Wife offered her draeam job, help me feel that I can enjoy a life in Cleveland...

[roodd279]

ferraris...750K will get you a big nice beautiful home around here - but unless you bought acres with a fence, you are not more than 1 mile from the criminal element. Yep. They walk over there - steal the bikes and mowers - and walk back. Happens every day.


It's a fallacy that those neighborhoods exist in isolation from the community at large. They do not.


With that kind of home, maybe he'll hire a lawn service. And THAT guy will take his stuff. Yep. And it will be his fault...for trusting him. (NOT - but that's what it feels like...)

[cubsguy81]

Originally Posted by roodd279

ferraris...750K will get you a big nice beautiful home around here - but unless you bought acres with a fence, you are not more than 1 mile from the criminal element. Yep. They walk over there - steal the bikes and mowers - and walk back. Happens every day.


It's a fallacy that those neighborhoods exist in isolation from the community at large. They do not.


With that kind of home, maybe he'll hire a lawn service. And THAT guy will take his stuff. Yep. And it will be his fault...for trusting him. (NOT - but that's what it feels like...)

Rule #1 is don't make yourself a target. Key is being discrete and under the radar in all things.

We won't hire anyone to do anything for us. I cut my own grass. I have pro equipment and enjoy it. Not paying an inflated price for a few passes with a big mower and a sloppy trim job that's in and out in under 10 minutes.

We clean our own house too. Low risk of house keepers stealing aside, they are not worth the cost and it doesn't get done right unless I do it. Plus having to "clean the house" to get ready for them defeats the purpose. I'm not too good to clean my own toliet.

We drive old reliable japanese cars too! No cost to maintain, no risk of theft. Cheap to insure.

Heck, even some of my clothes are more than a decade old. I don't care and the added benefit is I look like everyone else. $9 cheap solid color tees and jeans/shorts are everyday wardrobe.

I've been honest here, but in real life we don't reveal our true jobs or situation. Quite frankly, it's no one's business and often comes with perceptions we prefer people don't have. We smile and nod and play along with whomever we are around. Everything is "need to know" and almost no one "needs to know"

[ferraris]

Originally Posted by roodd279

ferraris...750K will get you a big nice beautiful home around here - but unless you bought acres with a fence, you are not more than 1 mile from the criminal element. Yep. They walk over there - steal the bikes and mowers - and walk back. Happens every day.


It's a fallacy that those neighborhoods exist in isolation from the community at large. They do not.


With that kind of home, maybe he'll hire a lawn service. And THAT guy will take his stuff. Yep. And it will be his fault...for trusting him. (NOT - but that's what it feels like...)

I guess I missed the post where OP had decided on Shaker as an at least short term location. To be honest, I'm pretty surprised by that decision, as besides location and maybe architecture, it seems to offer very little of what OP is looking for. I thought they'd wind up in an outlying county or maybe a West side suburb or Bratenahl or something. So I stand corrected -- OP will undoubtedly run into some attitudes about crime and politics that won't align with his own at all.

[cubsguy81]

Originally Posted by ferraris

I guess I missed the post where OP had decided on Shaker as an at least short term location. To be honest, I'm pretty surprised by that decision, as besides location and maybe architecture, it seems to offer very little of what OP is looking for. I thought they'd wind up in an outlying county or maybe a West side suburb or Bratenahl or something. So I stand corrected -- OP will undoubtedly run into some attitudes about crime and politics that won't align with his own at all.

I didn't want SH, wife did. My number 1 criteria was no HOA so at least I got that! It is with the agreement that it is a short term house - 3 years max. SH doesn't perfectly align with my view of politics, crime, taxes, etc but I am well aware of it having grown up in the Chicago area. Cleveland is similar in that regard. I'm not going to go pushing my views and I don't entirely disagree or find the opposing views offensive. Smile and nod.

She wanted to be close to work above all else. We bought something cheaper than what we are coming from, but with the high taxes comes out about the same monthly. Market was extremely tight this year, couple that with making a cross country move and doing it online due to COVID-19 it would be foolish to do anything else. We considered renting, but the options were less than ideal. We have friends that just took jobs at CCF as well and they opted to rent and are really unhappy with the options and settled. They are on a similar plan as us. We rather own something and do with it as we please, plus have the option to rent it out or just sell it. We bought in an area that will sell no problem.

