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I am looking at houses on the Internet, contemplating retirement, and it seems like I can buy a perfectly nice, fairly new 3 BR house, for under $125,000! Is part (all) of Greensboro a former Toxic Waste site?
It would help if you said what area the homes are in that you are finding for that amount. Greensboro is like all major cities, with its good parts and its not-so-great parts. As a general rule in all cities, the lower the housing cost, the higher the crime rate. If you are planning on getting an alarm system and don't really care where you live, I'm sure you can get quite a beautiful home for not too much. There are historic homes in the city that are really beautiful many are more than the $125 though. If you are not concerned with the schools (no grandkids living with you), since you mentioned retirement than I'm sure you could get a great place for $125 or less. If you want a 3 br. in a neighborhood with a safe school that has good scores, than you'll need to pay more than that.
Yes, home prices in Greensboro have always been pretty affordable. They've remained pretty constant, since Greensboro never had the bubble and burst that other metros experienced. Most homes at the price you stated will be located on the edge of the city limits. Older, more established neighborhoods closer to the center of the city will cost more.
Our house in W/S, NC is for sale for $150,000 and we have a little over an acre of land and are in a rural area. In city limits $125,000 is more than likely an older neighborhood. That impacts the value of all houses no matter how new.
I am looking at houses on the Internet, contemplating retirement, and it seems like I can buy a perfectly nice, fairly new 3 BR house, for under $125,000! Is part (all) of Greensboro a former Toxic Waste site?
Is the area deep in a housing market recession?
Seriously, this seems to be good to be true.
Like the other posters, I would have to ask where is it located as there are some not so great areas but having lived in Greensboro, I was stunned at the lower cost of living on many things. Things were just cheaper there. Likely the cheapest water/sewer bills/trash pick up bills I've ever had. Looking at my bills from last year and comparing them, geez, why did I leave?????? I paid 22 to 26.00 a month for water, sewer and weekly trash removal/recycling. That was unreal to me - maybe I've just lived gouging water/sewer districts prior.
I had mentioned in a post before that one thing I noticed about Greensboro was that in many many cases, the socio-economic level of a particular neighborhood did not seem to impact the over-all look of many many neighborhoods. There seemed to be a real pride in the place one lived - just neatly-kept streets and homes not simply in the fru fru places.
Springtime in Greensboro was easily one of the most beautiful springtimes I have ever enjoyed - I have never seen so many dogwoods etc blooming so magnificently and I've lived in some pretty places. The mix of old massive trees and the ones in blooms just gives the place a nice charm.
I'm not convinced I won't just head back there at some point in time....
I will tell you that the schools in the Greensboro area stopped us from moving there. Even the in the better NorthWest Area, the schools are overcrowded and sinking in rank with each school year
We toured Grimsley (another "good" school) and were surprised at how "inner city" it was It did not seem safe. The middle schools that fed into it were not even an option for our children. They (Kiser Middle/ Aycock Middle) were VERY ghetto. Kids walking around like wanna -be gangsters It was sad.
It is too bad, because we found the Greensboro area and the homes in it to be lovely. But I think the values of these great and well-priced homes come down due to the schools
I've lived in over 15 cities. I realize there are exceptions to every rule, but so far, this one of mine is based on experience and reality. You can get a home for $40 still in today's cities, but you'd be in the middle of a high-crime, gang infested area. I've seen decent homes for that much, but you'd want iron bars on the windows and to stay in at night given the area they are in. I've never seen a low priced area of a city that didn't have a higher crime rate in that area compared to other higher priced areas. Why would a safe area with low crime have lower osting homes than the higher crime areas? My general rule is simply commonsense.
I am simply suggesting that the poster explore the neighborhoods and look into the amount of crime in the neighborhoods they are looking at. Sure you can get a nice home, for a lot less than many other places, but what are you willing to accept in return. The city schools and the crime rate would most likely be why the prices seem too good to be true. But for a retired couple, it may not be a big deal esp. if they put an alarm system on. Just looking in the paper each week, there are a lot of robberies and other crimes that occur all over Greensboro, but more in different pockets of Greensboro, so doing research on these things would be helpful.
We toured Grimsley (another "good" school) and were surprised at how "inner city" it was It did not seem safe. The middle schools that fed into it were not even an option for our children. They (Kiser Middle/ Aycock Middle) were VERY ghetto. Kids walking around like wanna -be gangsters It was sad.
It is too bad, because we found the Greensboro area and the homes in it to be lovely. But I think the values of these great and well-priced homes come down due to the schools
How exactly is a school "inner city?" We all know what you're alluding to, but you should just come out and say it instead of hiding behind not-so-subtle colloquialisms.
Oh and Last year, out of more than 25,000 public high schools, Grimsley was ranked as the 122nd best in America. Talk about ghetto!
How exactly is a school "inner city?" We all know what you're alluding to...
Oh my. You have no idea what color I am You can't play the Race Card with me, Sir
Here is a little secret for you: Even black people don't like their children to be exposed to certain things like ebonics, low riding pants (even with SMOD) and that attitude of "it's cool to be gangsta". This behavior was exuded by blacks and Eminem-type whites in many of the schools we visited. The teachers found this to be acceptable.
My children will be attending a school where there are black and white students We found a great one with more rural values and teachers that seem to be in control
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It did not seem safe. The middle schools that fed into it were not even an option for our children. They (Kiser Middle/ Aycock Middle) were VERY ghetto. Kids walking around like wanna -be gangsters
It was sad.
You can't play the Race Card with me, Sir
We found a great one with more rural values and teachers that seem to be in control
