Moving to the Valley in July... (Wasilla, Palmer: rental, buying a house, neighborhoods)

[Haolejohn]

The family and I will be relocating to the valley this summer. We are not exactly sure of where, but more than likely it will be in the Palmer area (won't know assigned school until May). We are going to look at buying a house, so are there any specific areas we should stay away from?

We don't mind living in Palmer proper, but we also don't mind a short commute either.
We will be living off one income, so please don't suggest neighborhoods that start at the $300k mark

If it helps, we have applied at two charter schools (both in Palmer) for our children.

[AKStafford]

We live in Wasilla and enjoy it, but sometimes we wish we had bought in Palmer. There's just something special about that place....
I'm not aware of any places in Palmer to avoid. Some people might say The Butte, but there's some nice homes in the right areas with some great views.
Be sure to ask about water quality. Seems like I remember a news story about a neighborhood that had water issues...
Oh, and welcome to the Valley!!! We are a lot nicer than people think.

[Czechsix]

Yep, check water in the area, that neighborhood had arsenic issues.

[Haolejohn]

Originally Posted by AKStafford

We live in Wasilla and enjoy it, but sometimes we wish we had bought in Palmer. There's just something special about that place....
I'm not aware of any places in Palmer to avoid. Some people might say The Butte, but there's some nice homes in the right areas with some great views.
Be sure to ask about water quality. Seems like I remember a news story about a neighborhood that had water issues...
Oh, and welcome to the Valley!!! We are a lot nicer than people think.

When I talked to our agent, I told him I wanted a house with 3/2 bed/bath and good water. I’m tired of rust water.

[AKStafford]

Originally Posted by Haolejohn

When I talked to our agent, I told him I wanted a house with 3/2 bed/bath and good water. I’m tired of rust water.

We had rust and calcium in our water. We installed a simple water filter, like this: https://smile.amazon.com/Culligan-HF...e+water+filter . I get the filters at Ferguson on Bogard. Cleaned up 95% of the rust and 50% of the calcium. I change the filter every couple of months.

[mizzile]

I'd go with Palmer over Wasilla until the day I die and I wouldn't care what it took to make it happen.

[GnomadAK]

Butte is great on the west side of the old Glenn and terrible on the east side.

[HannahTravels]

So glad that you posted this! I was going to do the same thing - haha. I still think it's funny that you and I are both making the switch from the same general area of the Bush to Palmer this year. We are out here now waiting for the baby and have started looking around at housing some. Touring a rental tomorrow, but it's hard to know what areas are better than others.

[Haolejohn]

Originally Posted by HannahTravels

So glad that you posted this! I was going to do the same thing - haha. I still think it's funny that you and I are both making the switch from the same general area of the Bush to Palmer this year. We are out here now waiting for the baby and have started looking around at housing some. Touring a rental tomorrow, but it's hard to know what areas are better than others.

You know it. We’ve been debating renting for a year vs buying. A lot to think about.

[keyman51]

If you do not know where you will be working, it would probably be best to rent, Avoid Wiliwaw subdivision and the subdivision up North bear street both towards Wasilla.