Plan is to ensure all is good with her career at the clinic, and save in the meantime to minimize risk. Once we are acclimated with the area and she is feeling good in her career we will probably custom build a house if we can't find something ideal. Not going to make that kind of investment now. Really need to know the schools, areas, pros/cons that only being in the area can give us the insights on. Not settled on east/west side yet. This allows us to punt that decision until we can really get a feel for it all. We also get to make that decision fully on our terms and timeline - not a hard deadline of a new job start date. We can stay in this house while we build or rehab something else.

You have all been very helpful.

[roodd279]

Good luck with everything, it's nice to see someone put some real thought into all sides of a thing . Sometimes ya just gotta try it out and make adjustments to the sail later on - such is life, eh?


Also sounds like you grew up in a neighborhood like I did - I always kept the front lawn looking crappy so the pizza guy never suspected what was just inside the door (at a rental property). I recently had someone rifle through my car (didn't lock it for an hour, my bad...) - they did not take the GPS, the EzPass, the Checkbook or the quarters.


They took my single winning $20 scratchoff I left in the cupholder - hadn't cashed it in yet. Ba$tards!

[TheProf]

Originally Posted by cubsguy81

I didn't want SH, wife did. My number 1 criteria was no HOA so at least I got that! It is with the agreement that it is a short term house - 3 years max. SH doesn't perfectly align with my view of politics, crime, taxes, etc but I am well aware of it having grown up in the Chicago area. Cleveland is similar in that regard. I'm not going to go pushing my views and I don't entirely disagree or find the opposing views offensive. Smile and nod.

She wanted to be close to work above all else. We bought something cheaper than what we are coming from, but with the high taxes comes out about the same monthly. Market was extremely tight this year, couple that with making a cross country move and doing it online due to COVID-19 it would be foolish to do anything else. We considered renting, but the options were less than ideal. We have friends that just took jobs at CCF as well and they opted to rent and are really unhappy with the options and settled. They are on a similar plan as us. We rather own something and do with it as we please, plus have the option to rent it out or just sell it. We bought in an area that will sell no problem.

Plan is to ensure all is good with her career at the clinic, and save in the meantime to minimize risk. Once we are acclimated with the area and she is feeling good in her career we will probably custom build a house if we can't find something ideal. Not going to make that kind of investment now. Really need to know the schools, areas, pros/cons that only being in the area can give us the insights on. Not settled on east/west side yet. This allows us to punt that decision until we can really get a feel for it all. We also get to make that decision fully on our terms and timeline - not a hard deadline of a new job start date. We can stay in this house while we build or rehab something else.

You have all been very helpful.

I was confused by your earlier posts, but this sounds more reasonable and I get it now. I'm a big proponent of Shaker -- that's where I grew up -- but I'm not opposed to the idea it's not for everyone. The thing I really like about greater Cleveland is there's a neighborhood or suburb for almost anyone, and a quality one at that at very reasonable prices -- esp compared to the Coasts and Chicago as well...

... good luck.

[sc471]

From what you wrote, you have completely valid reasons for moving and it's admirable that you would do that for your spouse even though you would prefer to stay in the South. And I'd grant you that the lifestyle probably is better down there, but to me taking a dream career opportunity is a good reason to move. You still can visit and move back one day. Many people here go to North or South Carolina every year so you'll meet a lot of people to talk about it with. I grew up here but have lived in a few other cities including Chicago, and I had reservations about relocating here too. I think you'll have a lot of positive surprises as time goes on, and Cleveland has most anything you could look for in some shape or form and lots of great people. Any city can look bad when compared with somewhere else, or the best aspects of places you've lived before. No one will blame you if there's things about Cleveland that don't appeal to you, if you can't stand the weather, or if you miss other places you've lived. I think where you'll be living will be very similar to living in many Chicago suburbs, and SH has a unique history. I hope everything goes well for you.