Arden area, and cost of flood insurance (Sacramento, Davis: for sale, real estate)

[camilleyun]

Sorry if this thread is repetitive, as I know there are a lot of threads asking similar questions. I am relocating to Sacramento to work at UC Davis Medical Center in June. Currently, I am looking at either renting an apartment in Arden or Midtown or the med center area, or possibly buying a 1 bedroom condo or townhouse in one of these areas.

Midtown seems to be probably out of my price range as far as buying (probably 110k-150k, I'm still trying to figure out exactly how much I can afford) since I don't want to live in a 350sq foot studio. The whole area north and northeast of the med center, etc. doesn't really seem to be a condo sort of area, and I don't want a house since I don't have time or the ability to take care of a yard, etc. It looks like there are some condos for sale in Arden that would fit the bill (Woodside, Timberlake, etc.). However, I am wondering about the cost of flood insurance, since I know that Woodside at least has flooded in the past and could do so again. I have never had to purchase flood insurance before, so I'm just wondering about the cost per year (or per month?).

I am also curious about the general safety and reputation of the Arden area that's close to midtown (i.e. other side of the river from Sac State, not too far out). I don't care much if it's the most fashionable/prestigious neighborhood, or even that it has the very best schools (since I don't have kids) but as a single woman I don't want to move into a super high crime area inadvertently. I am looking for a neighborhood that is relatively safe, where I can get to work quickly, and that hopefully has some other single 20-something -40 year old types.

[zen_klown]

A couple of thoughts. First I would plug in the address here of any place you are considering buying. That will give you an idea of what crimes have been reported in the area and you can figure out how safe you will feel.

Online feature - Crimemapper - sacbee.com

In general, I would say that the closer you get to Campus Commons (closer to Fair Oaks and Howe the better. As you go further up Howe toward the Arden Fair Mall, the condos tend to lose a lot of the owner occupants, and you have a lot more apartment buildings. These areas with higher level of rental units just aren't as nice.

As for Woodside and Timberlake take a look at the HOA dues. In both complexes the HOA dues are actually pretty high.

You can search the mls at John Lockwood's site. Why I like it is on the detail section of the listings, he will tell you the actual HOA dues. Notice on this unit the HOA dues are $344. On a unit that is selling for 99k, your monthly HOA dues are going to be about 2/3's of your mortgage payment. If it were me, instead of spending all of the money on HOA dues, I think I would rather look at a house. For what you are spending on HOA dues and a mortgage in either Timberlake or Woodside, you probably could get a single family home in either Rancho Cordova, College Greens or even parts of Tahoe Park.

Cameron Park and Placerville Real Estate

http://maps.cityofsacramento.org/Map...20streetsE.pdf

If you get real serious about buying into Woodside, I would contact your insurance carrier for an actual quote on a place you are considering. Woodside is a somewhat unique case in that parts of the place floods quite regularly, so I imagine the flood insurance might be higher than elsewhere. Also with high risks of flooding, you might want to make some inquiries about toxic mold. There was a house in my neighborhood, that had problems with a leak and they ended up stripping the house down to the frames in an effort at mold remediation - the entire effort just seems really expensive.