Transferring to St. Louis on a budget and with a family... HELP! (Belleville: cul-de-sac, real estate)

[jtjmom]

Is there anywhere besides Granite City (no offense, GC-ites, just weighing my options here...) where the housing is reasonable ($75-85k), and the schools are, too? Scholar bowl, theater and arts programs are a MUST!

We cannot afford Edwardsville.

Any input would be great!

Danielle

[bls5555]

How do you feel about being about 50 miles from St. Louis?

Carlyle, IL. Largest man made lake in Illinois. Great schools.

If that is to far, why not look in a place called Trenton? It is about 15 miles from O'Fallon Illinois, and probably 12 miles or so from Interstate 64 which takes you directly to St. Louis.

Im not 100% sure on real estate prices in Trenton, but im pretty sure even there it is going to be tough to find something decent for 85k. In all honesty, I think you would be better off renting somewhere than purchasing a house in Granite City. That place is awful, and the same goes for Alton. Those are the only 2 places I can think that you might be able to buy something for that price, though I highly doubt it would be something you wanted.

[illinoisnative]

Danielle,

St. Clair and Madison counties are the two most populated counties in the St. Louis Metro-East. Many residents of the two counties commute to St. Louis jobs, but St. Clair County has the benefit having the MetroLink light rail system if your future work place is anywhere near the rail line.

I'm a Realtor in the area and did a quick check of the local multiple listing service (MLS) in these two counties (excluding Granite City) and found that these cities have the most housing inventory to select from based on your price range - Belleville, Alton, Cahokia, Fairview Heights, and East Alton.

Of course, this doesn't consider the schools and other needs that you did not provide such as minimum number of bedrooms, baths, and square footage needed, etc. I would recommend researching the school districts as each person has their own opinion about what makes a school 'reasonable' or not. Northern Illinois University has a great website at Interactive Illinois Report Card that lets you research testing grades and the like. There is also school contact information here so you can call to inquire whether each school has the programs that your kids need. You're right about Edwardsville and unfortunately, bls5555's suggestion of Trenton is too high as well.

Good Luck!

[jtjmom]

Does anyone have any insight into these towns? I wonder if they would be feasible...

[bls5555]

I am around these places on the Illinois side weekly, and I can promise you $85,000 in ANY of these places is not somewhere you are going to want to be with your kids.

I live in Carlyle, which is about 17 miles further out than Trenton and about 38 miles from Belleville. Even out here you CAN NOT find anything you would probably like for $85,000. It just isn't possible anymore.

Not to mention the fact that property taxes in IL, for all practical purposes kick your a--, especially when compared to the Missouri side.

If you find a house in O'fallon or Fairview Heights for $90,000 I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if you are paying $2000 property taxes also. Just keep in mind $2500 adds another $200 to your payment each month.

My house is taxed at $105,000 and I am paying $2500 in property taxes. The O'fallon, Fairview Heights area is a bit higher, property tax wise, than what I pay on most occasions.

[jtjmom]

We live in Illinois already, so the taxes really don't scare me. The amounts you are quoting are pretty close to what we are paying now, on a $50,000 house. (That's actually part of the reason we're trying to stay in theprice range I mentioned earlier.)

We have to stay on the Illinois side, as I have a son with special needs in a residential placement. It's a very good setting for him, and I will not risk losing it, so we have to stay in Illinois.

*Getting up on the soapbox now...*

So many people in this day and age refuse to live within their means. It's a trap we've seen too many people fall into. Even the banks are telling us we can "afford" more house. I know we probably could "afford" more, we just prefer to try and maintain a lifestyle we know without a doubt we can afford, by our standards, not theirs. Life is too short, and much too precious, to work my husband like a dog just to have a subdivision house that we cannot enjoy together, because we're up to our ears in debt. We're keeping all options in mind, including foreclosures and handyman specials. I don't want to live upscale, I just wnt to live safely.

I'm not trying to preach, really, just trying to explain our situaton, and why we are in the range we're in. To each their own, that's just how we choose to live.

Thanks so much for the information you've all provided to this point! It's very valuable to me to hear from people in the area. After all, no one knows better than you guys!

[illinoisnative]

You're not preaching at all, just stating your views of which I'm sure we can all respect. Your budget is your budget and I think that you're wise to stay well within it and you don't need to explain further.

Columbia and Waterloo are very nice towns with good schools but are becoming rather expensive places to live. Both are growing communities of which Waterloo seems to be adapting better to. The selection is extremely limited in this price range and you'll find many are one to two bedroom homes or condos. Only six homes are listed in the MLS for all of Monroe County between $50-100k. Many of the smaller towns outside of the larger, more populated cities are the same way and prices have gone up in recent years with their demand. Sometimes though there are some nice lower priced homes to be found out there.

[Juice13610]

I would definitely search for rent homes/duplexes in Edwardsville or Fairview Heights. Edwardsville has some very nice townhomes on rent.com

[2beamissourian]

keep in mind many schools have been cutting back art programs.

On saying that many new schools are being built and within that you can see tax $$$ going up up and up.. (I just posted on this)

Have you asked your school district about other districts special needs?

[jtjmom]

Thanks so much for all of your input!

We were able to drive down and survey a few area today. On the way, I realized something. All of the towns we are being told we "don't want," (not only this site)... this may sound naieve, but why not? I guess it occurred to me that the if someone were to transfer to the area I live in right now, and asked where they should absolutely NOT go, well, I guess Clinton (where I am now) would make that list. It's not really a bad place, just not the best the area has to offer. (I can't afford the best right now...)

The post about everyone looking for the same thing does not necessarily hold true. Unfortunately, people DO assume that. If I sound unappreciative, I'm really not. What I am is realistic. I know what we are accustomed to, and what we can afford. I also know that we're not a "cul-de-sac" family, so to speak. I apologize for the sweeping generalizations... We're just a working class family looking for a place where our daughter can safely take a walk once in a while, and you don't have to worry about getting caught in crossfire. I know there are places like this in the St. Louis area that aren't astronomically priced... There have to be.

Perhaps I a bit too vague in what I was looking for... Or maybe most people wouldn't take what I'd be happy to have... Who knows. Anyway, again, soryr to vent. You guys have really been a help. Will keep you posted!

--Danielle