Best City for Young Professional Couple with one Child (Cleveland: for sale, homeowners insurance)

[airics]

Originally Posted by 1watertiger

4 responses... and 2 of them from out of town who dont have a clue. once an east-sider , always an east-sider. right ?

if you are referring to me, i still live in mayfield... not for long though... thank god! over 40 years here and i have had enough!

[1watertiger]

jlawrence01, my input would be chagrin falls, beechwood or maybe chesterland (since the poster is familiar with east-side). and i was being sarcastic towards daytonian/firefightermom. come on mom, "bus stops full of kids trying to get back to east cleveland" ? and police presence at suburban schools have been common for decades, east and west sides.

[AndyF667]

One big question is, where is their work location(s). If you are at Unviveristy Circle, do you want to spend 45-60/minutes each way getting to work from Chesterland?
Chime in LewLew

Airics, you still heading to Las Vegas? If so you should get some sweet deals on real estate. Apparently they are tops in foreclosures.

[airics]

actually i already have 2 homes there, they are tops in foreclosures but also tops in number of houses sold (the foreclosures), prices actually rose 2% this month on the homes under 250k...if i could get another loan, i would buy another house there.

[LewLew]

Wow, thanks for everyone's responses. I used to get email prompts when people would reply, and hadn't received any. Thus, i thought my post was ignored. I checked tonight, and something must be wrong with the email.

Anyway, I would have said "once an eastsider, always an eastsider" like someone did, but that's what we said in high school, and I now realize there is a lot more to the entire Cleveland metro area besides the east side. Heck, I wouldn't have driven to Twinsburg back in the day (too far), but I have loads of friends who now live there. It's amazing how proximity is so stifled when you are small, and then you grow up and your eyes open.

I really appreciate everyone's comments. If I had my druthers, I'd move back to Shaker. I miss the character of the homes, the tree lined streets. However, I know a lot has changed there, and the taxes are OUTRAGEOUS! (someone commented on that, and I agree).

My job is as a Director in HR, but I work from home...so I can go anywhere. My husband would like to be closer to the water, but that's not carved in stone with me. LOL

On all the FL posts, all you see are people bashing FL, how much they hate it now that they moved here. I love that down economy and all, Clevelander's still have their pride. See, that is what I miss! I love it where I am, but I want the best childhood and opportunities/culture/arts/etc for my son, and I just don't think that FL will be able to give him what I received in Cleve.

I guess we'll start with the eastside, since I know it, and work out way west. I have friends in Lakewood, and they seem to love it.

I also have friends that just moved to Lyndhurst, and some to Mayfield Heights. Are those areas still ok?

Thanks again for all the great info!

[airics]

mayfield is decent for now

[AndyF667]

Lew Lew, you should consider Shaker still. Taxes are high, but the return value is pretty good (as you know). The schools are top notch, the services are wonderful, and as you mentioned previously, it is pretty damn charming.
Shaker has taxes about 17% higher than Lakewood.

[LewLew]

Originally Posted by AndyF667

Lew Lew, you should consider Shaker still. Taxes are high, but the return value is pretty good (as you know). The schools are top notch, the services are wonderful, and as you mentioned previously, it is pretty damn charming.
Shaker has taxes about 17% higher than Lakewood.

We decided that we are still going to consider it. There are some great deals to be had. We really like Geauga County too, and given that I work from home, it might be feasible. We have dogs, and the yards are better for them the further out you go.

I heard that there is an ordinance in the burbs (Shaker, Beachwood, Lakewood, Mayfield etc) that you can only have 2 pets (2 cats, 2 dogs or one of each) Is this true? I'm no farmer, but we have 3 dogs. We live in Florida now, and there has been no issue. But, I heard through the grapevine that they are pretty strict in the "in town burbs" of Cleveland.

Lastly, the taxes are very very high considering our FL taxes. We pay only 14 milleage points here in FL. Thus, on my 300K home, our taxes are around 3k per year. NOW, with that said, we pay almost 3k per year in insurance as well. Thus, I am sure the insurance rates in Cleveland are much lower than that. It should balance out somewhat.

We just want to live in a very nice, semi-charming community where we like driving home down our street, and aren't passing schlocky trailers on the way to our driveway. We want the neighbors to be friendly (not coffee kaffetchers necessarily, but nice LOL) Great schools, good private schools if the schools decline, community resources, churches, neighborhood parks, little league teams etc. All the things you don't get much of in FL.

Thanks again!

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by LewLew

I heard that there is an ordinance in the burbs (Shaker, Beachwood, Lakewood, Mayfield etc) that you can only have 2 pets (2 cats, 2 dogs or one of each) Is this true? I'm no farmer, but we have 3 dogs. We live in Florida now, and there has been no issue. But, I heard through the grapevine that they are pretty strict in the "in town burbs" of Cleveland.

Lastly, the taxes are very very high considering our FL taxes. We pay only 14 milleage points here in FL. Thus, on my 300K home, our taxes are around 3k per year. NOW, with that said, we pay almost 3k per year in insurance as well. Thus, I am sure the insurance rates in Cleveland are much lower than that. It should balance out somewhat.

The quickest way to get an answer to the restrictions in a community is to call City Hall. They are more than helpful and will also be able to answer at length any questions about the community.

Taxes will be a LOT higher than you are used to; insurance will be a small fraction.

[LewLew]

Originally Posted by jlawrence01

The quickest way to get an answer to the restrictions in a community is to call City Hall. They are more than helpful and will also be able to answer at length any questions about the community.

Taxes will be a LOT higher than you are used to; insurance will be a small fraction.

Thanks. I tried looking at some of the city websites, but found little info. I'll have to give them a call.

I figure that it's a wash with taxes and insurance. Our lump of everything here will be 6-7K per year, so I figure Shaker taxes are near enough that on a modest home, so we'll do pretty well in other burbs.

Not to get off the subject, but anyone know approx insurance costs in the area for a 250-300K home?