[homefryes]

Hi - new to the LV forums and have been doing some lurking in the past few days. Let's start with this:

When are you moving? March 2010
Where are you coming from? NW Chicago Burbs
Why are you moving? Tired of cold winters; want to take advantage of the low house prices.
Where will you be working? Don't know yet
Have you been here yet? I've been 4 times; partner's kids live there and he lived there himself 25-ish years ago and has visited numerous times.

Will you buy or rent? Buy
If buying, are you looking for a house or a condo? How much can you spend? House; $250K max
If renting, are you looking for an apartment, condo, townhouse, or house? How much can you spend? n/a
Would you like to be in an area with an HOA? no preference

Are you married or single? Do you have children? Partnered; no children living with us (his kids are grown).

What do you want to be closest to?
Work
Shopping
Basic services (supermarket, drugstore, etc.)
Nightlife
Really no strong preference; I don't necessarily want to be completely on the opposite side of the city from work, but frankly would prefer relatively easy access to the expressways. My first preference to buy is off the south end of 215 (Green Valley / Seven Hills); second choice is Aliante.

====

That being said, this is completely NOT in either of my preferred areas, but I just need to ask:
What is up with this area (see the yellow box)?


There is a particular house for sale that looks really sharp and has been listed for 2 yrs. now; everything via Street View looks nice; should be a relatively low-traffic area. The house has been seriously reduced since its initial listing. To me, the house looks like a steal ... but since it's not moving, there's got to be a problem. Any input from the readers?

-homefryes

[aqualung8705]

Check the address with Metro's CrimeView. Generally speaking, 89121 can be a bit rough. There are a fair amount of "hood rats", if you're familiar with the term. Best of luck, in any case.

[Buzz123]

Very old area. Built in the late 60's - early 70's. Nice back then but gone to seed, and mostly Hispanic area now. Hispanics are nice but they are followed by parasitic pachuco street gangs from LA. Nice normal Hispanic families make good neighbors. But too many males think to be a man means being a machismo a**hole, instead of taking responsibility.

That's my editorial for the day.

[homefryes]

Well, thanks both of you. The crime data is certainly enlightening. How unfortunate. From what I can see from Street View, the entire area of Spokane from Othello down to Tumwater appears to be as new as the house we were interested in ... built in 1986 ... and the area looks really nice. However, robbery, burglary, stolen vehicles and "other disturbances" make it extremely unattractive. All within the past 60 days! What a pity . Thanks again. Back to the drawing board!

- homefryes

[olecapt]

Originally Posted by homefryes

Well, thanks both of you. The crime data is certainly enlightening. How unfortunate. From what I can see from Street View, the entire area of Spokane from Othello down to Tumwater appears to be as new as the house we were interested in ... built in 1986 ... and the area looks really nice. However, robbery, burglary, stolen vehicles and "other disturbances" make it extremely unattractive. All within the past 60 days! What a pity . Thanks again. Back to the drawing board!

- homefryes

I would go look if I were you. A 1/4 mile circle in that area shows a total of 12 reports while one I just drew that included Buzz's house had 14. And Buzz lives in the peaceful sticks.

So the address may be fine. Take a look. There will certainly be some hispanic influence in the area. But you also may find a lot of old timers.

I like the area in general. I would be a little leery about schools but that is it. I would also be concerned about any place dominated by renters in that area...but you can easily find that out.

[Buzz123]

I don't know if that neighborhood sends their kids to school north of DI or south but both directions has been overrun by low income renters. Yes I have friends hanging on in there that have been there for years, but I've had some that left because they'd had enough, and some lost on their investment. My kids all went to school at one time or other in the area when Ruby Thomas was one of the top ten schools in the U.S. My daughter graduated from Valley when it was one of the best in town. I wouldn't want them to go to school anywhere in that area now though. Although, that part of town is the best as far as location, it has gone to pot and will only get worse. No neighborhood in Las Vegas that has gone to seed has ever gotten better, and we're talking about people investing their money in a house they might want to sell someday. At best, Summerlin has maintained itself the same as it was when it was started.

[homefryes]

Thanks again for the input. We have no kids in school, so schools are not a concern; we're just looking for a place to call home and hang our hats ... and be in comfortable surroundings. I suppose it couldn't hurt to see the area in person, but I've found other areas (in Henderson, where I'd rather live anyway) that have zero crime reports over the same period. I've since written off this property in 89121 as one to avoid.

[olecapt]

Originally Posted by homefryes

Thanks again for the input. We have no kids in school, so schools are not a concern; we're just looking for a place to call home and hang our hats ... and be in comfortable surroundings. I suppose it couldn't hurt to see the area in person, but I've found other areas (in Henderson, where I'd rather live anyway) that have zero crime reports over the same period. I've since written off this property in 89121 as one to avoid.

Be careful. The crimeview site does not cover Henderson. And, to the best of my knowledge, they have no comparable site.

Parts of Henderson are reasonably good but none get anywhere near zero on the scale we are using. Dogs still bite people and kids sometimes get carried away with the trick bikes on vacant lots (two of the fourteen incidents scored in Buzz's report).

[homefryes]

Gee, thanks for that info on the crime data. Guess that's why Henderson was coming up at zero!