buying a house in 2017 -- metairie, gentilly or somewhere else?

[Jimbo_1]

Originally Posted by pytla

annie_himself - Thanks, safety and affordability definitely trump racial diversity. Of the 4 places you mentioned, I would have to stick with Metairie. Your opinion of Gentilly? Your #2 suggested area (actually in the city/Orleans)?

Jimbo_1 - More useful info, I think I now know how to proceed with my search. Will likely steer clear of Algiers though, I remember mentioning Algiers when Gentilly was suggested to me, the guy's response was that I absolutely do not want to live there, didn't even ask why, just assumed it's not safe. Didn't want to focus on Gentilly based on one person's suggestion, also was wondering if there was some other area in the city that may work that I'm just not aware of, it seems that there's nowhere else based on my criteria.

A condo is out of the question for now. Can't imagine buying an apartment/condo. Would RENT another apartment or other multi-family dwelling if the place is newer construction and smoke-free with quiet tenants and rent is significantly less than mortgage, taxes, insurance, etc. (insert applicable emoji).... But, I'm still okay with buying an older but decent house and updating one room at a time.

His other suggestions are suburbs around Metairie that are also nice and safe, though a little farther from downtown than the majority of Metairie. Algiers like any part of the city or metro areas has its good and bad areas, just thought I would throw it out there as an option as it is often overlooked, most of it is actually nicely maintained suburbia, though I think your plan of going with Metairie is better. The Navarre section of Lakeview in the city has some homes in the 250,000-300,000 range and is a nice neighborhood but for the most part you are going to get the most bang for your buck in Metairie.

Newer construction apartments are rare in New Orleans and tend to be quite expensive, as in $1,500+ per month.

Originally Posted by waitingtundra

The thang to keep in mind as far as safety goes, in Jefferson Parish a 911 or home alarm is answered in 5 min or less, in Orleans Parish police protection is vary spotty w/911 calls sumtimes not being answered for hours, if at all.

That is something to consider, though it depends on the exact circumstances, the more serious the crime the quicker the response. Of course the hope would be to never even have to use or call the police.

[pytla]

Originally Posted by waitingtundra

The thang to keep in mind as far as safety goes, in Jefferson Parish a 911 or home alarm is answered in 5 min or less, in Orleans Parish police protection is vary spotty w/911 calls sumtimes not being answered for hours, if at all.

waitingtundra - I totally forgot about this.

Jimbo_1 - I agree, based on my recent searches, seems like I'll get the most bang for my buck in Metairie.

I think the choice is obvious, looks like I was on the right track all along, thanks for all the info and reassurance!

[rburnett]

A good rule of thumb. You will sped ~30% more to live in New Orleans as opposed to Jefferson Parish. That has been my experience over multiple properties.

Weather that is worth it to you is entirely subjective. Personally, if I was a child-free single making decent money, I'd be in the city. If I wasn't making decent money, I'd have a roomate(s) in the city. What kind of lifestyle have you had since you've been here? Do you spend time in the city? Go to events? Do you like to go out at night? Listen to live music? Want to have access to transit? Walk around? Ride your bike? Go to festivals? Socialize with other locals and/or transplants?

Metairie is geared much more toward families and any nightlife or social scene will be people who grew up here, never left, and hang out with their high school friends on a regular basis.

There are nice and not-so-nice areas in Metairie and New Orleans. If you absolutely have to have a single family, free-standing home, and you work downtown, then I would agree with the other posters here in that, Metarie and Gentilly are you're best options. Broadmoor is just out of your price range, and other cheap parts of town would require you to tolerate more crime.

In Gentilly, the closer you are to city park, the safer it is. The closer you are to the lake, the safer it is. Getting downtown from Gentilly is much easier than Metairie.

In Metairie, if it looks bad, it's bad. You just want to avoid the areas with run down, skanky looking apartment complexes. (Carrollton Ave, Lake Ave., Cleary and I10, etc. It's expensive in Old Metaire and along the lakefront, but gets cheaper as you move out towards Kenner and away from the lake.

Try and stay east of Causeway if you can. Causeway is a major barrier and being on the east side makes getting to and from the city soooo much easier.

[pytla]

Originally Posted by rburnett

A good rule of thumb. You will sped ~30% more to live in New Orleans as opposed to Jefferson Parish. That has been my experience over multiple properties.

Weather that is worth it to you is entirely subjective. Personally, if I was a child-free single making decent money, I'd be in the city. If I wasn't making decent money, I'd have a roomate(s) in the city. What kind of lifestyle have you had since you've been here? Do you spend time in the city? Go to events? Do you like to go out at night? Listen to live music? Want to have access to transit? Walk around? Ride your bike? Go to festivals? Socialize with other locals and/or transplants?

Metairie is geared much more toward families and any nightlife or social scene will be people who grew up here, never left, and hang out with their high school friends on a regular basis.

There are nice and not-so-nice areas in Metairie and New Orleans. If you absolutely have to have a single family, free-standing home, and you work downtown, then I would agree with the other posters here in that, Metarie and Gentilly are you're best options. Broadmoor is just out of your price range, and other cheap parts of town would require you to tolerate more crime.

In Gentilly, the closer you are to city park, the safer it is. The closer you are to the lake, the safer it is. Getting downtown from Gentilly is much easier than Metairie.

In Metairie, if it looks bad, it's bad. You just want to avoid the areas with run down, skanky looking apartment complexes. (Carrollton Ave, Lake Ave., Cleary and I10, etc. It's expensive in Old Metaire and along the lakefront, but gets cheaper as you move out towards Kenner and away from the lake.

Try and stay east of Causeway if you can. Causeway is a major barrier and being on the east side makes getting to and from the city soooo much easier.

1st paragraph is something that I take into consideration. 2nd and 3rd paragraphs are simply not priorities for me at this point. In the event that I want to do these things, I'm okay with driving from Metairie or wherever.

I will definitely be mindful of your other points about the good and bad sections of the recommended neighborhoods as that's my #1 priority. Thanks for your input!

[jamesducote]

Gentily has a lot of nice new construction and renovations right now. Metairie also has a lot of inventory. Things can move very quickly depending on the house. Make sure if you're financing, get mortgage pre-approval ahead of time.