Located in the desirable Virginia Beach community of Lake James and situated on the lake itself, this is a great opportunity to enjoy a home that has been cared for over the years while taking advantage of a setting that feels like a retreat. Thoughtful and recent updates to the kitchen and bathrooms accompany important maintenance updates like a newer roof and HVAC. Amazing space inside and beautiful grounds outside from the deck to the dock allowing for so many opportunities to see what makes life on Lake James so special!
Listing courtesy of Carrie Long · Howard Hanna Real Estate Svcs. · REIN MLS #10649042
Chapter · The Water
Life on the water
The waterfront is the reason this home exists. Its water record, straight from the listing: Bulkhead, Dock, Lake.
Frontage
Lake ✓ VERIFIED
Dock
Dock
Shoreline
Bulkheaded
Source: REIN MLS listing record · waterfront features as listed
Facts & features
TypeResidential
Year built1984
Price / sqft$266
HOA fee$28/mo
Taxes$5,301/yr
CountyVirginia Beach VA
WaterfrontYes
MLS #10649042
Interior
Bedrooms
4
Full baths
3
Approx. sqft
2,440
Stories
2
Flooring
Carpet, Laminate/LVP
Total rooms
9
Other rooms
Attic, Breakfast Area, PBR with Bath, Porch, Utility Room
A four-bedroom, three-bath home built in 1984 on Lake James Drive puts you in a quiet Virginia Beach pocket with groceries, coffee, and two military installations all within a short drive — practical, spacious, and well-positioned in the 23464 zip code.
With 2,440 square feet spread across four bedrooms and three full baths, 1581 Lake James Drive offers the kind of room-to-grow layout that's genuinely hard to find at this size in Virginia Beach's Kempsville-area corridors. The 1984 build era means solid construction with mature landscaping around it, and the Lake James Drive address puts you on a residential street that stays calm without feeling remote — a balance that takes real searching to land.
LAKE JAMES and the Virginia Beach real estate market
Lake James Drive sits inside Virginia Beach's Kempsville district, one of the city's most established inland neighborhoods. Streets here are lined with mature trees, and the overall vibe is settled and residential — the kind of area where neighbors know each other and front yards get tended. Kempsville developed steadily through the 1970s and '80s, so the housing stock has character without the upkeep surprises of older construction. Virginia Beach as a whole gives you Atlantic Ocean beaches, a thriving restaurant and arts scene, and one of the largest municipal footprints on the East Coast — yet this corner of the city stays genuinely quiet. Families comparing homes for sale in Virginia Beach often discover that the Kempsville corridor offers more square footage per block than the resort-area zip codes, with commute times to both military and civilian employment that are hard to beat. The 23464 zip code is a practical, livable address.
What's nearby
Daily errands are almost effortless from Lake James Drive. A Walmart Neighborhood Market is just 0.6 miles out, with a Food Lion and Dollar General both within 0.8 miles — so a last-minute grocery run is never a project. For coffee before work, Pinup Coffee Co Cafe at Farmhouse is only four-tenths of a mile away, and 17 Hands Coffee gives you a second option at 0.6 miles. Dinner options are equally close: Punjabi Rasoi Indian cuisine, China Kitchen, and PiTA Restaurant are all within 0.6 miles. Staying active is easy too — The Iron Asylum Gym in Kempsville and VB KidFit are both under a mile, and Brigadoon Woods Park and City View Park round out the outdoor options at about a mile each.
For different buyers
Base commute and VA loan notes
The USCG Finance Center Chesapeake is roughly seven minutes away, and Norfolk Naval Shipyard is about twelve — meaning a VA loan purchase here keeps both installations well within a manageable daily commute. Four bedrooms and three baths give a growing military household real breathing room, and the Kempsville location makes it easy to get on and off the major corridors that connect to the broader Hampton Roads base network.
Room to grow
Families comparing homes for sale zoned for Tallwood High School and homes for sale zoned for Fairfield Elementary School will find that 1581 Lake James Drive checks the space boxes that matter most: four bedrooms, three full baths, and 2,440 square feet to grow into. The Kempsville neighborhood is calm and established, parks are close, and kid-friendly fitness options like VB KidFit are less than a mile from the front door.
More buyer questions
How far is 1581 Lake James Drive from Norfolk Naval Shipyard?
Norfolk Naval Shipyard is approximately 12 minutes from 1581 Lake James Drive under typical traffic conditions. The route connects easily via the main corridors linking Virginia Beach's Kempsville area to Portsmouth.
How far is 1581 Lake James Drive from USCG Finance Center Chesapeake?
The USCG Finance Center Chesapeake is about 7 minutes away, making this one of the closer residential options to that installation in the Virginia Beach area.
Is 1581 Lake James Drive in a flood zone?
Flood zone information for this address is detailed in the FloodRisk tile on this page, which pulls current FEMA map data for the 23464 zip code.
What grocery stores are near 1581 Lake James Drive?
A Walmart Neighborhood Market is 0.6 miles away, and both a Food Lion and a Dollar General are within 0.8 miles — three solid options all within a five-minute drive.
Does 1581 Lake James Drive have an HOA?
HOA status for this property is confirmed in the listing details; buyers should verify any association rules and restrictions directly through disclosure documents during the purchase process.
