Foley area ? (Mobile, Daphne, Fairhope: foreclosures, to rent, home owners insurance)

[priscillabud]

Hello - visited Daphne area many years ago and my husband and I thought it was very nice. We have been trying to sell our home in northwest Atlanta area but market is flooded. We would like to visit again and when I looked at realtor.com I found very few homes in Daphne under $140K.
However, there were a number of listings in Foley which appeared to be new homes. I also saw Robertsville and Loxley. How is that area? We are looking for a pretty, safe place to live. We are not worried about school districts. Just want to be near shopping and medical. Are there a lot of new homes (foreclosures) that one could buy relatively inexpensive and what is the likelihood we could rent the house out until we were able to move.? Any info on foreclosures, Foley, or other areas that are nice and inexpensive would be appreciated. Thanks

[southernnaturelover]

Foley is a nice town that is close to the beach. The shopping is going to mostly be at Tanger Outlet Mall and Super Wal-Mart, but the new shopping center in Malbis isn't that far away, and neither is Pensacola. South Baldwin Medical Center in Foley is a pretty good hospital for emergencies, but for more serious stuff you'd need to go to the bigger hospitals in Mobile or Pensacola. Loxley, Robertsdale, and Summerdale are all located along hwy 59 north of Foley and they are smaller towns. When you drive hwy 59 you will leave one town and be in the next without even really noticing it. The biggest drawback to living in Foley is homeowners insurance, it will likely be high. It could be a bit cheaper in Loxley since it's a little further north, but I'm not sure.

Tanger Outlets Centers

Home - South Baldwin Regional Medical Center

[pixiepony]

You will find plenty of houses in that price range in the Foley area. I know, mine is one of them!!! there are also alot of foreclosures. Best to get a realtor to help you with those. there are 2 grocery stores in robertsdale, a VERY small market in Loxley as well as a farmers market in loxley.

it'd be best to come and look at the areas yourself and see where you would like. all the towns are relativly safe. Home owners insurance will be cheapest the further North you go. Just North of 98 (which runs through Foley) is cheaper than just a few blocks south.

this area is FLOODED with houses on the market. I just talked to someone who was in town looking for a house and they had 20 houses on their "short" list. Of those 20, 13 were foreclosures. the good thing for buyers is you can get a good deal on a nice house. The bad deal for us sellers, we practically have to give it away after being on the market for months and months.

[southernnaturelover]

Originally Posted by pixiepony

Just North of 98 (which runs through Foley) is cheaper than just a few blocks south.

I friend of mine used to live on W. Fern Avenue. It's a pretty nice area with a mixture of older and newer houses.

[Keeper]

Check out Silverhill too. It is not on Hwy59 but a quaint little town. My DS lives in Summerdale and it is not that far from Fairhope or Foley. My DS did leave during 2 hurricanes, Katrina being one but her house did not have any damage.

SNL is right all the little towns seem to run together although, I have never seen downtown Summerdale because Hwy59 doesn't run through it.

I really love that area especially the back roads have some beautiful houses.

[priscillabud]

Thanks for the info -

Pixiepony - why so many foreclosures - people lose their jobs or the builders went bust? What about being able to rent a house out if we bought ahead of time before moving? Hopefully, when you do find a buyer you will be able to get a great deal on the other end. That's what I'm hoping for for myself as well.

[pixiepony]

Same reason as alot of other cities have foreclosures, just bad planning on buyers parts and poor selling on mortgage lenders parts... There isn't really alot of job loss here. No major corporations in this part of the area. Mobile has the business, but even then, I have not heard of any mass lay offs there.

We're relocating to Memphis, so we'll ave to sell it eventually. We won't let it foreclose though. We'll just do what it takes. Good thing is the housing market in memphis is less expesnive than here! We'll be able to get alot of house for the money! Yay!

[7spider]

Plenty of choices in Robertsdale/ Loxley area. We just signed a contract for a new home in a beautiful subdivision called Lakeland off hyw. 59 in Loxley. Prices in that area are good and insurance is not as bad as Foley or Daphne. Worth a look, I'd say.

[pinklynn]

I am from the Memphis area looking to move to the Foley area. I was surprised that the previous person said Memphis was cheaper! Memphis is the #1 Crime, Rape city per capita in the country. I would not live in Memphis. Anything cheap is going to be in a bad area. I live In Collierville which is wonderful, but the houses are well into the 200,000 range and up. I am thinking I can get something much cheaper in Foley which is why we are looking to move.