Baton Rouge Bound too (Shenandoah, Oak Hills Place: homes, established neighborhood, movie theater)

[BRMan]

Originally Posted by Ronald120

lol F'd up.

But its interesting to know that there's a progressive black neighborhood on that side of Baton Rouge.

There are some people who see one black face in a subdivision and panic. That's why I disclosed this upfront. I think Concord is a great buy for the money, because it's in the middle of town with WAY better commutes than, say, if you lived in Denham or Prairieville.

[Ronald120]

Originally Posted by BRMan

There are some people who see one black face in a subdivision and panic.

Very unfortunate, but true.

That's why I disclosed this upfront. I think Concord is a great buy for the money, because it's in the middle of town with WAY better commutes than, say, if you lived in Denham or Prairieville.

Honestly, I think places like Monticello, Villa Del Rey, and Park Forest are similar in North Baton Rouge -- nice looking surburban neighborhoods with a stronger black population, but it may frighten some people because of said population.


With the exception of places like the N. Sherwood Forest Corridor between Florida and S. Choctaw, Bellaire, N. Stevendale, and those apartments along Greenwell Springs (with the exception of Fox Hill Apts -- well-kept despite its age), I think North of Florida, East of Airline is a sleeper part of Baton Rouge. If you look past the bad sides, take a chance and explore this city, one would be in for a surprise. You have nice stretches of older, more upkept neighborhoods along with some very small packets of new developments in between.

I would also say that there's some nice homes along Mickens Rd, but there is also some older four-plexes right across the street and it does border the far part of Glen Oaks so I'm not too sure about that street in particular.

[Broncojoe]

BRMAN, can you tell me more about Shadows at White Oak, There seems to be a ton of houses for sale in that neighborhood. Something like 10+. Why do you suppose there are so many? They seem like nice homes for the money. Also, I would like to know more about Kenilworth. Seems like a nice location with fairly well kept homes.

thanks,
Joe

[BRMan]

Originally Posted by Broncojoe

BRMAN, can you tell me more about Shadows at White Oak, There seems to be a ton of houses for sale in that neighborhood. Something like 10+. Why do you suppose there are so many? They seem like nice homes for the money. Also, I would like to know more about Kenilworth. Seems like a nice location with fairly well kept homes.

thanks,
Joe

Be happy to help.

Kenilworth is conveniently located and (unlike newer homes in BR) you get a lot of house and yard for your money. It also benefits from being surrounded mostly by single family homes and government land (Pennington, Olympia Stadium). But you are getting a home built in the late 60s-mid 80s (depending on the street - Kenilworth was developed in stages), so if dated homes aren't your thing, you may not like some of what's for sale.

Shadows At White Oak I am not crazy about this part of town for two reasons: (1) The traffic on 2 laned Harrells Ferry is awful, and (2) right down the road, you have Section 8 apartments (St Jean) and some duplexes at Harrells Ferry/O'Neal that IMO are not kept up well by the residents. Which is a shame, because nearby subdivisions like White Oak Landing and the Lake at White Oak are nice. As to why there are so many sales, it is a new neighborhood, so you may be dealing with petrochemical transfers, as petrochem professional employees for some reason like the SE part of town.

[Broncojoe]

Thanks BRMAN,

I like the Kenilworth area as well and the age of the homes is not overly preventative for me. Although having a newer home like the ones in the Shadows in the Kenilworth location would be great...but would be in the $400K+ range and that's too far out of the budget for me. So far the areas that I am looking are:

Kenilworth
Vignes Lakes
Haggerstown Rd. (Shennandoah Estates?) not the White Oak section because those stretch my budget too much. Trying to stay under $280.

I will have to travel to the BR airport often and sometimes to the New Orleans airport. I work at home mostly so no worries about commute time. My wife will be working but we do not know of a job/location for her yet. Possibly at one of the community colleges or at LSU since that type of work is what she is doing here (Texas).

