Moving to Ohio.. (Columbus) (Akron, Dublin: real estate, homes, safe neighborhoods)

[krizko]

My wife & I are both 24 years old, and expecting our first child. We both work in Medical Billing which allows us the opportunity to work from home. We currently live in NJ where we've both grown up.

What we're looking for is a quieter area, safe neighborhoods, and low cost homes. Neither of us have any problem with chain restaurants and retail stores, and would prefer an area with a good amount of shopping / malls, etc.

We're planning our first trip to the Columbus area in the coming weeks, and we've been looking at homes in the following towns: Pickerington, Pataskala, Canal Winchester ..

Bear in mind, we've never been to the area and have thus far based our search on pictures from the internet, and home prices/photos from real estate listings.

We're looking to spend around 150k, all the way up to 200k if neccessary but obviously would like to stay around the low end.

Any help you can offer will be greatly appreciated.. thanks a bunch!

[paintballer1708]

I would check out the area around Delaware and southern Delaware County. Very nice area, great schools, lots of shopping and entertainment.

[where_to_move]

Absolutely do not buy a home if Columbus City Schools---terrible schools, flat market for homes in that school dist
I personally prefer the western side of the city.
HER realty website is a good one to search for homes.
I like Hilliard, Dublin ---Hilliard is a great place, young families, cheaper than Dublin, but great schools. The commute to downtown is much better from the west than from the East where you mentioned communities.

[JWJACKSON]

People move for different reasons. Ours was to be near our kids and grandkids, although I still work from home. My company in NJ allowed me to move anywhere I wanted to. Family wouldn't have been the compelling factor if the area didn't offer what we need. We found everything we were looking for in Delaware, OH and have enjoyed living here immensly. It's an upward-moving location with good access to the city, airport, malls, social activities and other amenities. We like the aspect of letting the city grow out to meet us. We formerly lived in Madison and Hackettstown, NJ, and this area is a cross between both of those. We lived in the Akron area for 9 years and have always wanted to get back, even though we are natives of the Philadelphia, PA area. High property values, property and other taxes, density and other factors eventually conspired to lead us out of NJ, although it will always have a warm spot in our hearts. Come on over, you'll like it.

[paintballer1708]

^Delaware is a very nice area around the Columbus metro. Now is one of the main routes into Columbus the Polarious Parkway? I remember travelling along that area and amazed by the amount of development going on.