Eastern or Southeastern neighborhoods of Columbia? (buying a home, buying, best schools)

[ElliottW]

My cousin is interested in relocating to the Columbia area - preferably as convenient as possible to the center of town. He is especially interested in the eastern and/or southeastern areas.
What is your opinion of that area? Is it relatively affordable? Which neighborhoods are nicest?
As noted, he would prefer to stay inside the "loop" or as close as possible. He doesn't want to live in, or near, the outskirts of town.
Thanks.

[jlboney]

The Rosewood area is located very close to downtown and my wife lived there when she first moved to Columbia. Prices in Rosewood as well as Southeast Columbia depend heavily on the type of house that you are looking for. Preston Greens and Willow Tree are two Mungo Homes Communities that are located in the Southeast area of Columbia. Preston Greens is a patio Home community starting around $115,000 and Willow Tree is a single family home community starting around $102,000 for an 1,100 sqft home up to around $215,000 for a 3,200 sqft home. Houses in both communities are vinyl with brick accents. Then there are always resales throughout the areas, but like I said earlier, the price really depends on what you are looking for in a home.


JL Boney, III

[Palmetto Heel]

What's your cousin's budget?

[Woodlands]

I would agree with JlBoney. If you are looking for something new in the $100,000 to $150,000 range. There may be more just outside the "loop" along Gardners Ferry or Leesburg Rds but you can get within in a mile or two of the "loop" and still have an easy commute downtown. That price range inside the loop may get you a rehab home or maybe one that was built within the last 5 to 10 years depending on the location. There are a couple of nice subdivisions just inside and on the outer edge of the loop such as the Pines (single family); Amelia Oaks(single family); Pennington Square(townhomes); Ellens Glen (townhomes) in addition to those listed above that are either new or five years or less old that are between $100 and $150k.. All are relatively close to Gardners Ferry Rd.

[ElliottW]

Thanks to everyone who responded. The recommendations are very helpful!

@ Palmetto Heel:

They would prefer to stay under $150K.

[waccamatt]

I will second the recommendation about looking in the Rosewood neighborhood - you can find some nice places there for $150K and it is very convenient.

[pvjd]

If you had to guess, on average, what would the commute time be from Rosewood to downtown?

[waccamatt]

Originally Posted by pvjd

If you had to guess, on average, what would the commute time be from Rosewood to downtown?

About 5 minutes most of the time, maybe 10 minutes during rush hour - Rosewood is only a couple of miles from downtown Columbia.

[jlboney]

waccamatt is right, the Rosewood area is right around the corner from down town. It's only minutes away from all the action.

[OconeeMountains]

I also give the Rosewood neighborhood the nod.

It is an older neighborhood with tons of mature trees, a really unique character and a great diversity of houses. Most houses in Rosewood are well built brick ranches or bungalows and can still be purchased affordably (around 150-165K is great when you compare that to the expensive Shandon nieghborhood right across Rosewood Blvd. where decent homes go for no less than 200K).

The area is growing in popularity (and has in price - likely still a good investment for the long term) because a great Publix shopping market is very convenient for all Rosewood folks, there is an increasing variety of good restaurant options on Rosewood Blvd. and because it feeds some of the best schools in the area. No doubt, Rosewood represents one of the successful and 'up and coming' neighborhoods in the area. Also, the neighborhood has a nice stock of neat parks for dog walking, baseball, soccer and so on. Those are my thoughts...If I were buying a home in Columbia, in fact, it would be in this neighborhood.