Thanks for your help.
Joe

[BRMan]

Originally Posted by Broncojoe

Thanks BRMAN,

I like the Kenilworth area as well and the age of the homes is not overly preventative for me. Although having a newer home like the ones in the Shadows in the Kenilworth location would be great...but would be in the $400K+ range and that's too far out of the budget for me. So far the areas that I am looking are:

Kenilworth
Vignes Lakes
Haggerstown Rd. (Shennandoah Estates?) not the White Oak section because those stretch my budget too much. Trying to stay under $280.

I will have to travel to the BR airport often and sometimes to the New Orleans airport. I work at home mostly so no worries about commute time. My wife will be working but we do not know of a job/location for her yet. Possibly at one of the community colleges or at LSU since that type of work is what she is doing here (Texas).

Thanks for your help.
Joe

Kenilworth is closer to the airport than Vignes Lakes and Hagerstown (which is in the back section of Shenandoah). And with Vignes Lakes you get to fight the Hoo Shoo Too (yes, that IS a road name) traffic which thickens with each new subdivision they put there.

Kenilworth has upper middle class homes of varying sizes within your 280K budget. And I've had friends tell me several homes in that neighborhood (FSBOs and realtor sales) have sat on the market for a while. Probably the seller is someone who's lived there forever and thinks avocado formica and pine paneling are still hip

[BetaBeta]

Okay this is long, but if you're bored its a good read and might help someone coming from other areas...

First hi everyone, I found this board by accident via google. I just read the entire thread and found it so interesting I just had to chime in. I hope the old timers don't mind

I moved here in 11/06 after being away for over 20 years. I've lived in major metro cities(or at least the suburbs of) in VA, DC, TX, and CA. Plus some choice place in Europe. My last stop was Plano TX before coming here and I was really saddened about what you could get for the money here under 300K on new or old... lack of media rooms, back yard guest houses, two living areas, etc. You can find those things in places like Denton TX (Far North of Dallas) for under 250K!! So imagine my culture shock.

Having said that, I needed a place other than my parents to stay so I readjusted my priorities. My parents live in area 5, I wanted to be close to them but couldn't force myself to pay the prices on the newer homes for what you got.. have anyone looked at the prices of the houses in Kennsington Estate lately, wow. Same with the older ones. But most of the homes are very good investments because even when the prices in other parts of the city decline they continue to remain stable or rise.

So if you know your job will be relocating you in 5 years or less, then strongly consider some of the area 5 neighborhoods mentioned previously in this thread. Real Estate is always a gamble, but I think the expert on this thread, BRMan, would agree that the risk or amount of lost you may take will be lessened if you are in the right parts of area 5. And there are deals to be found if you can take the time to look... some have been mentioned but I will repeat in case you don't read the entire thread:
Oak Hills,
Wimbledon,
Iberville Terrace
Oak Ridge (newer)
Greenbriar Hollow (early 90's garden homes)

All of those are 1970s - 80s (except Oak ridge) but most are well maintained and many have been remodeled. Take Perkins (the construction is awful but will be ending soon) between Bluebonnet and Seigen and you will find quite a few.

Also Highland between Essen and LSU has some interesting spots like Magnolia Pointe, but they are older I think 1960's - 70's, Kennilworth (which extends to Perkins) etc. But the value will more than likely hold... like they say, location, location, location!

For me, after 3 months of my mom fighting with my cat I had to get out.. LOL So I stopped deal shopping in Area 5 and moved on to the outskirts of Area 4 as close to Airline / Siegen I could get (for easy access to my parents and work in Area 5).

Now if time is not of an essence (like me, I pray this is my last relo) and you are not planning to sell in the next 5 years, then BRLA is your oyster. There are a lot of upcoming places to explore, it will just really depend on your priorities and needs.

Personally I like neighborhoods that are diverse (all of that big city living I guess). I prefer it to have a large working population included with reitrees and such. I wanted something that would hold its value and grow over time, with enough equity built in until I could modify and not feel I have overbuilt myself for the area.

One place I didn't see mentioned in the thread (or may have missed it) was Hickory Ridge.

