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Old 12-22-2009, 01:41 PM
 
2 posts, read 6,768 times
Reputation: 10

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So I find myself returning to the area due to a seperation and the need of family support. My entire family lives in PA and I am coming from the Carolinas. I have a young child, will most likely be working in the Allentown or Kutztown area and need some input from locals on what are good areas of town to live in when you have a young family.

My biggest concern is finding a rental, the newspaper and craigslist haven't turned up too many things but I still have a few months to look. Can anyone tell me if it will be possible to find something decent with at least two bedrooms and preferably a house in the $1000-1400 range? I don't mind somewhere where I might have to a longer commute. The school district needs to be decent.

I guess I'm just floored that where I currently am I have a 1600 sq ft 3 bed/2.5 bath single family home with a garage on a quarter acre in a large city and I paid less than $175k for and I can't find even a ranch rental for $1500 in LV! We lived comfortably on $50k a yr here and between the taxes and living costs I don't even know what I need to earn to make ends meet! (I work in management). Any help will be appreciated! I filled out the questionnaire from the sticky on the LV forum:

When are you moving? Sometime between Feb-April 2010
Where are you coming from? Carolinas
Where will you be working? don't know yet somewhere near Allentown or Kutztown
Have you been here yet? grew up in the area but left as a teenager

Will you buy or rent? Rent
If renting, are you looking for an apartment, a townhouse or loft? How much can you spend?Would prefer a house/townhouse but at least a 2bd apartment that allows cats is needed, $1000-1400


Are you married or single? Do you have children? divorcing with 2 young children
Do you prefer public or private schools? public for now
Do you have pets? two cats
Are you keeping a car? yes
Do you prefer bustling activity or calm and quiet? calm and quiet

What do you want to be closest to?
Work & Basic services (supermarket, drugstore, etc.)

Last edited by jackiesmom; 12-22-2009 at 02:24 PM..
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Old 12-23-2009, 07:05 AM
 
36 posts, read 106,243 times
Reputation: 14
I currently live in the southern lehigh area, making 50k with a small house, and I just break even. Did you check out any Real Estate offices, I'm sure there are some that may have rentals or at least know of some. With a lot of people in a pickle trying to unload their houses, you may be able to negotiate a deal privately- a win-win for both sides.

Most of the school districts around here are pretty decent, once you get outside of the city.
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Old 12-23-2009, 05:56 PM
 
Location: South Carolina
245 posts, read 953,410 times
Reputation: 257
I just moved here 3 weeks ago with my husband & elderly Mom from the Carolinas. I came up here for 12 days & stayed in a motel & worked from my laptop to find a rental. My husband was already working here (Allentown) & living in a motel for the time being while I packed & found us a place. I know nothing about the area & found a 1700 sq ft house for $1,100 a month. It's not perfect & I don't plan on staying here when lease renewal comes up, but I figure it gives me a year to learn the area & hunt out the type of house & neighborhood I'd be happy living in. I looked on craigslist, local newspapers & subcumbed to Locators Inc. which was kind of a rip-off but I did find my rental from their list. I'd advise using them as a last ditch effort.....if you're desperate! I'd go with a property management company to help find you a rental. You can tell them what you're looking for & your needs & they can tell you what they have coming available or currently available. The good rentals go very, very fast! Things also are a slight bit more pricey than in the Carolinas. Our car insurance doubled! So be prepared for that.

We wound up in the town of Coplay, which is very nice & I hear the schools are decent, I don't have school age kids so that wasn't an issue. If I can remember the name of the property management company I dealt with I'll post it on here or private message you. I think it may have been Apex Management. They had some nice houses, one was awesome but very pricey! I had run out of time & they don't show houses on the weekends & that really limited me at that point in my search. Good luck!
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Old 12-23-2009, 08:27 PM
 
13,252 posts, read 33,408,674 times
Reputation: 8103
As 18060 and butterfly have mentioned, most of the school districts outside of the city's are good and the towns are nice too. I live near Coopersburg and if you do a search on this forum you will see many of my posts talking it up. We moved here 12 years ago and love it. Rental homes are not easy to find. Around here people just put a sign in the front yard for a few days. I can keep my eyes open for you but the chance of me seeing a sign and having paper and pencil at the same time are iffy. I saw one a few days ago in the borough of Coopersburg, but doubtful that it will still be available in another month. I generally recommend Emmaus, Macungie and Coopersburg but Hellertown and Nazareth are nice too.
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