I found a place! What do those of you think? (Jackson: hardwood floors, appointed)

[joanie55]

Okay, those who have been communicating with me on this forum know I'm moving to Jackson at the end of this month. After weeks of panic stricken searching I've decided to rent a duplex cottage in Belhaven on St. Ann St. It looks adorable from the pics and it's renting for $745 a month. My first choice would have been Fondren but the inventory there is very small right now. Anyway, it's a 2/2 with central air, a fireplace, all hardwood floors, washer dryer hookups and a small fenced yard for my dog. Two of my cousins are actually going to look at it tomorrow and unless they tell me it's vile, it's mine. It's also about 1200 sf. I"m renting it from Nejam Properties, which manages around 500 properties in Belhaven. I've heard St. Ann street is a good area but otherwise know nothing. I'd like to hear some opinions and any additional info you could provide about what it's near etc. from those of you who know the area. Thanks so much!

[Claude Wilson]

That's wonderful.

Welcome to Jackson, you'll LOVE it!

[jacksonian]

That's a good location and that seems like a fair price. Ask the leaser about the utilities and call Entergy to get a summary report over the last year(s). I found out the hard way when I moved into a warehouse apartment. The rent was really cheap, but the utility bills made it almost unbearable due to the lack of efficiency/insulation. Don't panic though, I live in a 1938 house now and the bills are not bad at all. One peak into the attic will tell you whether it's insulated or not. Some of the older homes do not have insulation in the walls, but on the other hand, most older homes are surrounded by older trees, which provide a great deal of shade in the summer, which helps tremendously in keeping your house cool and comfortable. I would expect your utilities to be $75-150/month. My last months electric was $54 and gas was $26, but this is the mild time of the year and it will go up during the hottest/coldest months.

I hope it all works out for you. Good luck!

[jacksonian]

If you haven't already signed a lease, I have a friend who has a 2 BR/1 BATH rental available in Fondren, close to all the shops, stores, etc. It will be available at the end of the month. Not sure on the rent right now, but it has a huge basement with garage if you need a lot of storage space. Basements are not common in this area. Let me know if you're interested.

[joanie55]

Originally Posted by jacksonian

If you haven't already signed a lease, I have a friend who has a 2 BR/1 BATH rental available in Fondren, close to all the shops, stores, etc. It will be available at the end of the month. Not sure on the rent right now, but it has a huge basement with garage if you need a lot of storage space. Basements are not common in this area. Let me know if you're interested.

I AM interested. I prefer Fondren to Belhaven. I won't be able to make it there by the end of this month but would be willing to put a deposit down to secure it. Can you DM me with the exact location and any more details. Is it an apartment or a duplex or a cottage? Does it have central h/a? The cottage did not work out - they rented it to someone else. Until I got your message I thought I was stuck in Florida for another year, which I really don't want. Thank you SO...............MUCH.

[joanie55]

Originally Posted by jacksonian

If you haven't already signed a lease, I have a friend who has a 2 BR/1 BATH rental available in Fondren, close to all the shops, stores, etc. It will be available at the end of the month. Not sure on the rent right now, but it has a huge basement with garage if you need a lot of storage space. Basements are not common in this area. Let me know if you're interested.

The reason I can't make it there by the end of this month, btw, is because I have yet to secure movers. I've got a couple of good leads now, however. MOvers down here are about as crooked as a dog's hind leg. They gave me estimates that were so high because they doubled the weight on everything. They said my vacuum cleaner weighed 35 pounds - it weighs 15. I told a friend it was a good thing they weren't shipping ME because I would hate to see what they would estimate MY weight!

[jacksonian]

Originally Posted by joanie55

I AM interested. I prefer Fondren to Belhaven. I won't be able to make it there by the end of this month but would be willing to put a deposit down to secure it. Can you DM me with the exact location and any more details. Is it an apartment or a duplex or a cottage? Does it have central h/a? The cottage did not work out - they rented it to someone else. Until I got your message I thought I was stuck in Florida for another year, which I really don't want. Thank you SO...............MUCH.

Message sent.

[jaxnbulldog]

I live in Belhaven on St. Ann street. It is a nice area and I like it better than the Fondren area. Very safe IMHO. St. Ann is about 8 blocks long and there is only one crappy house that I can think of on it, a 4 plex that is trying to be rehabbed, I think into a duplex. The rest of the street is well taken care of. You'll like the neighborhood and the access to Fondren is pretty easy, just a few miles away if that's important. Belhaven is also a litlle closer to downtown if that matters.

