Good yet affordable condo/town homes? (Davie, University: renting, buying a house, neighborhood)

[lydialuna]

I'm relocating to south Florida and I'll work in downtown Ft. Lauderdale. Currently I'm in Kentucky where houses are really inexpensive. My dog and I live in a new 2.5 baths, 2 bedroom, 1 utility room, and 1 storage room two-floor townhouse (over 1,000 sq.ft.) in the countryside with $550/month. Now I'm moving to an area with much more expensive housing, but I'm not willing to give up too much on my current living standards, although the salary isn't commensurable.

So I wonder where I can at least find a 2 bdrms & 1 bathroom condo/town house below $900? I really don't want to spend too much on renting because it's just insane to move from a low-cost area to a high-cost one while wasting money on renting vs. owning. I'd rather save for buying a house in the future.

Any suggestions? The neighborhood should be safe, friendly, somewhat quiet and a little bit away from the regular urban life. Ideally it should be in the 30 mile distance to downtown Ft. Lauderdale. Prefer south, southwest, west, and east. Don't want to live in the north, although have to commute to Bota Racon occasionally for work-related trips. My philosophy is to live in the suburb but work and entertain in the city (I can't live well without the city life!). Do I aim too high?

[compelled to reply]

Unfortunately, you are going to have to bump the budget up to MINIMUM 1200, downsize, or stay in Kentucky...

If you want a two hour commute to Port St Lucie, that's safe and might have something in your price range, but unfortunately, you are going to have to otherwise downsize .

If you are willing to downsize to a 1 bedroom, carefully look in the NSU (Nova Southeastern University) area in Davie. If you are lucky you might even be able to score a 2 bedroom for 1,000 a month. Davie is a fairly friendly area and if you are selective, the area is safe. Try to stay north of Griffin Rd and west of Davie Rd in your search. Your commute to Ft. Lauderdale won't be bad, as the traffic in the mornings on 595 usually picks up to full speed at around University, however you may occasionally experience a sluggish afternoon, especially on Fridays, or if there is an accident a sluggish morning. If that happens, just take Griffin Rd home or Broward Blvd to work instead instead.

Otherwise, good luck!

[lydialuna]

That's kinda scary, isn't it? Maybe I'll just find a studio/one-bedroom apt for now. Kentucky is too boring to me and I have to drive 70 miles in order to go to a decent restaurant/concert/dancing, etc.

[compelled to reply]

Check out my update. There might be SOME hope.

[lydialuna]

Thanks a lot, compelled to reply! I'll keep an eye on apts close to Davie.

[compelled to reply]

You need to zero in on that specific area though. It gets more expensive or more worn out as you get away from the university. North of Griffin Rd, South of I-595, east of Pine Island Rd, west of Davie Rd. It's a very small narrow area but the prices tend to be lower than other areas (probably because of the university influenced aslike I said there is nothing wrong with the area at all). Actually Arrowhead used to be on the news all the time and had a lot of rowdy residents, but now it's fine, pretty quiet in there.