Relocating to Birmingham area (Hoover, Homewood: housing, condos, rent)

[jt0481]

I am possibly relocating to birmingham from southwest ohio, in a month or so for a job opportunity. i am mid twenties newlywed and i was hoping someone could tell me about the nicer areas to live in, im not rich nor will i be anytime soon :P so i am looking for very reasonable, safe, friendly, and nice areas to live in. Any suggestions???
Thanks

[steveklein]

Originally Posted by jt0481

I am possibly relocating to birmingham from southwest ohio, in a month or so for a job opportunity. i am mid twenties newlywed and i was hoping someone could tell me about the nicer areas to live in, im not rich nor will i be anytime soon :P so i am looking for very reasonable, safe, friendly, and nice areas to live in. Any suggestions???
Thanks

well you obviously don't want to locate too too far from your work. what kind of commute are you expecting? if you don't mind a 30 minute commute and end up working downtown, you could try alabaster. pretty affordable 3 bedroom/2 bathroom housing... lots of new construction starting from probably the 160s-170s through the upper 200s depending on finishes and square footage... or you could get a home with a few miles on it for a little less.

besides alabaster, there are other suburbs you could try (all of these have similar commutes to downtown): pelham, chelsea, trussville [maybe a bit closer, but northeast of town as where the rest are south of town]

i should also note that all these suburbs are growing and have the foundations for very good schools if you see that in your future.

if you won't be starting a family for a while (or not at all) and/or the commute is a bit much for you, you could try southside. this is in the birmingham city limits and there are both single family homes and condominiums ranging from the 100s to low 300s. southside is a very charming area and that's where i've actually decided to locate to be very close to UAB (i am looking for a job in research, planning on applying to dental school, and like the idea being close to the birmingham nightlife). in case you are wondering, i'm a 21 year old male and got a 1 bedroom luxury condo for $170,000 at a development called Bristol Southside (http://www.bristolsouthside.com). 2 bedrooms run a little higher in most cases... probably starting in the low 200s.

if you have any other questions, please let me know and i'll be happy to answer.

it would be really helpful if you could give us a little more information on where your job might be in the area (downtown? hoover? east of town? west of town?) and what you are looking for in a place (space? short commute? 1, 2, 3 bedrooms? new construction? single family home vs. condo, rent vs. buy etc.)

[Twostep]

The same here. Are you moving because of employment? If so - where is it located? If not - what makes to pick Birmingham? Just nosy :>)
To find a place to live - what are your expectations, what do you do for fun, what does your wife want ...? Birmingham has everything to offer. You have to give details.

[jt0481]

well, i found out today that i am relocating to bham for sure. Jackson MS was the other possibility. But I will be a sales rep for a large company, based out of home. so I dont need to worry about the commute b/c I will be traveling on a daily basis all over the area visiting customers. We are looking for a safe neighborhood where we could start out renting something affordable, preferably a house but are considering condo or townhouse. It is a high chance that i could be relocated again with in the year but hopefully not. So we dont want to get ahead of ourselves and buy anything to quickly. I like to golf and fish and my wife enjoys nightlife, dining out, relaxing pubs, etc. she is excited b/c sax is based there, so she is gonna go for that job :P I have a friend that lived in hoover all last year, which he says that is nice but i like options and welcome any and all suggestions. Thanx all for your time.

[Twostep]

You are talking about Saks? If so - your wife may want to look into some of the recent news and layoffs at Saks here in Birmingham. Not to be negative but a considerable number of operational positions have been consolidated and/or will move to the Carolinas.

[SElkins]

There are many safe areas in Birmingham. The side of town you select could depend on where your job is going to be located. Do you know? I'm partial to Trussville, which is where I live.

If you are a newlywed who likes family life, Trussville is a great area. We have some new condos (converted from apartments) around 122k, and I would expect these to go up in value, particularly after they finish the conversion project. Not too much in the way of apartments, although there is a new apartment complex being built right now. On the low end, homes would start around $135k. The areas I'm talking about are zoned to Trussville schools. If that doesn't matter to you, you can find homes lower priced in the area.

If you are a newlywed who is looking for apartment living and other young couples and singles, you might be intersted in the Inverness area -- tons of apartments.

Areas on the north end of Birmingham would be Pinson, Odenville, Argo, Springville. On the south end of Birmingham, areas that would be safe would include Pelham, Alabaster, Helena, Hoover.

Hope that helps! If you can give me more input on what side of town your work might be and whether you're looking for apartment or home, I can help you a little more. Good luck!

[cjpereira]

Hello,
I just moved to Birmingham, and I now live at Liberty Park, Vestavia Hills with my husband.
He just got out of the Military, and we are a young couple, 20 and 22.
We are looking into moving to the southside area.
We want to be more around people our age, and have some more fun.
We were looking into moving to Bistrol, southside.
We really liked the area, and the apartments are very nice.
The only thing is that they only sell, for us to rent them we would need to find a person that has one and would like to sell.
If anyone knows of an apartment for rent at Bistrol southside with at lease 2BR please let me know asap.

Thanks,
Claudia

[Bravo35223]

I would suggest Homewood....close to downtown, with lots of nice shops, restaurants etc. Since you are young, I am sure you will want to access nightlife etc, which is richly located on the Southside only 5 minutes from Homewood.

[exnyker]

home wood or trussville