Need some guidance - where to buy? (Westerville, Gahanna: condo, houses)

[JJC99]

I've been lurking and reading this forum for a little while, and you all have given me great info. Now, it's time for me to post and ask a couple specifics.

I have recently been qualified/approved to buy a house (yea!). My limit is $110K, but obviously, I don't want to go that high if I don't have to. Here's our backgrounds, want/work/play/etc:

I work at OSU, hubby works in Groveport, but night/late morning hours, so traffic isn't as big a deal for him, for work. He goes to CSCC, afternoon or evening hours. I also have a lot of play/work up in dublin - sawmill and 270. Sometimes, I am up there late (11pm+) so I don't want a long haul home at night.

No kids, yet. Maybe in the next year or so. I have a stepchild, but he lives out of town, but does spend time with us from time to time.

Desires: 3br/1.5+ bath. Decent yard, 1000+sf, or less with a finished basement. SAFE. and if possible, I don't want to have to drive through sketchy area(s) to get to my home. Someplace where I don't hear gunshots or see the helicopters 3+times a week. Obviously, we want as much bang for our buck. We need something that's move-in ready, or really close to that.

Where we've been looking: Hilliard, SW (schools worry me, but are a few years from that), Gahanna, Westerville, Worthington, Dublin. (those last few might be too $).

What's the deal with Westgate? What are the actual "boundries"? Should I be nervous being that close to Hilltop, with the local news about gangs, crime, etc? What about Lincoln Village? Valley View? How's Eastmoor/Berwick on the east side of James? Are there any major areas (anywhere) which are better to avoid?

Dream areas would be Grandview, Bexley, etc, but unless someone has about another 100-150K more for me to borrow...that's out. I want to avoid East: Reynoldsburg, Pickerington, Whitehall, etc because of the drive I would have from Dublin.

Any suggestions/thoughts? or is my order too big and I need to scale down?

[cmhgirl]

Westgate is nice, if you go past one road it looks like you're in another world, but it's a nice area. Lincoln Village is like the west side of Hilltop (IMO), not my choice. If you find something in Hilliard, that's a good choice. and if you look in the right places in Hilliard, you can have a house there with Cols taxes. I'd also say Galloway, but some of that area is SW schools, so a realtor would be beneficial in knowing the boundaries. I live in Grove City, but Cols. schools. there's houses in this in between area in your price range. i think unless you find a super great deal, finding what you want in the other areas you listed will be hard. find yourself a good realtor, word of month maybe. Good Luck!

[LMS7689]

Clintonville might be a possibility - I think that would be pretty convenient. We have some friends that live up there and it's pretty nice. Nice neighborhood to walk in, too. I just checked MLs and didn't see anything there that looks like it meets your needs at the moment. Would you consider a condo?

[JJC99]

clintonville would be great, just nothing in our price range. We drove around Beachwold last night - cute...just too pricey now.

Condo really isn't what we are looking for right now. We want our own 4 walls and a small yard. Living in duplexs for the last 10 years...it's time for our own space!

Looking up Westgate, doesn't seem too bad! i'm just dying for the workday to end, so I can drive around and check it out. Does anyone know the actual "boundries" of Westgate? or where to steer clear of?

We live in Merion Village now. if/when we leave, i'll miss being close to some of my favorite places and the park, but even MV is priced out of our range...

I think I have a champagne taste for our beer budget. (Maybe not champagne, but a nice wine...)