Moving to Birmingham (Hoover, Homewood, Vestavia Hills: for sale by owner, real estate market, houses)

[Guest11]

Can anyone please recommend some good areas to consider moving? My wife, 2-month old boy, and I are moving to the Birmingham area from the Memphis area. We continue to hear about areas such as Homewood, Hoover, Vestavia Hills, and Bluff Park. We would like to find us a nice 4-bedroom home for under $300k but this seems pretty difficult for these areas.....or at least a 3-bedroom plus some sort of bonus/basement/office room. I am hearing that the Pelham area is nice but the traffic is pretty bad. I would greatly appreciate any advise. Thanks so much.

[Threestep]

I am not a friend of commutes. Where will you work? Let's use this as base to go from.
Does your family have specific needs such as medical care, yard ...?
You will find utilities and taxes higher in Jefferson County compared to Shelby County.

[Guest11]

Thanks for your response. The commute is not a huge issue for me. I will be an outside rep working out of the house covering the state of AL. I will go into Birmingham pretty often but not every day. I was also looking at places out towards Chelsea down 280 but I hear that traffic is really bad too. I haven't physically seen any homes yet but looking online it seems like the Hoover/Homewood area would be a nice place to live. However, I am quite surprised at the prices because every day and night we all hear it's a "buyer's market." I was looking at a Subdivision in Pelham called Ballantrea (think part of a country club) that seems really nice. But back to your question, I would prefer to stay as close to Birmingham as possible but the commute is not a big issue.

We do have a big dog (lab/retriever) so yes, a fenced-in yard would be nice. Also, we do have a 9-week old son, so good care for him is important to us.

Thanks again

[cpg35223]

Personally, my belief is to stay inside the 459 corridor as much as possible. With some due diligence, I believe you can find any number of places under 300K, even in places such as Mountain Brook. While the Birmingham market has not been convulsed like most real estate markets, the level of demand has fallen off, yielding price pressure. In short, there are probably some bargains to be picked up.

I think Homewood is way overpriced per square foot, while the Overton area of Mountain Brook and the Cahaba Heights section of Vestavia have bargains. Also, Hoover is a pretty good deal.

[Threestep]

Originally Posted by Guest11

Thanks for your response. The commute is not a huge issue for me. I will be an outside rep working out of the house covering the state of AL. I will go into Birmingham pretty often but not every day. I was also looking at places out towards Chelsea down 280 but I hear that traffic is really bad too. I haven't physically seen any homes yet but looking online it seems like the Hoover/Homewood area would be a nice place to live. However, I am quite surprised at the prices because every day and night we all hear it's a "buyer's market." I was looking at a Subdivision in Pelham called Ballantrea (think part of a country club) that seems really nice. But back to your question, I would prefer to stay as close to Birmingham as possible but the commute is not a big issue.

We do have a big dog (lab/retriever) so yes, a fenced-in yard would be nice. Also, we do have a 9-week old son, so good care for him is important to us.

Thanks again

What do you mean by "good care"?
I have not seen too much of the buyers' market in my neighborhood.
280's reputation is very bad. If you do not have to be on it five days a week at 8:00 and 17:00 it is no big deal.
Have you looked at "for sale by owner"?

[Guest11]

Originally Posted by cpg35223

Personally, my belief is to stay inside the 459 corridor as much as possible. With some due diligence, I believe you can find any number of places under 300K, even in places such as Mountain Brook. While the Birmingham market has not been convulsed like most real estate markets, the level of demand has fallen off, yielding price pressure. In short, there are probably some bargains to be picked up.

I think Homewood is way overpriced per square foot, while the Overton area of Mountain Brook and the Cahaba Heights section of Vestavia have bargains. Also, Hoover is a pretty good deal.

Thanks for the info. Hopefully, we'll be able to make a house-hunting visit soon. I looked at Mountain Brook online and they seemed very expensive. I'll continue to look. Thanks again

[Guest11]

Originally Posted by Threestep

What do you mean by "good care"?
I have not seen too much of the buyers' market in my neighborhood.
280's reputation is very bad. If you do not have to be on it five days a week at 8:00 and 17:00 it is no big deal.
Have you looked at "for sale by owner"?

By good care, I am just referring to a good selection of doctors, offices, and hospital. Yes, I've looked at for sale by owner but haven't seen much that we really like.

I have also seen homes with very nice views. I have seen Bluff Park has some really nice views but some of the homes seem pretty outdated. Without getting too expensive, are there are locations with good views overlooking the city or different valleys?

Thanks

[Bravo35223]

Well its ironic you mentioned Bluff Park because it does indeed have some beautiful valley views.

For your price range, I would recommend looking at a neighborhood in Hoover that is inside I-459 and near the intersection of Alabama 150. You will be able to find a house in the 300k range there and it is a nice neighboorhood. I am sorry I don't know the name of it, but recommend you get a realtor who is familiar with this area.

Also, you might be able to find something in Vestavia in that price range, but you would have to look to find it. Vestavia has superb schools and is closer in than Hoover.

Birmingham's suburbs tend to me among the most expensive in the Southeast because of the quality of the schools. People move here from other cities where they have had to pay for private schools. Here, in the suburbs, the schools are so good that they prepare your children for college quite well...

Ballantrae in Pelham is a very nice area and I have driven through it several times. If you like to play golf and tennis, the City of Pelham owns superb golf and tennis facilities that are of country club quality. Just remember that Ballantrae is 25 minutes from downtown...but if you don't need to go downtown during rush hour then this would be a very good place to look. The Ballantrae subdivision has some beautiful valley views.

[gustygulas]

There are some beautiful homes in the upper 200s in Hoover. Houses in Vestavia, Homewood, and Mountain Brook are going to be older. It will depend on what kind of home appeals to you. I did not search any 3 bedrooms with bonuses but that may be a better option. I know of a few homes available in the Ross Bridge subdivision of Hoover that are under 300k.

[Cj31299]

I live in Ballantrae and love it we do not have to drive to Birmingham but I don't think the traffic is bad at all. If you have any questions just send me a message Did you check out their website?