Help a Newbie. Why Are Homes in College Greens Rosemont So Cheap? (Sacramento: for sale, crime)

[NewToCA]

Although you need to pick out the houses pretty carefully, I prefer the Carmichael or Fair Oaks areas, and would "suffer" the inconvenience of needing to make a 1/2 hour commute. You are pretty much on the Sacramento grid here, unlike the areas north of I-80 or south of Rt 50.

I learned the hard way.

[inpd]

Originally Posted by NewToCA

Although you need to pick out the houses pretty carefully, I prefer the Carmichael or Fair Oaks areas, and would "suffer" the inconvenience of needing to make a 1/2 hour commute. You are pretty much on the Sacramento grid here, unlike the areas north of I-80 or south of Rt 50.

I learned the hard way.

I don't understand. What is important about the grid (what is the grid?) and what
did you learn?

[CityGirl72]

I think the grid would be how the freeways are laid out - which to me looks like an "H"

Have you looked at a full Sacramento map before

Otherwise the grid would also be Downtown/Midtown area - but I don't think that's what they are talking about

AND TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION - THE TITLE OF YOUR POST

The houses are cheap because it's a damn crappy area of town with gangs and houses that are starting to rundown. That is why the OTHER side of Racho Corodova is called Mather and that's where the new housing is.

[NewToCA]

Originally Posted by inpd

I don't understand. What is important about the grid (what is the grid?) and what
did you learn?

The grid is the layout of streets between I-80 and RT 50. Living beween these major arteries, many of the streets are parallel in going north/south and east/west. If traffic is heavy on a major artery, you can turn off and have lots of choices. North of I-80 and south of RT 50, the streets are much less of a grid, and getting alternative routes is very difficult. Many streets terminate after a short stretch, and feed back into the clogged major arteries.

[inpd]

Originally Posted by CityGirl72

AND TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION - THE TITLE OF YOUR POST

The houses are cheap because it's a damn crappy area of town with gangs and houses that are starting to rundown. That is why the OTHER side of Racho Corodova is called Mather and that's where the new housing is.

I'm not sure where you got the gangs and rundown bit from. I drove through college
greens yesterday. I found the homes to be quite nice and well cared for. It really
was quite nice but then I rolled down my windows and found that the noise from 50
was quite a loud buzz. So that could be why its cheap. Schools are also very good.

Now maybe we are getting our areas mixed up. By College greens I mean around
Oki park (south of 50) and Glenmont park (north of 50). Are we talking about the
same area?

[CityGirl72]

I meant more Rosemont and Old Rancho Cordova area

College Greens has always stayed slightly clean (it's close to Sac State)

[inpd]

Originally Posted by CityGirl72

I meant more Rosemont and Old Rancho Cordova area

College Greens has always stayed slightly clean (it's close to Sac State)

I walked the college Glen area near Oki park. It's quite nice.
1970's home 4br/2ba for $250-300K. Well kept lawns, so I still don't
get why its so cheap. Go 0.5 to 1 mile west to east-sac and the
same homes cost $400-450K. Schools in both areas are comparable.

There's a large chunk of undeveloped land south of Folsom. Could that
be a cause for concern.

[NewToCA]

Originally Posted by inpd

I walked the college Glen area near Oki park. It's quite nice.
1970's home 4br/2ba for $250-300K. Well kept lawns, so I still don't
get why its so cheap. Go 0.5 to 1 mile west to east-sac and the
same homes cost $400-450K. Schools in both areas are comparable.

There's a large chunk of undeveloped land south of Folsom. Could that
be a cause for concern.

I was in the area of the new Rancho Cordova, adjacent to the area south of Folsom. I had a great lease/purchase for a house, and was looking forward to staying there. Just before my year was up, when it was time to commit to the purchase, I had an analysis done of my water, we noticed that the patio was getting a white film on it and the sinks were getting hard to keep clean. We found out we had very hard water, and needed a water softner system installed for the entire house. We confirmed this with the water supplier, the water is exceptionally hard in the area south of RT 50. To make a long story short, we found it would cost about $3,000 to install this system, and another $50 or so a month to maintain it. Adding in all of the special assessments, we decided it wasn't worth it and decided to go between RT 50 and I-80.

[Evlevo]

Part of why it is cheap is because the housing prices in general are in free-fall. Maybe that area just fell sooner? Some areas in Rosemont are not as good (generally the ones near Juvenile Hall) but many areas are pretty decent. I used to have an apartment there and it was a very nice area that my wife and I used to go for long walks (2 miles or so to the store) frequently. Never any problems. I wouldn't hesitate to move back.

The difficulty with asking essentially a generic question of "what's a good/bad area" is that everyone has different reasons for their answer. If it is crime stats you are after, I once found a website that listed crimes by zip code in Sacramento county. Maybe that would help? Otherwise you may get a "It sucks" response for an area from one person who thought the lawns should be cut to 2.5 inches instead of 3", and a "It sucks" from another person who was mad that they made him cut his grass to 2.5"

Basically if you find a place with a reasonable commute and in your price range,look up the crime stats, and then drive though the area to see if it "feels OK", and you still like it, it will end up being a good place for you.

[inpd]

Rosemont, I can is has issues.
But College Greens/Glen checks out nicely.

The crime stats work out okay, better than
east sac just worse than land park.

Elementary schools are quite good as well.
Homes well taken care off.

Hence my question, why are things so cheap
in College Greens/Glen?

The only down-side was the hum you get
from 50 traffic.

Originally Posted by Evlevo

Part of why it is cheap is because the housing prices in general are in free-fall. Maybe that area just fell sooner? Some areas in Rosemont are not as good (generally the ones near Juvenile Hall) but many areas are pretty decent. I used to have an apartment there and it was a very nice area that my wife and I used to go for long walks (2 miles or so to the store) frequently. Never any problems. I wouldn't hesitate to move back.

The difficulty with asking essentially a generic question of "what's a good/bad area" is that everyone has different reasons for their answer. If it is crime stats you are after, I once found a website that listed crimes by zip code in Sacramento county. Maybe that would help? Otherwise you may get a "It sucks" response for an area from one person who thought the lawns should be cut to 2.5 inches instead of 3", and a "It sucks" from another person who was mad that they made him cut his grass to 2.5"

Basically if you find a place with a reasonable commute and in your price range,look up the crime stats, and then drive though the area to see if it "feels OK", and you still like it, it will end up being a good place for you.