Its close to Shennadoah and Woodlawn, Between Tiger Bend / Jeff. Hwy and Coursey. The subdivison was built out between 1978 - 1995, so there is a variety of what you can find. I chose a 1980s house that the owners maintained very well but did little updating as far as wallpaper / paint. They did add on an awesome 20X20 Mother In law suite and full bath, that I now use as a media / hobby room. I really got a good deal 30K under appraisial which I have put 15K of that equity to work updating floors, paint, etc.

Just in the past month or so, houses in the neighborhood are being listed at about 40 - 60K more than they were when I bought mine in March of 2007.. I really don't know why... perhaps this Woman's Hospital thing?? THe Pecue area can be accessed pretty easily via Tiger Bend / Jeff.

Regardless, the beauty of Hickory Ridge is neighbors still talk to each other, kids play in the yards and ride bikes together, the houses have different facades so it doesn't look cookie cutter, and the yards are nice and large for pools and such. Many of the original owners have updated their homes over the years with very tasteful open floorplans. And the ones that haven't can be easy done because most of the kitchens / breakfast areas are right behind the a double wide (no door) entrance to the main living area.

Lawn maintanence is the thing in this neighborhood... which made me quite happy. In my last neighborhood some cared about their lawns and some didn't. People here all care and maintain very well from what I have expereineced over the past year. I liked Kenilworth but one of the things I didn't like was once you got deep into the neighborhood, some just didn't care as much about their lawns as those closer to the main drag did... I know that is a nit for some but I like a well maintained neighborhood.

The neighborhood association is active (its voluntary) and they use the dues towards paid security patrols, etc. They meet 6 times a year and have planned activites and such. Some days I walk out the door to get the mail and wonder if I moved to Mayberry,!! LOL But all jokes aside, its nice and St. Thomas More and some other catholic school is in the area, but I can't remember the name, I keep thinking its St. Michael but could be wrong, also Parkview Baptist School.

Other areas in addition to Hickory Ridge that are good buys in this part of Area 4 (good buys depending on your needs / priorities):

Hidden Ridge (newer garden homes)
Parkview Oaks (older - not to be confused with park forest as many do) which is close to Parkview Baptist Church and school and has new construction buried within the older neighborhood,
Kimbleton Estates (newer)
Lake Sherwood (older but GORGEOUS with a Capital G!)
Carrington Place (newer)
Stumberg Ridge (garden homes)

Sorry for the long read, and Happy Hunting!

[Broncojoe]

Thanks Beta, I too am moving from Texas and you can certainly get a ton of house for the money there. I have already learned to except that I will have to pay more to get something I like or comparable to my home in Texas. I am willing to do so for a great location in BR knowing that it will be a older home. Everyones comments have been helpful. I will check out your suggestions. Also, anyone have comments about Southdowns? Various home prices in that neighborhood, some in range and some way out of range.

thanks,
Joe

[BRMan]

Originally Posted by Broncojoe

Thanks Beta, I too am moving from Texas and you can certainly get a ton of house for the money there. I have already learned to except that I will have to pay more to get something I like or comparable to my home in Texas. I am willing to do so for a great location in BR knowing that it will be a older home. Everyones comments have been helpful. I will check out your suggestions. Also, anyone have comments about Southdowns? Various home prices in that neighborhood, some in range and some way out of range.

thanks,
Joe

I'll probably get some flaming arrows for this opinion, but Southdowns is pretty overpriced for what you get. However, it has its charms, and it's well located.

[BetaBeta]

Originally Posted by BRMan

I'll probably get some flaming arrows for this opinion, but Southdowns is pretty overpriced for what you get. However, it has its charms, and it's well located.

No flaming arrows.. I did find it to be quite charming also and definitely good investment wise, very stable market... but I also passed because I could get the same or more space for the money per sq ft. elsewhere. I think if earning equity faster would have been my goal I would have considered it more.

The good news is many of the houses have been renovated, and renovated well because the owners could afford the upgrades. You will probably like what you see. Also its an easy commute to LSU if you work in that area.