I Need Reasons why I should buy a home in Cleveland (Cincinnati: for sale, real estate)

[blabber]

I'm moving to Cleveland from Charlotte in the next month and I'm looking for any good reason why I should buy a home. We are likely going to rent for the following reasons. We would like to live in Shaker or Cleveland Heights. With a young child, schools are not an immediate concern but proximity to city would be nice...I wish we could live in the city..and would entertain that if safety were not a concern.

1. Negative population growth
2. 6% sales commission would likely negate 3 years of appreciation (if that lucky).
3. Older housing stock costs a fortune to maintain
4. MOD CUT taxes
5. Lots of foreclosures
6. Increase in supply, decrease in demand (see 1)
7. If I have to move, I don't want to worry about selling a home in Cleveland (see 1)
8. The world seems to be going to hell.
9. Flexibility is worth a premium

Thoughts? I'm open to any reason why other than the following

1. Income tax deduction
2. Throwing your money down the drain
3. Realtor BS to increase business.

Enlighten me...oh, I would be open to a great deal on a foreclosure that I could sell at any price and make money.

While I'd like to say that we'll be in Cleveland for 10 years, I don't know as I thought I'd be in Charlotte for 10 years and that did not happen. Thank God I decided to rent in Charlotte

Regards,

Blabber

[ZnGuy]

One reason that comes to my mind is that it commits you to staying in the area for awhile...I wouldn't buy in CLE unless you are committed to staying there for a long while. I think if I had to move now I would rent and I think the housing market wil be down for a long while and think other markets (including CLT) will bounce back sooner, especially if they have significant population growth. Sorry that that you have to leave Charlotte, I moved form CLE to Charlotte 5 years ago by choice and it was the best thing we ever did and love it down here. We enjoyed the time we spent in Chagrin (love that town) but cloudy weather and loong winter is depressing along with the blight in some areas. I will be up in CLE tomorrow for a few days on business and enjoy visiting (when not winter) but I am very happy that I do not live there any more, just my opinion.

[costello_musicman]

Well there are areas of population increase and very high demand (Little Italy and downtown come to mind first) Overall, Cleveland Hts and Shaker Hts/Shaker Square have some great places to live. Renting first may be a good idea just due to the fact you don't know the area too well yet (just like in any city).

If you haven't seen this already, this is a pretty cool rundown: Cleveland Relocation Guide

You seem somewhat uneasy about the move, but I can honestly say I think you'll be pleasantly surprised with that the city has to offer.

[blabber]

Thanks for the feedback. I actually know Cleveland (I like it in the warmer months) reasonably well as I have relatives in Shaker and lived in Cincinnati (love that town) for 5 years and went to undergrad in OH. I'd like to consider buying but its just very hard to do that since it's so hard to plan 5 - 10 years into the future which I would consider a decent amount of time to justify buying a home here. Supply is obviously increasing faster than demand so I'm likely going to rent...especially considering if that I have to move quickly the thought of selling here is more scary than buying.

[LewLew]

Do your research and buy smart. Interest rates may not be this low again for a long time. Economic downturns are cyclical like anything else.
Also, we are moving from FL back to Cleve. Of the 20 homes we wanted to view on our househunting trip, 10 sold before we arrived (only a 3 week window). Certainly, they didn't wait that long to sell.

Our house sold in a week in FL for full price. I have friends here, who live in a "newer" home than we do, and have had their home on the market for over a year. They are WELL below asking as well.

Roll of the dice my friend, and sometimes you have to be a gambling kind of person. Buy where you want to be "home", not where you "think" will make you a millionaire. That's not what it's all about. It's a LONG term investment, and not a money machine. The mentality of homebuying that got the country in the mess needs to go away. Typical home value increase is under 12% per year, and really nothing for the first 5. The speculators etc all snowed the public into thinking a home should net someone decent money in a year or two. Horse crap.

If you are a savvy buyer, and know what a good deal is...you can still buy a home in any US city, and make money after a year.. tons no, profit yes. We did.

Good luck. I am no realtor, and think its a great time to buy. Its actually not a great time to rent. Most rentals are actually on the market for sale, and there are hoards of renters flooding the market b/c of foreclosures. Thus, supply and demand my friend. Law of simple econ. The buyer's pool is smaller, thus better prices. The rental pool is larger, thus higher rents.

Good luck!!!

[LewLew]

Oh, and you mentioned 6% realtor commission. Don't use one, and don't pay. You aren't required.

[jam40jeff]

I think we will see the mentality of home ownership shift greatly in this country in the next few decades away from being a highly profitable investment to being something necessary to live in. Even if your home only rises with the level of inflation, when you sell it, you get your money back, and have only paid for the upkeep and taxes, which is surely less than renting, especially after the writeoffs. That is why I will always buy a home where I want to live, rather than simply looking at what may increase in value in the future, which is an unknown anyways. I think happiness is much more important than a little more long-term profit. And look at it this way, it is a much better investment than a car (which is the worst investment ever, it loses its entire value after less than 10 years and, between gas and maintenance, is a money pit in the meantime). If you move to an area that is walkable and with decent transit and can cut down the number of cars in your family by one, you will save hundreds of thousands of dollars in the long run. Considering many suburban families own 3 or 4 cars (or more sometimes) when they have teenagers, this should be easily doable.

[NewToCA]

Originally Posted by jam40jeff

I think we will see the mentality of home ownership shift greatly in this country in the next few decades away from being a highly profitable investment to being something necessary to live in. Even if your home only rises with the level of inflation, when you sell it, you get your money back, and have only paid for the upkeep and taxes, which is surely less than renting, especially after the writeoffs. That is why I will always buy a home where I want to live, rather than simply looking at what may increase in value in the future, which is an unknown anyways. I think happiness is much more important than a little more long-term profit. And look at it this way, it is a much better investment than a car (which is the worst investment ever, it loses its entire value after less than 10 years and, between gas and maintenance, is a money pit in the meantime). If you move to an area that is walkable and with decent transit and can cut down the number of cars in your family by one, you will save hundreds of thousands of dollars in the long run. Considering many suburban families own 3 or 4 cars (or more sometimes) when they have teenagers, this should be easily doable.

I've been following the Cleveland home market for over 30 years, and don't think it ever was regarded as a great place to invest. The way to make money on real estate in Cleveland is to buy run down homes, fix them up yourself, then sell at a profit or rent out with slight positive cash flow. Since taxes tend to be a bit high, making profits through rentals is somewhat difficult.

[XHALT]

I relocated here from the west coast 15 years ago. Think about possibly the Brooklyn Heights area along Schaaf road- It has better freeway access than Cleveland heights or Shaker, terrific access to parks and an excellent school system just in case you decided to stay. Brooklyn heights borders the better part of old brooklyn, filled with large, lovely older homes. The lower cost of living is a huge benefit of this area.

[jam40jeff]

What school district is Brooklyn Heights in?