Tom and Dariya Milan at LPT Realty know the Kempsville market well — reach out to get your questions answered and schedule a walkthrough of 1581 Lake James Drive.
Summary generated by AI from public records and publicly available information.
Schools · VaHome School ScoreAssigned schools
Our own 1–10 rating, scored from Virginia Department of Education data.
VaHome School Score — calculated by VaHome.com from Virginia Department of Education assessment, progress, and attendance data. Attendance zones come from the MLS listing record; confirm the current zone with the school division before making an offer.
How Far Is?
Driving distance by road and typical drive time via Google Maps, to the nearest location of each.
Also nearby
Distances are straight-line (as the crow flies) from this property, not driving miles. Places within ~1 mile, nearest first. Powered by Google Places.
Homes like this one sell fast — see the next one first
Virginia Beach$550K – $750K4+ beds
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Military Commute
Drive times to nearest bases
🚢
USCG Finance Ctr
Coast Guard
12min·5.3mi
⚓
NNSY
Navy
20min·12.7mi
🚢
USCG Portsmouth
Coast Guard
18min·11.6mi
⚓
NMCP
Navy
21min·13mi
⚓
NAS Oceana
Navy
29min·13.5mi
Typical drive times from Google Maps, without live traffic. Rush hour and tunnel backups can add time.
Flood & environmentFlood risk (FEMA)
FEMA flood zone X · outside the high-risk area · FIRM 515531
🌊 Flood Risk (FEMA)
Source: FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer · FIRM 515531
Low / Moderate Risk
FEMA flood zone
X (low to moderate risk)
Base flood elevation
Not applicable in low-risk zones
Zone X is outside the Special Flood Hazard Area; FEMA doesn’t define a BFE here.
Property elevation
18.7 ft above sea level
USGS 3DEP digital elevation model
Outside the high-risk Special Flood Hazard Area. Federal flood insurance is NOT required, though optional preferred-rate NFIP coverage is still worth considering in coastal Hampton Roads.
Data sources: Flood zone and base flood elevation come from FEMA’s National Flood Hazard Layer. Property elevation is sampled from a single point on the parcel using the USGS National Map elevation service — actual elevations across a single property can vary by several feet higher or lower than the figure shown. Use these numbers as a starting reference and do your own due diligence (a professional survey or elevation certificate) before relying on them for any financial, insurance, or construction decision.
Estimates only. Taxes come from the public record; confirm rates with your lender. VA-eligible buyers: $0-down financing may apply.
Estimate your monthly payment
$4,004/mo
Principal & interest
$3,373
Property tax
$442
Home insurance
$190
PMI
None
HOA/Condo (paid separately)
$28
Estimate only. Association (HOA/condo) fees are paid separately and are not included in the payment above. Insurance assumed at 0.35% of home value annually. Actual taxes, insurance, and rate will vary by lender, credit, and property. Contact a lender for a personalized quote.
Value & historyComparables
Price context: similar nearby homes$559,900 – $590,000The 6 most similar homes nearby (same city, within ~20% of this size, ~2.5 mi; 6 sold). Context for judging the asking price, not an appraisal or an estimate of this home's value.
928 Laconia CT · 1.8 mi · 2,474 sqft$590,000 sold 2026-09
917 Flores CT · 1.9 mi · 2,571 sqft$569,900 sold 2026-10
Looking for multi-year tax assessments or prior sales? REIN MLS only ships data for the current listing. For full property history, check the city assessor record:
Tax data above from REIN public-records sync. Sale timeline tracked from this listing's first appearance in our feed forward; prior owner sales are not included.
Comparable Properties
Comps are selected by city, bed count, square footage and price proximity. Composite similarity score weights bed match, sqft variance, price variance, and straight-line distance.
CompareThis home next to what else is for sale nearby
Home
Price
Beds
Baths
Sqft
$ / sqft
1581 Lake James Drthis home
$650,000
4
3
2,440
$266
Loading nearby homes for sale…
Active comparables from the REIN MLS, the same homes shown under Comparable Properties. Context for judging the asking price, not an appraisal.
Questions buyers ask
Is 1581 Lake James Dr in a good school zone?
The assigned zones on the listing record are Fairfield Elementary (VaHome School Score 6.1/10), Brandon Middle (VaHome School Score 5.2/10), Tallwood (VaHome School Score 7.2/10). School attendance zones can change — always confirm enrollment with the local school division.
Is 1581 Lake James Dr in a flood zone?
FEMA maps this parcel in Zone X, outside the high-risk Special Flood Hazard Area. See the flood section on this page for details and sources.
Is 1581 Lake James Dr a waterfront property?
Yes. The listing record shows: Bulkhead,Dock,Lake.
Does 1581 Lake James Dr have an HOA?
Yes — HOA dues are on record for this property (the current amount is shown in the facts section on this page). The association of record is na.
When was 1581 Lake James Dr built?
It was built in 1984, per the listing record.
Answers generated from the listing record, verified school zones, FEMA data, and cached nearby-places data. Never invented.
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Listing courtesy of Carrie Long · Howard Hanna Real Estate Svcs. · REIN MLS #10649042
1581 Lake James Dr, Virginia Beach, Virginia 23464 · MLS #10649042 · Source: REIN MLS + public record. Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed; verify independently. School zones subject to change; confirm with the local school division. All locations are described by neutral geographic fact. Equal Housing Opportunity.
