Buying A Youngstown Rental (Boardman, Oak Hill: best neighborhoods, 2010, crime)

[RentalInvestment]

Ok, so I'm technologically incompetent, and I can't figure out how to start a new thread.

I guess I'll pose my question here, and hope somebody is gracious enough to answer.

I know things in Youngstown are a bit rough, but I'm looking at an investment property in the North Heights neighborhood, near the Stambaugh Golf Course. Does anyone know if college students generally rent in that neighborhood, and if so, what's a common rental rate for college kids renting out a 4-bedroom home?

I know it would be a gamble, but I'm thinking of buying a 4-bed in North Heights, renting it out for a few years, and eventually moving my family from AZ (where house prices are insane) to that rental--depending on how crime and other stats do or don't improve in the next years.

Much thanks for your help and advice.

[JR_C]

RentalInvestment, in the Ohio forum, click on "Forum Tools." A short list of options will drop down, and one of the choices will be "Post a new thread."

I'm sorry I can't really answer your questions, though.

[boardmanite]

Originally Posted by RentalInvestment

Ok, so I'm technologically incompetent, and I can't figure out how to start a new thread.

I guess I'll pose my question here, and hope somebody is gracious enough to answer.

I know things in Youngstown are a bit rough, but I'm looking at an investment property in the North Heights neighborhood, near the Stambaugh Golf Course. Does anyone know if college students generally rent in that neighborhood, and if so, what's a common rental rate for college kids renting out a 4-bedroom home?

I know it would be a gamble, but I'm thinking of buying a 4-bed in North Heights, renting it out for a few years, and eventually moving my family from AZ (where house prices are insane) to that rental--depending on how crime and other stats do or don't improve in the next years.

Much thanks for your help and advice.

Can you give us some streets? I'm not familiar with the "North Heights" term. I'm guessing that means the North Side, which has streets with well-maintained mansions and sections of poorly-maintained ghettos. On the North Side you'll never be more than a few blocks away from rough areas.

As a single guy, I would live in the "nice" areas of the North Side in a heartbeat. But if I had a family, I would give it much more serious consideration. Not saying I wouldn't, but there are lots of things to think about: schools (I wouldn't send my kids to the city schools); taxes (the city takes nearly 3% of your income); safety (I wouldn't want my kids straying more than a block or two from the house, no matter how old they were.)

If it's close to Gypsy Lane, I doubt you'd have many college kids wanting to live that far away from campus. I could be totally wrong, but it's just my guess. And I really couldn't tell you about the price.

Buying a house in Youngstown is a gamble. If there's any place that might gentrify in the city, it would be the North Side. The architecture is quite appealing, it's not as far gone as other sections of the city, and there's already somewhat of an artsy, intellectual community there. But I don't see that happening any time soon. I really don't see the North Side getting much worse either.

[JR_C]

Boardmanite,
North Heights from the Youngstown 2010 website:

http://www.youngstown2010.com/neighborhoods/north/north_heights/north_heights.htm (broken link)

Look at the aerial view. I think it's one of the best neighborhoods in the city, but it is pretty far north--far from YSU.

[Yac]

Moved to a new thread
Yac.

[boardmanite]

Thanks for the map, JR_C. That is one of the best neighborhoods in the city. I'd still stay closer to Gypsy and Fifth, especially since Belmont is the western boundary. There's no doubt that you can get a lot of house for your money is this area.

[BelieveInCleve]

I dont know a lot about Youngstown but the Northside is probably the best area of the city. The worst areas seem to be near Oak Hill Ave., Woodland Ave. and Kenmore Ave. basically the South Central area of Youngstown is the worst, the eastside also isnt too nice but some places on the far westside and the northside are still pretty nice. Its sad what happened to Youngstown it lost about half of its population and now is basically a small version of Detroit, but the city has a lot of history and hopefully it will come back.

[Stephan_K]

Originally Posted by Cle440

Its sad what happened to Youngstown it lost about half of its population and now is basically a small version of Detroit, but the city has a lot of history and hopefully it will come back.

Y town make a come back

That ship has sailed and I believe it has fell off the edge of the earth

And in its fall, it fell into a wormhole and is now 20 billion light years away from the planet earth

[boardmanite]

An interesting mindset exists in Youngstown. When I told people I was considering moving to Korea, they were shocked. "Why would you want to move to a developing country?!"

South Korea is light years ahead of Youngstown.

[Stephan_K]

Originally Posted by boardmanite

An interesting mindset exists in Youngstown. When I told people I was considering moving to Korea, they were shocked. "Why would you want to move to a developing country?!"

South Korea is light years ahead of Youngstown.

Been there myself on business. You got that right! Aside from the lack of transportation infrastructure, they are light years ahead of the US in general not just Y town.