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Old 08-16-2007, 06:13 AM
 
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Is it possible to get an older home in a historic area for under 250,000? I would want it to be relatively safe for small children. What neighborhoods should I search in to get an idea of housing costs? I'd really like to avoid cookie-cutter 'burbville.
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Old 08-16-2007, 06:23 AM
 
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Default 5 points

I see some really cute homes in 5 points.. Is this a good area?
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Old 08-16-2007, 07:03 AM
 
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Have you contacted the historic society?
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Old 08-16-2007, 07:09 AM
 
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Default society

No, I don't even know if I'm moving there yet. I have just seen some really cute affordable older homes in east Huntsville, and before I get excited about it I want to know if this area is kinda ghetto or not
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Old 08-16-2007, 07:27 AM
 
Location: Historic Bessemer Alabama
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Check out Historic Bessemer, Al.............

Bessemer Historical Homeowners Association

and if you have a myspace account you can view............

MySpace.com - Historic Homes of Bessemer, Al. - 32 - Male - Bessemer, Alabama - www.myspace.com/historichomes_bessemer
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Old 08-16-2007, 07:40 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by adavis21 View Post
No, I don't even know if I'm moving there yet. I have just seen some really cute affordable older homes in east Huntsville, and before I get excited about it I want to know if this area is kinda ghetto or not
What do you mean by "ghetto"?
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Old 08-16-2007, 08:01 AM
 
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By ghetto, I mean I wouldn't feel safe living there.. Bad crime rate, drugs, run down houses, shootings, break ins, etc. Is it a place where other young families live? Are the schools decent? I know that realistically, any historic area is probably not as safe as a newer suburb way out, but is it an area where people are moving in and fixing up the place? Or is it an area in decline because people don't want to live there anymore..
Just to give you an idea.. where I live the downtown is full of cute houses with pretty trees, but its not a place you want to live because its a ghost town.. everything has moved out to the 'burbs. Even the restaurants close on weekends, because their only patrons are people who work for the city.
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Old 08-16-2007, 08:08 AM
 
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Originally Posted by adavis21 View Post
No, I don't even know if I'm moving there yet. I have just seen some really cute affordable older homes in east Huntsville, and before I get excited about it I want to know if this area is kinda ghetto or not
You can definitely get a house in 5 Points for $250k. We looked at a FSBO house on Clinton 2 years ago that was a 3 bed, 2 bath bungalow in good shape with about 1900 sqft. He was asking $229k. We didn't buy it, but I saw the owner later and he told me he sold it for $220k. Again, that was 2 years ago. The homes in 5 Points that are in the Lee High district (northern portion of the neighborhood) will be cheaper than the ones in Huntsville High. Huntsville High is generally considered better, but Lee is not a bad school, it's district just encompasses a mix of middle class and low income areas. But the whole area east is very safe IMO. The only area you may want to avoid is the area north of Pratt, west of Andrew Jackson. The properties seem more rundown in that area and there seems to be a little more riff-raff. I'm not even sure if that area is officially part of 5 Points. However, I think it may be a good investment because that area is probably on the way up.

Other areas to consider would be Blossomwood (stick to the western end close to California if you like older homes) and the Medical District. The medical district is generally bounded by Governor's, Whitesburg, Drake and the Parkway has some really cute homes with character. Neither of these areas are historic, but you'll avoid 'burbville. FYI, it will be tough to find something in Blossomwood for $250k that doesn't need work.

These are the same areas we looked for homes a couple years ago. In all of these areas, the problem will be availability. There just isn't a huge selection on the market at any one time.
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Old 08-16-2007, 08:09 AM
 
2,126 posts, read 6,801,281 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by adavis21 View Post
By ghetto, I mean I wouldn't feel safe living there.. Bad crime rate, drugs, run down houses, shootings, break ins, etc. Is it a place where other young families live? Are the schools decent? I know that realistically, any historic area is probably not as safe as a newer suburb way out, but is it an area where people are moving in and fixing up the place? Or is it an area in decline because people don't want to live there anymore..
Just to give you an idea.. where I live the downtown is full of cute houses with pretty trees, but its not a place you want to live because its a ghost town.. everything has moved out to the 'burbs. Even the restaurants close on weekends, because their only patrons are people who work for the city.
The historic districts (Twickenham, Old Town, 5 Points) and the nearby neigborhoods like Blossomwood and the Medical District are alive and well. They are generally considered some of the most "desirable" neighborhoods in Huntsville.
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Old 08-16-2007, 08:13 AM
 
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Originally Posted by Historic Bessemer View Post

Bessemer looks awesome if I were moving to Birmingham, but I'm looking at Huntsville.
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