Buying a sub $100k house in 8 months, need advice!

[mortey]

Thanks for the response TeacherDad!

The sub-$100k price comes from getting a mortgage with taxes, home owner's insurance, PMI, and taxes that is less than the place we are renting. That way we can pay it off in under 15 years and really have more money to do what we want to do. This is really just a starter home for us. Eventually we'll get a larger home but we just want to start with something more affordable. We won't have enough downpayment in 8 months for something twice as expensive. I wish we would have enough but I don't think we do.

[OhioNative]

Parts of Mentor and Mentor-on-the-Lake are great for homes around $100K but that might be a little more of a drive than you would like.

[mortey]

Originally Posted by OhioNative

Parts of Mentor and Mentor-on-the-Lake are great for homes around $100K but that might be a little more of a drive than you would like.

I definitely looked at that area at one point and even received a job offer over there but I refused it for several reasons. It would definitely be too far.

[deskjockey]

Originally Posted by teacherdad

My cousins live there BTW and have never wanted to leave. The community center is awesome!

Sorry to hear that.

[ehfp]

Mortey, as you've probably seen from the responses, there are lots of places where you could probably find a decent home in your price range not too far from Solon. It might help us a little to know what kind of area you're hoping to find. Just to start, I guess: would you rather be somewhere walkable, would you rather have a big lot, are there city amenities you'd like to have access to, what do you like/dislike about where you live now? All those might help us guide you a little better.

[mortey]

Sure!

So the most important things to my wife and I are: 1) Safe neighborhood where we could walk without having to worry about anything 2) Quiet neighborhood where I could sit outside and not hear police cars, busy streets, or bar sounds 3) within a 30 minute commute of Solon. The wife's ideal house would be very popular at Halloween time with lots of trick or treaters. I guess if I had to pick one thing it would be the safe and quiet neighborhood that would be nice to walk around.

[Cleverfield]

Originally Posted by mortey

Sure!

So the most important things to my wife and I are: 1) Safe neighborhood where we could walk without having to worry about anything 2) Quiet neighborhood where I could sit outside and not hear police cars, busy streets, or bar sounds 3) within a 30 minute commute of Solon. The wife's ideal house would be very popular at Halloween time with lots of trick or treaters. I guess if I had to pick one thing it would be the safe and quiet neighborhood that would be nice to walk around.

The good news is that there are plenty of post WWII suburbs in Cleveland that will fit the bill of what you're looking for. The bad news is, that some of them are showing their age and have seen depopulation and/or an uptick in crime. If I were you, I'd try to stay close to I-271 for commuting purposes. I'd look into Mayfield Heights, Beachwood, both of which are fine stable communities, and possibly Euclid or Richmond Heights, which are okay, but do show some signs of decline. The latter 2 will be a little further on the commute, but you may be able to find a better deal on property.

[ehfp]

Awesome! I'd definitely put Lyndhurst on the list. There are lots of houses under $100K - they're not large, but some are nicely updated, and they're set into quiet neighborhoods. You'd be about 15-20 minutes from Solon. South Euclid would be nice too (and has a great dog park!), but the drive would be a little longer. You could also check Aurora - it's a little bit more spread out, as a rule, but there are a few townhome developments that might work.

[L2DB]

You can't get into Beachwood for under $100K, certainly not for what you'd give up in a different city (BR's, square feet, etc.)

I think your best bets are South Euclid/Lyndhurst and Mayfield Heights, but you may have more trouble staying under $100K, particularly in Mayfield Heights where you end up paying more because of the better school district.

CH probably has better value for houses, but it might even out with higher property taxes and the commute's going to be further. There was a thread recently about Parkdale Drive. That actually might not be a bad area to look at. It's about 12-15 minutes to 271 at Cedar and then however much further to Solon (10-15 minutes?)

[usernametaken]

I bought a house in Euclid for well below $50k in early 2010. Left Cleveland later that same year, but loved living in Euclid in my time there and still own my house. The parts of Euclid closer to East Cleveland are a bit dangerous, but my area further east was safe. No area is dangerous in the daytime.