Possible move to Lincoln (Omaha, Royal: real estate, hotel, home builders)

[ThnkinLincoln]

My family is considering a move to Lincoln for a job. We live in the Twin Cities and love it here.

My kids are in dance, karate, gymnastics, swimming, music programs. We enjoy shopping, professional sports, fishing, camping, swimming, eclectic dining, fine dining, ethnic food, museums.

Lincoln is fairly large but I can't tell if it has a big city feel or small town. I have been there twice but really only got to spend time at the Cornhusker hotel and a bit of downtown.

Your thoughts are appreciated.

[monkeynoodle]

You will find all of those things except the professional sports in Lincoln and the surrounding area, just on a largely reduced scale. You wont find the beautiful wooded areas and large and abundant lakes like you have in minnesota for camping and fishing, but there are enough places within 100 miles of lincoln to keep you busy for years.

There are ethnic places to eat here, but you may find yourself limited to one or two restaurants per ethnic group. Remember omaha is only a 50 minute drive, and they have many more choices they we have in lincoln for restaurants.

There are several small musuems in lincoln, but again omaha usually attracts the bigger traveling exhibits.
If you love college sports, then lincoln maybe for you, GO HUSKERS!! Kansas city and the Royals/Chiefs sports complex is only a 3 hour drive.

The weather here is considerably warmer in the winter and hotter in the summer. Many times during the winter in could be 60 degrees in lincoln, and 20 in the twin cities.

There are several other posters on here from lincoln, maybe they can chime in on the subject.

[tpabes]

monkeynoodle hit it pretty good on the head. I consider to Lincoln more small town like than city like, especially compared to Omaha, but has over 200,000 people so it has plenty of city aspects.

[ThnkinLincoln]

Thanks for the replies. I am wondering if I should consider Omaha, seems like the commute would be a pain but the city might be more our style.

Any thoughts on the better realty companies in town? If we make the move we will have fairly specific wants in a home. For under $450k we would want 4 brs, at least 2 1/2 baths, a fireplace, hardwood, some kind of natural setting (pond, woods or park view). We don't know if we are being realistic.

I see there are a lot of new developments in Lincoln but don't have a clue which are good or even which parts of town are best.

[kallen101]

You should be able to find something to meet your needs. I would probably go through Woods Bros, or Home Real Estate. Some areas of interest might be Fallbrook on the North Side with a 5-10 minute commute to downtown via I-180, or Wilderness Ridge on the South Side. If you like living on the lake... you might also want to check out the Capital Beach area which is also a short commute to downtown (some homes in this area were built in the 70's - 80's as well as brand new homes).

[Go Ne]

With that much money, you could get what you want and more.

[aerahrtlu]

Less than 450k will MOST DEFINITELY get you want you desire in a house. Even most of the upscale houses here run under 600k, so I don't foresee a problem for you.
Do you want to build a house? Or buy an older one? Do you want to live on the out skits of the city or in the middle? I might be able to help you sort out which area would best fit your needs if I know more about what you're looking for.
Lincoln has a definite small town feel to it. I've lived here all my life and I'm still shocked when I remember there are 250,000 people living here.
Omaha has a much bigger city feel to it. Everytime I go there I marvel at how huge it seems to me.
One of our regulars on here, Matt, commutes between Omaha and Lincoln. He works at UNL I believe and lives in West Omaha. He might be able to help you out on the commute aspect.

[ThinkingLincoln]

I was having a hard time logging in with my other id, so I changed slightly and reregistered.

A new house sounds great. In town vs outskirts doesn't matter much to us. I would like to be within 20-30 minutes of my kids activities and downtwon. I assume you can get across Lincoln in 30 minutes. Beyond that we just want to find the right house.

Omaha sounds a little less fun for me in the commute but am willing to consider it if the family has more opportunity there.

I have tried looking on the web for new home developments but the realty companies seem to promote their own developments. I can't find any of what I would consider "national" builders in Lincoln (Hovanian, Lennar, Pulte, etc.) So I don't really know where to look for new homes.

I don't want houses piled right on top of me and would like to have some kind of nature near, even if it is just a pond.

Thanks for all your help.

[aerahrtlu]

Prairie Homes Construction, Lincoln Nebraska
There's one. I'm not really sure of the names of any upscale builders since it's not in my price range.
Have you done a Google search with Lincoln, NE home builders in the bar? There are many of them, though none that are nationally known. Atleast none that I know of. There's one right outside the southwest edge of town that has 1/3 acre lots. There's also one down Nebraska Highway 2 about 15 miles outside of town. They have 1/3 or more acre lots and center around a lake.
I don't have the time now, but I may be able to look up some stuff for you. Also yellow pages is a great resource. Just put in Lincoln, Ne and home builders.
The area around Pine Lake is also really upscale and there's a lake near by.
Also looking up Lincoln on Google maps and seeing where the lakes and parks are might be of some help.

[tpabes]

Ironwood Builders