First time homebuyers, Help us figure out the neighborhood

[addisonart]

Originally Posted by Camden Northsider

Personally I would nix Bloomington Avenue - but I knew someone that used to live on Bloomington in the 30s and heard lots of stories that may have had a bias.

Actually, to the OP - you kind of remind me of us when we first started looking to purchase our first home - our current neighborhood was our top choice but was almost out of our price range at that time, so to get a diverse, informed opinion we checked out houses in the rest of Camden and areas of South Minneapolis as well as NE (and a couple in St. Paul). Ultimately we felt that all the houses in our price range back then in South Mpls were in pretty transitional/ dodgy areas so we nixed this from our search, we didn't know anything about St. Paul and felt that this too was the case, and the NE area for whatever reason just didn't appeal to us at all (although I can see and recognize its charms and actually like the area) - so we picked a few Camden neighborhoods that we really liked and targeted these in our search - they just felt right to us I guess - and we were able to find something in our 1st choice neighborhood when that initially looked bleak or like it wasn't going to happen.

I'm not saying all of this to try and sway you at all as we all have our own personal preferences and what we feel comfortable with. I guess what I'm saying is that if you're not in an immediate rush/ need to buy a home right this minute, pick a neighborhood/ two that you really want to live in (and have a likelihood of turning over homes in your price range), and then keep your eye on the market in those neighborhoods and wait for something to come up - in the current market, there are fairly decent homes popping up listed at insanely low valuations all the time - you just have decide quickly and move quickly when you find something you really want. And if the original house you posted about is what you want and feels right to you both then go for it - even if there is some crime, what these areas need most are good homeowners to help turn the tide. Good luck-

I appreciate everyone's opinions very much but especially this one. We decided to go with our original choice on oakland, we went and looked at it again and knew this was the one! Thanks for everyone's input!

[addisonart]

Well, had the inspection done and too many issues so back on the hunt!

[Slig]

yeah, make sure you look closely at the "Truth-In-Housing" report as well. Sometimes that gives you a good indication of what kind of shape the house is in before you throw down for a full house inspection.

[addisonart]

The T.I.H report had a few of the issues but definately not the whole story. We were prepared to do some work but not nearly what needed to be done. Thankfully the inspector gave us 1/2 off since we "killed" the house before he had to write a full report. There is plenty to look at though!