[joanie55]

Thank you all so much for your responses. Unfortunately, I will not be moving to Jackson now, but hope to in 6 months to a year. I was unable to secure a place to live that was decent and in my price range in either Fondren or Belhaven and those are the only areas I would choose to live. In addition, my knee flared up from arthritis and I could not walk for a few days until I got fed up and went to the ER. I'm seeing an orthopedic specialist on Tuesday. So now there are some health issues than need taken care of immediately and time has run out for packing up for a long-distance move. So I signed a six-month lease at an apartment complex here. I am determined to move to Jackson in the future. My mom really does need me. My family is good to her - they take her to doctors and the grocery store and church and everywhere she really needs to go. They have her over for dinner and bring her food, etc. But she complains they really don't spend a lot of TIME with her - often just stop by for 5 minutes. So she's lonely and she still has to drive to pick up her mail and take her garbage to the dumpster. Not only that, she sometimes gets out on Lakeland to go to McDonalds (she loves their sausage biscuits) which is REALLY risky. She has a liscense only because she got some eye specialist in ST Louis (where she used to live) to sign something saying she could drive. Her macular degeneration has gotten much worse, however, over the past 6 months and she shouldn't be driving AT ALL. If I were there I would make sure she didn't.

But to be honest with you, MY health is actually worse than hers. Health care in Florida is a joke because the system is so overloaded with old people living here. It took 2 years and an ER visit for my family doctor to refer me to a specialist - I've been telling him for 2 years that my knees and legs are in constant pain and he just kept telling me I was getting older (I'm 54) and to take glucosamene. On top of that I have hypertension and lately my hair has been falling out in clumps, which the doctor says is stress - they say that about everything don't they? So as the saying goes, maybe this is all for the best because the reality is (which I have not been willing to face) i'm not in good enough shape myself to do all the things for her that I want to do.

But I AM disappointed because not only do I want to be there for her I want to be there period - i hate Florida. The people here are, for the most part, so rude and nasty which I just see as completely unnecessary. Life is so much easier when people are just polite and nice to each other. I don't get why they can't see that. In addition, everyone down here has issues - I have yet to meet a normal person, if there is such a thing. There are a bunch of drug addicts, pill heads and alcoholics and just plain losers and nut cases. Those that do not fit in that category are the really rich snooty people - and there's plenty of them as well - they are the rudest of the rude. Complain complain complain, that's all they do.

It's so ridiculous and what has happened is that in the nearly 5 years I've lived here I have become a different person and not in a good way. I don't trust anyone anymore (oh I forgot to mention the con artists - they are here by the boatloads because there are a lot of old people with money) which I was never like before. But after you get taken for literally thousands of dollars from people who you thought were you friends you get like that. Here's an example (I iknow I'm verbose but its raining cats and dogs and I'm bored). On my most recent vist to Jackson, my uncle, who is dying of cancer, has 8 temporary crowns put in that the dentist told him would last at least 2 years. I didn't believe that. I told my cousin, "Hes just doing that because he knows they're going to fall out and then he's have 8 permanent ones put it. He just wants more money." "Oh no," she said. "He's a friend, they used to play golf together." I looked at her like she was nuts and said, "That doesn't mean anything."

And after years of being nice to people who were rude to me I finally got tired of it and now I"m nasty right back to them. I will work on that during hopefully my last 6 months here though because I'm learning it only makes things worse. Comments like," Back off b..ch, I'm not in the mood today," or "Why don't you just go back to f...ing New york?" do not make things better. These people love nothing better than a good fight and I can't stand to fight. Ah, there must be that happy medium that I just haven't found yet.

Anyway I wanted to thank everyone on the forum who have been so gracious about giving advice and hopefully I be back in touch in the near future and living in Jackson. I am not giving up!

[joanie55]

I know this was a really long read, but I only hope some of you would read it, not because I'm an egotist, I'm not. But because I really believe some of you would identify with at least some of what I've said. Sorry I was so verbose - I know it's a turn off because it's too time consuming. I DO apologize for that. But, as they say in Florida - it is what it is.