regular single family sized lot is in the hundreds of thousands that isn't even waterfront because of their value of being in a higher end community that may have more amenities, higher average incomes, etc.

City/County Differences

The best example that I can think of to illustrate the difference in cities is Kiln Creek. It's a very large neighborhood in Hampton Roads with sections both in York County & in Newport News. The moment that you're on the Newport News side, the prices dip tremendously for the same house. Why is due to a number of factors

A. Tax rates: See above or Here

B. School districts: Typically affluent communities will have better schools because they can afford it. That said, if you aren't a parent and don't plan on being one, you can typically find cheaper homes in places with more poorly rated school districts. In some cases there are large, isolated pockets of high end homes in gated communities in districts with very low rated schools. The best school districts by ratings like on Greatschools tend to be the most expensive homes. When I bought a house, I bought in a location that didn't have a fantastically rated school in part because it was so much cheaper than the same home in a location with fantastically rated schools. Different people have different preferences though and just like it impacts the purchase price when you buy, it impacts it when you sell. Many investors choose to focus on the areas that don't have the best rated schools because they don't have kids that are going to go there and are just looking for the highest net returns.

C. What's possible in terms of zoning can vary based on city and area, such as with differences in chicken laws & places zoned agriculture.

D. Laws & political climates can vary based on city in Hampton Roads, such as substantial differences within Hampton Roads for gun laws.

Additional Resources for Determining Area Quality

For a wide variety of resources on determining area quality, see:

Master Spreadsheet of Home Purchase Considerations

Home Elements to View Online Prior to a Showing Request

SE VA City Information & Real Estate Property Info

Things to Do in SE VA Locations

Crime When Searching for a Home

Public School Districts in Hampton Roads & The Surrounding Area of SE VA

Hurricane Evacuation Zones & Local Flood Zone Projections

Finding Restaurants