NE Columbia Rental Homes (Clemson, North: for sale, real estate, apartments)

[kirby87]

Does anyone have advice on a safe and nice community to rent a home in the NE? My fiance and I are looking to lease a house before purchasing and stay in the NE. I really like Lake Carolina and parts of a development off of Killian and Longtown Rd that we just ran into the other day. I have heard nothing but terrible things about the Summit and everyone we know who lives there is trying to sell/move out. We are looking to keep rent under $1200; are there any neighborhoods we are looking over in NE? This area seems so integrated with good and bad neighborhoods (almost by the street not the development).

I have emailed several real estate agents but have gotten little to no responses back.

Thanks for the help!

[Auspicious0709]

We don't live in Columbia yet, but we were just recently in the search for a rental home in NE. We've signed a lease on a home in Lake Carolina, and are moving there later this summer.

We also didn't get much interest from the real estate agent recommended to us but had good dealings with:

http://cantey.com/rentals/properties/search.php
http://www.colapro.com/searchn.asp
http://spmgrentals.com/

Since you said you already like Lake Carolina, we looked at this house
http://columbia.craigslist.org/apa/2414828549.html
and liked it--it was on our short list. Vanessa from Cantey was in general interested in sussing out what we were looking for and trying to match us up with a place.

Hope that helps in some way.

I'm curious, if you could expand, what your friends don't like about The Summit? It seemed nice, but like I said, we don't even live in town yet.

[kirby87]

Thanks for the info! We thought the same thing when we first moved here about the Summit. And from what I heard, it used to be a nice community. They have complained about crime increasing and many people do not take care of their properties (uncut lawns, cars parked all over the lawns instead of the driveways). There are okay places inside there, but you have to drive right by all the lower income ones, which may be the next development over, and we did not notice any gated communities to keep people out.

[Leah A. Henderson]

Hi Kirby,
One issue is that most agents don't handle rentals. However, we do have access to them. I just reviewed the system. Many homes are listed for rent in the northeast. There were 37 in the northeast under $1199 at 10:49 pm 6/24/11.

Without knowing more of your needs I couldn't exactly say which would suit you and your family. As a source to find a place to rent you can also utilize craigslist: dallas / fort worth classifieds for jobs, apartments, personals, for sale, services, community, and events for apartments and homes. As there are certainly plenty of nice apartment communities in the Northeast. However, if you prefer a yard and a bit more space with no neighbors below and above you renting a home would be preferable.

[Tall Tee]

Hello.

We lived in NE Cola for 3 years at 2 different locations (both rentals), so I'm pretty familiar with the rental homes in that area.

The first home we lived in was in a subdivision in The Summit--and I feel confident in saying that everything you heard about the area was spot-on. Our neighborhood was so beautiful...and it went downhill after about a year and a half. If someone had told me when we signed our first lease that a neighborhood of brand new homes with polite, upper-middle to middle class people would turn into "the hood" overnight, I wouldn't have believed them--but it did. There was a shooting (yes, an actual shooting) a block behind our home; large, colorful antiquated cars with huge rims and booming sound systems came out of nowhere; there was outside drinking and rowdy behavior all about. So we quickly moved out.

Finding another home proved to be a daunting task. Most of the homes in "desired" NE Cola neighborhoods start @ about $1300-$1400, and they go fast. But we were able to find one of that area's best kept secrets: Parsons Mill. It is a small subdivision of slightly older homes right off Clemson Road. It's quiet, it's peaceful, and most importantly, it's affordable! We went from paying $1300 a month to $800 a month. A lot of folks in that subdivision are selling their homes, so don't be afraid to give the Realtor a call and make an offer for a year to 2-year lease; that's what we did.

If that doesn't pan out for you, there is another subdivision right off Clemson Road named "Brookfield". Nice homes that are often for rent.

If that doesn't pan out, there is also Blythewood. Blythewood is--literally--right next to Cola, and you will get a lot more for your dollar rental and purchase-wise.

Also, you didn't mention if you have children or not, but if you have high-school aged children, be careful of Ridge View. Our daughter went for her freshman and a portion of her sophomore year before we moved--and while the school has some great amenities and programs--there was a definitive "bad" element moving in. Lake Carolina feeds into Ridge View, but so does the apartment across the way (and The Summit). Once again, it isn't a "bad" school, it just has more and more bad apples moving in. On the upside though, it does have great honors classes, a magnet program, and an absolutely top-notch band program.

Blessings to you and don't give up! Try Craigslist, the newspaper, anything you can get your hands on to find a place to live; the conventional methods aren't always the best !