Info on huntsville area, possible move (Madison, Triana: extended stay, apartment complexes, hotels)

[ArmyWife94e]

Thanks everyone! We are now considering renting a place first, since we do not know any of the neighborhoods we are afraid we will end in a not so good of one and be stuck with a house we purchased. So what towns on the outskirts are good? We don't mind driving to post as long as it isnt an hour or more

[y8tiger]

Renting first is an excellent idea. During my recent visit, the thing I noticed the very first day of driving around was that the lay of the land distance differs very much from what I anticipated from years of utilizing map views. West on 72 to East Limestone and SW on 565 to Decatur felt much longer than heading East on 72 to Gurley, SE on 431 to New Hope, and South on 231 to Laceys Spring. This might just be an optical illusion due to road conditions, but that was the feeling I got.

I never made it down to Arab, but Keeper has always put a good light on the town.

[LCTMadison]

ArmyWife...have you considered post housing?

Right now, rental homes on the west side are scarce and at a premium, due to the tornadoes that have displaced so many homeowners. I saw several owners jack their rent up right after because they knew insurance companies would pay higher than normal rents.

When you are looking for a rental, be very, very careful of Craigslists. LOTS of scams involving rental properties in the past few years.

You may want to research some of the areas first that you would consider buying in and then look for a rental there...that way, you can get a good feel of the area while renting. If you have children, the schools are a great place to start. Greatschools.org is a great website to get started on!!

[y8tiger]

Excellent advice LCTMadison!

I have been considering Redstone Communities myself after seeing them listed on AHRN.

Your post has brought up a question have I have been mulling over for quite some time now:

What is a fair price for rent on a 3 bedroom house and for a 4 bedroom house?

How much is too much?

Looking at valley mls and other sites I notice the prices vary wildly. Some are so high that i find myself considering places up on the Tenessee border.

[LCTMadison]

Depends on where you are looking...it can range from $400 up to thousands of dollars. That is a very vague question...if you could give me a more specific area I could probably give you a better idea of what you might be looking at.

One thing is almost always true...you will always pay more in rent for a property than you would pay on a mortgage for that property. That's why I recommended maybe looking into base housing. Of course, you can weigh your housing allowance versus rental amount to see what makes more sense for your family. It is also a good idea before moving way out and lengthening your commute to consider differentials in rental costs and also that you will be spending more on gas...which is currently around $4/gallon and climbing

And there must be available housing on Redstone...I was on the arsenal the other day and they were advertising available housing for government contractors.

[y8tiger]

The areas I like are mainly on the SE side in the 35802, 35803 zipcodes. I also am partial to New Market, Gurley, Owens Cross Roads, New Market and Laceys Spring.

We past the $4 per gallon mark a long time ago here in San Diego.

I saw those housing advertisements on the arsenal during my visit in March. I filled out a contact questionare on their website, but never got a response. I think the biggest concern would be which school the children would end up attending.

The Lincoln Military Housing is very nice here and the Management is great, but the neighbors make us feel like we are living in a ghetto. One draw back to PPV housing.

[lindy112]

I live on the Arsenal and most of the housing that is available are the smaller 2-bedroom duplexes. Not entirely but mostly ... But there will be some turn-over this summer, of course. Currently, 50% of the residents are civilians. If you have any specific questions, DM me.

[y8tiger]

Do people concur with the GreatSchools Rankings of schools that children living on the Arsenal attend?

The schools are:

Williams Elementary
Williams Middle
Columbia High School

[CoreLysium]

I know that 8 or so years ago, Williams didn't have really a gang problem, but more a bullying clique problem. My nephew was being thrown into garbage cans and when he had his head shoved in a toilet and it repeatedly flushed, he was home schooled until he could go to Columbia.

Right now there's a bit of an issue with Providence (rich, "they don't serve my kind" are of town) Elementary/Middle and Williams. Next year, all grade 6 will be bused the 4 or so miles to Williams. The next year both 6 & 7, and by the third year the overcrowded Providence will be only an elementary school.

We lived off Zeirdt when my daughter was about to enter kindergarten and moved so she wouldn't have to go there. We got her accepted into the really quite good arts school in the ghetto off University, but moved out of the city to get our good schools.

I think, based on my research then, the best schools were Mountain Gap Elementary, Challenger Middle, and Grissom High. It is possible to go to two of those three, but if you were to go to Challenger Middle, you'd be in Challenger Elementary.

[ArmyWife94e]

You can live on post even if you are retired? I know Fort Benning in GA allows retirees to live on post but didnt know Restone did that also. Thanks I will have to look into that. We live on post right now in Fort RIley, Ks. After 20 years of living on post, I would love it if we could live on another post.