Too many choices! Help (Columbus, Westerville: real estate market, houses, neighborhoods)

[Mom2_2cuties]

I've been watching houses on the MLS listings for months now. And now our time to visit/purchase a home in the Columbus area is quickly approaching.

I find that I am not further ahead in choosing an area than when I first started looking. Maybe you all can give me some advice....

We are a family of 4 (an almost 4 year old and a 19 month old). My DH will be a grad. student at OSU and I will be returning to work (unsure where yet).

We expect to spend around $200,000 on a house (lower would be better). Areas we are thinking about....

Bexley- I've been watching a few houses in the area that look adorable. We worry about maintenance issues with older homes.

Clintonville-Another area with a lot of adorable houses. Maintenance issues concern

Dublin- Mainly the houses that are Dublin schools with Columbus taxes. These houses all look like the typical cookie cutter house built in the 70's, 80's, and 90's.

Hilliard -These houses all look like the typical cookie cutter house built in the 70's, 80's, and 90's.

Gahanna- Ok looking houses - not finding a whole lot that sticks out

Worthington - We've found some houses but not much that sticks out in our price range

Westerville- Again - the houses seem like the same floorplan found around the city.

Upper Arlington - looking at this, but the houses are mostly out of our price range and the ones that are "affordable" are too small.

Grove City and areas in SW school district- I stopped looking at this area a while ago because of what I had read about the school district. But now I am looking again. I've found a few great looking houses but am very hesitant. What is the big stink about with GC? Are the schools really bad? Are others scared away like I am/was? The thing I worry about here is the resale because the real estate market is so shakey anyway.

Valleyview area - Love these old homes and their unique character with a very low price tag. The school issue with Columbus scares me. I could hope that we get a lottery school, but you just can't count on that.

Marion Village - Cute homes but bad schools.

Are Blacklick and Reynoldsburg bad or undesirable areas?

Are my observations correct about these areas?

We LOVE older homes and the character they have but are still a bit nervous about the potential problems. I guess those problems could arise with any house though.

We will be there in 2 1/2 weeks to house hunt. I know that we will get a better feel for the area then. But we only have a limited number of days in the area so I am trying to get as much research done ahead of time as possible.

We know that we will only live in the area for a few years as we are there for OSU. Resale value of the home is very important.

Can anyone give me any advice?

[NewToCA]

With your criteria and overall situation my first choice would be Worthington, and my second choice would be Clintonville.

I know this is an oversimplification, but if you are trying to sort things out, that would be my advice.

But there are plenty of good choices, I'm not trashing the rest.

[macsports2]

Originally Posted by Mom2_2cuties

I've been watching houses on the MLS listings for months now. And now our time to visit/purchase a home in the Columbus area is quickly approaching.

I find that I am not further ahead in choosing an area than when I first started looking. Maybe you all can give me some advice....

We are a family of 4 (an almost 4 year old and a 19 month old). My DH will be a grad. student at OSU and I will be returning to work (unsure where yet).

We expect to spend around $200,000 on a house (lower would be better). Areas we are thinking about....

Bexley- I've been watching a few houses in the area that look adorable. We worry about maintenance issues with older homes.

Clintonville-Another area with a lot of adorable houses. Maintenance issues concern

Dublin- Mainly the houses that are Dublin schools with Columbus taxes. These houses all look like the typical cookie cutter house built in the 70's, 80's, and 90's.

Hilliard -These houses all look like the typical cookie cutter house built in the 70's, 80's, and 90's.

Gahanna- Ok looking houses - not finding a whole lot that sticks out

Worthington - We've found some houses but not much that sticks out in our price range

Westerville- Again - the houses seem like the same floorplan found around the city.

Upper Arlington - looking at this, but the houses are mostly out of our price range and the ones that are "affordable" are too small.

Grove City and areas in SW school district- I stopped looking at this area a while ago because of what I had read about the school district. But now I am looking again. I've found a few great looking houses but am very hesitant. What is the big stink about with GC? Are the schools really bad? Are others scared away like I am/was? The thing I worry about here is the resale because the real estate market is so shakey anyway.

Valleyview area - Love these old homes and their unique character with a very low price tag. The school issue with Columbus scares me. I could hope that we get a lottery school, but you just can't count on that.

Marion Village - Cute homes but bad schools.

Are Blacklick and Reynoldsburg bad or undesirable areas?

Are my observations correct about these areas?

We LOVE older homes and the character they have but are still a bit nervous about the potential problems. I guess those problems could arise with any house though.

We will be there in 2 1/2 weeks to house hunt. I know that we will get a better feel for the area then. But we only have a limited number of days in the area so I am trying to get as much research done ahead of time as possible.

We know that we will only live in the area for a few years as we are there for OSU. Resale value of the home is very important.

Can anyone give me any advice?

For a while I stopped looking into Grove City myself because of the same reason. But I think that is going to be my option because I found out that the SW school district has improved a lot. If you go into greatschools.com you can compare the schools in that area. I found a few that rank 7 or better which is the main areas I am looking in. I have 4 kids 10, 7, 4, and 23 months. I am coming from near Scranton PA. From what I read about the crinme it is a lot lower in GC than where I'm at now.

[streetcreed]

I really love Clintonville, and if your going to be in the area for Ohio State, it is located the closest to the university that you can get, but in a very safe and nice neighborhood.

The resale value of homes in Clintonville is strong.

Also, the neighborhoods just north of Clintonville (Beechwold) is worth looking into and still has the Clintonville charm, with many older homes including river views.

Also, the Columbus City Schools in the NW section of Columbus (that includes Clintonville and Beechwold) are known for being good, far better than poorer parts of the district. Clintonville and Beechwold also have a very large and strong Catholic School culture.

[Mom2_2cuties]

Thanks for the info!

We do love the houses in Clintonville! I am so ready to get there so we can finally get this move going.