[intrepidnomad]

Looking at the crime map (thanks Olecapt), 89103 switches between orange, yellow, and red, depending on the type of crime. I saw an amazing house in this zip code but am not sure of the area because I spent almost all of my time on the east side.

I'm wondering if this area is as problematic as, say, 89121, which falls in the red zone, period. This prompts a few questions. Is all of 89103 an issue? Is all of 89103 known as Spring Valley? Because I have heard (in passing) that Spring Valley is nice. This particular house almost borders 89147 but it still to the east of South Rainbow Blvd. And, dumb question, is there anything to do out there? Looks like total suburbia, according to the google map. Not sure what sort of denizens inhabit this area.

Thanks!

[olecapt]

Originally Posted by intrepidnomad

Looking at the crime map (thanks Olecapt), 89103 switches between orange, yellow, and red, depending on the type of crime. I saw an amazing house in this zip code but am not sure of the area because I spent almost all of my time on the east side.

I'm wondering if this area is as problematic as, say, 89121, which falls in the red zone, period. This prompts a few questions. Is all of 89103 an issue? Is all of 89103 known as Spring Valley? Because I have heard (in passing) that Spring Valley is nice. This particular house almost borders 89147 but it still to the east of South Rainbow Blvd. And, dumb question, is there anything to do out there? Looks like total suburbia, according to the google map. Not sure what sort of denizens inhabit this area.

Thanks!

Local knowledge area. In general larger lot bigger home neighborhoods out that way are fine. Close to Rainbow also helps though there are exceptions. Check the area for renters. If more than 25% or so move on.

That area is pretty clearly Spring Valley. Not true of all of 89103. SV starts at Decatur and Sahara.

There is lots of stuff out that way though it is old suburban. Along Rainbow and Charleston and Trop and Sahara. It aint the strip but it is better than most of the east side.

[intrepidnomad]

Originally Posted by olecapt

Local knowledge area. In general larger lot bigger home neighborhoods out that way are fine. Close to Rainbow also helps though there are exceptions. Check the area for renters. If more than 25% or so move on.

That area is pretty clearly Spring Valley. Not true of all of 89103. SV starts at Decatur and Sahara.

There is lots of stuff out that way though it is old suburban. Along Rainbow and Charleston and Trop and Sahara. It aint the strip but it is better than most of the east side.

Thanks. I know it isn't the strip but it isn't too far from there either, right?

May I ask, how does one find information concerning the owners/renters ratio? And also, why might that be a concern?

Damn. I wish I spent more time over there! I'd seriously offer someone a few bucks to go take photos and look at it for me!

[Jukesgrrl]

Originally Posted by intrepidnomad

Thanks. I know it isn't the strip but it isn't too far from there either, right?

May I ask, how does one find information concerning the owners/renters ratio? And also, why might that be a concern?

Damn. I wish I spent more time over there! I'd seriously offer someone a few bucks to go take photos and look at it for me!

A preponderance of renters is seriously problematic for home values. The typical renter has no stake in keeping up a neighborhood. And the home owners are often very slow to take care of necessary property maintenance, especially if they are speculators or hobbyist real estate investors.

I once lived on a street in an older neighborhood back east that became "trendy." As the elderly homeowners passed on, instead of selling the homesteads, their kids decided there was more income in renting, rather than selling, homes that wouldn't generate much of a sale price because of their age -- and in some cases the disrepair that homes owned by the elderly often fall into.

In the 13 years I lived in the neighborhood, it changed from about 10% to more than 50% rentals. The street became a nightmare. Since there were young roommates sharing, each house had an average of four cars. And since this was an old area, there were ZERO garages and no alley running behind the street either. The noise, especially Thursday through Sunday, was deafening. Yards were miniscule and still no one kept them up. If they were big enough to park a car on, they became a parking pad. Pets ran around unattended -- sometimes just abandoned when the renters moved. Drunk drivers would just hit parked cars and drive off. If someone broke a window, the renters weren't about to fix it.

My last straw: Late one Sat. night I awoke to the sound of someone trying to break into the locked gate the led to my small, totally fenced-in garden/patio (which was lovely, by the way). I called the police and they responded quickly. Turns out a young man was drunk, his girlfriend decided to take his car keys away -- and she did it by grabbing them and lobbing them into my garden. His response was to break into my private space and tear up my landscaping looking for the keys.

When I first moved there, a homeowners' group was trying to have the street given historical status. By the time I sold (to an investor who would rent out my place, too), the group's goal was only to get the city to enforce the laws that prohibited more than four unrelated people from living in a single dwelling. I have no idea if they succeeded since I now live very far away.

How do you know where renters are? That's why you hire a Realtor who is very familiar with the area you're interested in.

[olecapt]

Go to

GISMO

Select the properties nearby one at a time. Select resources and then Assessors site.

Look at the owners address. If the same it is most likely not a rental. If different it most likely is.

Realtors can do it with a single query and get the whole tract.

All residents have a percentage of bad...owners have less bad than renters.