Actually, we aren’t, but of course one can’t tell the future.
Your larger points are well taken, and as I said I do need to do some more on-site legwork. (Plan to do it this afternoon in fact). It does seem like, though, every bit of investigation I do does make things look more positive. (Most recently, found a month-old newspaper article in some business or real estate trade paper that touts the area as a good one to move in to. The story being told here as elsewhere is that even if parts of it were run-down before, it is definitely now on the upswing.)
Sounds like the Occupy marchers will be heading through your yard on a regular basis. :dubious:
My personal preference would be to avoid a neighborhood that’s located so close to blight. I would definitely ask more homeowners in the immediate area about your concerns. And also, check with the P.D. to see if there are any problem bars/businesses on the edge of that “seriously run-down area”. Two blocks isn’t a very large buffer if loud noise, fights and littering/public peeing spill over from such places.
Some toys in yards, check. (And neighbors mentioned kids frequently playing outside.)
Plenty of decorations in yards and on porches, some quite elaborate.
No burglar bars at all that I saw.
Couple of front-lawn fences.
No mean dogs–only little nice precious dogs.
Closest grocery store is filled with rich people, in a nice downtown location.
Boarded up houses, as previously mentioned, starting three blocks east, across a major-ish street.
Plenty of trees.
Cars vary considerably, but nothing I’d be embarrassed to drive in.
Talked to neighbors:
Everyone I talked to spoke of it as a quiet neighborhood where people know each other and look out for each other.
A break in occurred in recent memory, the date wasn’t established in our conversation.
Everyone went on and on about how they love living there.
Lots of young couples with kids are moving in.
One young man mentioned several developments that are going to occur in the neighborhood, including rebuilding the shopfronts in a nearby strip, and a major employer having just bought a nearby building with employment for about a thousand (white collar) positions to ensue. (This young man works for that company…)
The previous owner of the house I’m looking at took good care of it, and everything was “redone” (whatever that may mean exactly) in 2007.
Have tried to no avail to talk to some representatives from the police department.
I had put in an inquiry at one internet forum where one of the replies did make reference to “rude, aggressive confrontational” people and “drama and chaos,” but when that person was pressed for a source for their information they just said “It just sounds like that kind of neighborhood,” whatever that means. Then a few days later someone chimed in with this:
I… I hope it’s clear that what I’m doing is not jumping in without knowing anything, that I have done and am doing the requisite investigation and information-gathering you guys have recommended, and I say all that because I am more and more thinking that (assuming our loan is approved for enough) we’ll be making an offer on the house and I don’t want people to think this is a case of Frylock not listening to solicited advice! I am hoping it’s clear I’m totally following through on your advice, and it seems like all the information I’m finding is positive enough to encourage going ahead and buying the home.
One more thing from the neighborhood walkthrough: There were many, many items such as grills, garden tools, a radio, and even a lawn mower, left (neatly) outside homes against walls, with nothing securing them in place or anything. Another sign that people feel safe in the neighborhood.
I think you’ve done your due diligence. I’m puzzled as to why you’ve been unable to speak with any law enforcement folks, but cutbacks may account for less time to jaw with the general public (you know, the people with whom they are tasked to protect and serve…). I did find I got a good response when I dropped by instead of calling – but maybe you tried that, too.
Good luck – sounds like a fantastic home for you and your family!
One thing I haven’t seen you metion is what the crime is like in the neighborhood you’re moving out of. It’s somewhat difficult to translate crime statistics into one’s own level of day-to-day comfort.
However, you should be familiar with how comfortable you are in your currnt neighborhood. So, how much “worse” is this new neighborhood compared to your current one?
There are fewer incidents reported in my present neighborhood, but it’s also a much less dense population. I think it’s probably worse overall, but it might not be by much. Hard to say without clear per capita figures to work with.
Welp, loan approval letter is coming in later today, but the person who worked with me to put together the application says it’s going to be for quite a bit less than she thought, which will put me out of the running for this house. Crap.
It’s because of my student loans, which though I pay very low payments due to Income Based Repayment, they are insisting they must use the whole amount when computing debt-to-income.
So basically, no house for me for at least five years. We can sock away money maybe to build up a down payment that may (may) put us in range for a good house in three or four years.
Even though the topic’s sort of moot at this point, the crime rate could be similar to my neighborhood.
If you look at the crime statistics for the area, it looks like a very high crime area, but in reality, it’s a couple of patches of very low income, mostly minority run-down apartments where the crime is astronomically high, surrounded by mostly crime-free single family homes.
The apartments are BAD; murders, frequent thefts, etc… but the subdivisions are almost idyllic. People go for walks with their children in the evenings, etc… The only crime is the apartment low-lifes burglarizing cars and occasionally homes.
So I don’t feel unsafe at all when I’m home, but I am on my guard in public spaces like grocery stores, etc…
Yes, but for whatever reasons rentals in the size of house we’re looking for (in any neighborhood in the city that’s plausible for us to live in) are much too expensive. (They’re all on the order of 1500, whereas mortgages on similar houses together with taxes etc would be around $800.)
That is really cheap. My 900 square foot condo costs a shit-ton more than that and it isn’t even a city proper. It sounds like you like it. Just buy it, do what you can to make the house and the general neighborhood better and enjoy it. The downside is very low so I say buy it and try it.
I’ll tell you what. Why don’t you just let a coin decide? Heads its a buy and tails it is a pass. Flip it in the presence of your family as a bet. You don’t even need to look at the results. You will all already know what you are really hoping for when the coin is in the air. Go with that gut instinct.
See post 50. No coin toss needed, but the die is cast: The loan approval letter came in far too low.
Having said that, we have a relative who just chimed in with an offer to give us some money to help. It’s not quite enough to make a completely sensible offer with, but it at least gets us to the “outside possibility” level I think, so we may just try it and see if it sticks. The house has been on sale for quite some time, and the price has been reduced once or twice so maybe seller will be in the mood.
Also I’ve now done some shopping around and it appears that for conventional loans, the rule about student loans definitely does not hold. I’ve got a couple of applications started and people talking directly to underwriters about this particular question first before we proceed. Maybe this will be good news, we’ll see.
Wow, so we went ahead and put in a really low offer (after securing a gift from a relative, and also after making one financial move which I know will make many groan so I shouldn’t even mention it :D) just, basically, to say we did.
And they answered with a really good counteroffer.
The house has been on sale forever, and we know they moved because they got a new job so we know they’re paying a double mortgage right now so…
This thing might happen after all.
Fingers crossed!
(Of course there’s the voice in back of my head saying the appraisal will come in too low and/or the inspector will find something terrible we didn’t know about, even if we manage to close the deal.)
Congratulations!! We’ve made some completely horrible offers on houses before, and had them accepted, too. Great feeling! Hope everything goes smoothly.
it might be that when people from the really seriously run-down area go to burglarize the really rich area and they get goods then you are left alone. if they miss out they stop in your area on the way back home for the consolation prise.
Since burglaries can happen in any neighborhood, I would probably invest in a good security system, make sure the windows are lockable, etc. Maybe even consider getting a dog that will bark at strangers if you don’t already have one (doesn’t have to be large - I have heard that small dogs that bark a lot are a good deterrent).
I’m puzzled as to why you’ve been unable to speak with any law enforcement folks, but cutbacks may account for less time to jaw with the general public (you know, the people with whom they are tasked to protect and serve…). I did find I got a good response when I dropped by instead of calling – but maybe you tried that, too.