Military, Moving to Wilminton, Delaware from San Diego, CA. (Wilmington: where to stay, real estate market) - (DE) - City-Data Forum

Nellyeveryday · 10-13-2008, 04:59 PM

Nelly: Hi everyone, I am new to this site. I need advise about moving to Delaware. My husband is in the military and we will spend our next two years there with our 3-month son. We have about 3 weeks from today to pack and go. His job will be in Wilmington area and we need advise about the neighborhood, the do's and don'ts. Thank you in advance.

ebuch · 10-13-2008, 05:30 PM

Wow quite a change, I'm looking at making the reverse move to LA area.

Well I would recommend living outside the city itself. There is the Hockesin, Pike Creek, Newark, and Bear areas all within a 15-40minute commute to Wilmington. Are you looking to buy or rent? Apartment or house? And how much are you looking to spend?

If you are set looking only at the city of Wilmington itself, I would explore the areas of Kentmere, Rockford Park, Trolley Square, Union Park Gardens. Hope this helps some.

SXMGirl · 10-13-2008, 05:52 PM

Hi Nelly. You need to give us more info such as price range, type of housing, where your husband will be working, does he need to have a short drive, school requirements, etc. People who post here generally have a lot of info to share; just let us know your requirements.

Nellyeveryday · 10-15-2008, 11:05 AM

well my husband does not have to have a short commute to work. as long as we are in a good area. as far as schools my son is only 3 months old so we would look into that in the future. we would like to rent a single family home due to the fact we have pets. price range nothing to expensive but reasonable. if you guys can help me out with more information i would really really appreciate it!!

SXMGirl · 10-15-2008, 12:20 PM

Nothing in the area compares to San Diego. I think Pike Creek might be good. There's a lot of young families in that area with shopping, restaurants. Housing is moderately priced for Delaware.

Bear has the new YMCA, an okay library, and Glasgow Park with a nice playground. Easy commute to Wilmington. There are certain areas to stay away from, so before signing anything, you should probably check with everyone on this board.

Nellyeveryday · 10-15-2008, 01:01 PM

i have heard about that area, but everytime i look on the internet for that area i cant nothing i tried going threw a realtor from here (sd) to connect me to one in delaware but that didnt turn out to good. so i constanly check out craigs list and browse around the internet. My husband will be leaving before i will so that he can look around and get a better understanding of it, but we just want to know where to stay away from and where its a nice community. do you have any suggestions on where to look.

jskirwin · 10-15-2008, 01:55 PM

Nell
Go to remax.com and search the houses there. I've used their site to explore housing options all around the country. You can find a local realtor using that site, and some may also handle rentals or recommend a realtor who does. I suspect that rentals will become more popular as the banks tighten their loan requirements.

Hockessin and areas west of Wilmington are good. I live in an area north of the city known as North Wilmington/Brandywine Hundred. It's nowhere near as nice as La Jolla where I went to school (no surfing or hang gliding here). Still it's not a bad place to raise children.

doctorjef · 10-15-2008, 02:02 PM

With the sluggish real estate market it is likely that more frustrated sellers will give up and put their houses up for rent. The Brandywine Hundred, Greenville, Hockessin, Pike Creek, and neighborhoods east of Concord Pike such as Fairfax and Carrcroft would all be fine if you can find anything to rent. Please do be aware that rents here are rather high, or at least people seem to consider that to be the case. I'm not sure where to suggest looking. I'd check the website of the local paper, the Wilmington News Journal. I believe their website is called Wilmington Online, but you can easily find it via Google. You can also google Wilmington Delaware rentals and similar things. I could be totally wrong, but I have a feeling that Craig's List may not yield very nice properties.

SXMGirl · 10-15-2008, 02:52 PM

The Saturday News Journal has a real estate section and a listing of apartments that accept pets. I agree with doctorjef that many people who are not having success in selling their homes will probably rent them out. It is much better to rent a house if you can. However, rentals in Delaware are expensive. Most homes in nice areas will rent in the $1500+ per month range.

Nellyeveryday · 10-15-2008, 03:20 PM

thanks, those all sound great places to look. im going to look into all of those places. i have found a handfull of nice places to live on craigs list, but most dont have pictures and most dont have rentals for those areas. the few that i have found in those places that you mentioned looked to be really pretty i would like to find more of those houses.its hard to no where a good location is especially since i have never been to the east coast so im completely lost on what to expect but you all have had great tips.

if you guys have more suggestions or anyone else has some more great ideas i would love to keep on hearing them. I need all the help i can get.

thank you!!!