Moving to Williamsport/Lock Haven/Lewisburg area--avg. rent? (rentals, house prices)

[Jane0218]

My husband and I are looking to move up towards the Williamsport area, to be closer to my sister and for my husband to find a job as a LOCAL CDL driver with a company connected to the Marcellus Shale operations, which we keep reading that there is a need for drivers, and the few companies he's called have said "come on up, get a drug test, and start working."

We live in SE PA now, near Abington. We have almost everything within 5 miles of us now, but I grew up in a very rural area and it took 40 minutes to drive to the mall, and 15 minutes to get to the grocery store. But there were several towns within 20 minutes that were great "walking" towns to spend a day.

We went to Williamsport a year ago, but that was for a job conference. Next week we're going up again to take a better look at the area. I think it's beautiful up there, I love the hills/mountains.

Since the shale boom has increased rents, does anyone have any idea what a 2-3 BR house would go for, in a safe area? For me, safety is what counts, so whichever town(s), or parts of towns, are safe are the ones I'm interested in.

We really want to live in a house so we're interested in rent for detached homes. Do landlords negotiate up there??

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated, even if it is a PM to give us the name/number of a great R.E.agent, or the best newspaper to buy or to look at online for rentals.
Thanks!

[wanneroo]

I haven't looked at prices of rentals lately but I have heard they have gone way up, along with a shortage of rentals too. I'd doubt landlords will do much negotiating now. 3 years ago, maybe, but no reason to now.

House prices are still cheap compared to the rest of the USA, so if you plan on staying a while, a house purchase may be cheaper than renting.

The only part of Williamsport I'd worry about is NW of downtown where the projects are and maybe around the outer periphery edges around downtown. Otherwise the usual precautions and sensibility apply. The streets to avoid will be obvious as there are usually a bunch of sketchy looking people loitering about in the middle of the day(when they should be working instead). As long as you mind your own business I wouldn't worry too much.