Grad student moving to Champaign-Urbana (Peoria, Springfield: for sale, 2015, apartment)

[asearchforreason]

The area just east of Lincoln in Urbana is nice, affordable, and near campus and I concur with the other recommendations.

About the house thing...my wife and I (grad students both) bought a house and I have a single friend who bought a small fixer-upper and rents it out to two other people. Both of us are in Urbana FYI. I know another couple who bought a condo in Champaign. Just be prepared to compromise on location or condition as a person on a single income. It's definitely possible here, but I should mention most of the people I know who have bought houses have some supplement to income besides just the TA/RA stipend.

[PenguinSix]

It's possible to rent out a place as there are many potential tenants in a college town, but there are also many many hassles, and Champaign Urbana is not exactly the land of 'ever increasing property values'. While places in Baltimore or DC, in good times, might go up in value 5-10-15% annually, places in C-U have a much more gradual increase (if any at all). Your first few years in a mortgage, in which you are paying basically interest and not principal, means you are making very few dents in the overall bill. So if you buy a place for $150,000, pay off maybe $10,000 of the principal (but $20,000 in interest) over the first few years, you'll get back the $10,000 when you sell it, less fees, taxes, etc....and well...see where I'm going? Oh and then the washing machine breaks and you have to shell out $600 to get a new one in the middle of exam week.

It can work, especially if you do a fixer-upper and substantially increase the value of the property, or in those cases where you are basically living free and renters pay the mortgage, but in many cases you'd be happy if you just 'broke even' and in many more, it could end up costing you something (though probably less than rent). In the end I would say is the hassle of being a landlord (and it is a hassle) worth the $xx you may make? Depends a bit on your course of study and how important / time consuming that is.

[earksiinni]

Hmm, does anyone have an opinion about the neighborhood just north of campus, bounded by Springfield and University to the south, and the railroad to the north? Is there a "wrong side of the tracks" regarding the railroad?

[earksiinni]

Or for that matter that same neighborhood as bounded by Bradley to the north (Bradley/Neil/Lincoln/University + Springfield)?

[CPT Puffy]

Here's an alum's perspective: West Urbana is a good place for a grad student given your stated parameters. Relatively quiet and close to campus, very little crime. Apartments within a few blocks of Krannert would be ideal. However, the drawback to West Urbana is that you may have a challenge finding a place for $600 per month. I recommend caution when considering areas North of University Ave, let alone Bradley Ave. Most of the property crime and crime against persons reported by CU media takes place North of or within a few blocks of Bradley. I perceive that more students are choosing to live near downtown Champaign (or West of Neil Street), likely a result of less expensive rent compared to Campustown. Financially, most TAs and RAs find it easier to get by with a roommate (hopefully like-minded); it would greatly expand your options. Good luck to you at UIUC, one of the nation's great public universities!

[aFreeSpirit]

Hi All,

I too am a new incoming grad student and I have yet to find a place. Has anyone had problems with Barr Real Estate? Also do you know of any furnished, 1 bedroom/eff. apartments below $600?

[S_the_OWL]

DO NOT EVEN CONSIDER BUYING A HOUSE AND RENTING IT OUT IF YOU ARE A STUDENT. Managing Property is a full time job in and of itself and full of headaches unless you are experienced in the field. Whoever you talked to on the plane was a clown who must have attended those "get rich quick" seminars on real estate, the kind of amateur speculation that helped cause the housing boom. Going to school will consume most of your energy and in your free time you will want to relax. Not spend your time in court suing a tenant for damage or late rent. You can easily loose a lot of money, and spend all the time you should be spending focusing on school if you did that. A million things you never think about could go wrong. I had a neighbor up in an affluent Northwest Suburb of Chicago who retired and owned a lakeside home in Michigan and a Condo in Florida where she spent most of her time. She "listened" to amateur advise that she should wait and let the suburban house she lived in for 2 weeks a year "appreciate in value" before she sold it. Basically for ten years the house was totally abandoned except for a few weeks around Thanksgiving. The place started to smell stale, Raccoons took up residence in the attic, urinated and defecated all over the insulation up there, and the whole house became infested with fleas. Despite this warning call she refused to sell, then the pipe on the Dishwasher broke and flooded the basement. No one discovered this for months and the entire house became condemned by the health department from the toxic mold that turned the walls black and the nearly $400K house dropped in value to a teardown for it's lot value and brick facade for $120K. Insurance did not cover the damage because homeowners policies are void if a house is not lived in, the insurance industry determined that the house was technically "abandoned" and refused to pay.

I would avoid anywhere north of University Avenue, it is a ghetto for the welfare crowd, no student in their right mind would live there. I'd also avoid the first few streets south of University (i.e. Clark) it is too close to the bad areas and dark and deserted at night where criminals can ply their trade with few witnesses. I lived just east of Beckman Hall 2 streets south of University and the morning after I moved in I came downstairs to find my bike lock half way sawed into by a thief before they gave up. I also came out one night and frightened off a thief in the act of breaking into someone's car parked on the street. The Urbana side of Campus is real quiet, the Urbana half attracts engineering students, nerds, grad students, and the Berkely Crowd of "Vegetarian types." The Champaign side is party central and full of the Frat crowd. West of Neil towards downtown Champaign is also a more mature, quieter crowd.

[ShampooBanana]

^ The above are good points. Managing property is not easy and not something a student would likely want to spend their free time handling. Now if you want to buy a house for yourself to live and have a roommate to help pay the bills that might not be a bad idea. Still, owning a house is a lot of work.

I concur with the neighborhood appraisals. Urbana close to campus is going to be quieter and generally safer. Much fewer drunks around and a lot more grad students.

[zpfled]

I had a very good experience with Royse and Brinkmeyer properties. We lived in an apartment on Clark St, near West Side park. Loved the location, loved the apartment, and rent was $565/month. Had a gas stove

I rode my bike all over town from there, and parking on the street was free in front of our building.

In case your interested, my old address was 307 W Clark St. (in Champaign).

Hope that helps!

[CPT Puffy]

I agree with S_the_Owl about Clark St. During a recent visit to a hair salon adjacent to the Clark Bar (200 block W. Clark), I took note of what appeared to be a couple of homeless persons "hanging out" next to an empty building adjacent to (West of) the Clark Bar. FWIW, Champaign Police regularly patrol Clark St. and the alley behind it. If you decide to rent in this area to save some dollars, just be cautious of your surroundings, especially at night. If you find yourself around Clark St., check out the Walnut St. Tea Company at the corner of Clark & Walnut. Great selection of imported teas and chocolates.