Moving to Tacoma/University Place- need some advice (Fircrest: rental, low crime)

[shorsh]

Hi good people,
My family and I are moving to the area due to my husband's new job in the Tacoma center area. We want to live close by for him to commute as little as possible. we want to rent a house in the first year and then hopefully buy one. That's why we want to rent a house in an area where it's reasonable to buy later. We are looking for a place with good school district for elementary/intermediate in a friendly and safe neighborhood. We are looking for a 3-4 bedroom house. the rent can be around the 2000 and buying for around 300,000.
Our plan is to move July 1st. And I have some questions regarding that move:
1. I heard the houses are so limited in number that it's not even necessary to come and look for a house cause by the time you saw it someone else got it just from looking at the website. does it make sense or coming and actually hunting for a house with an agent? does it make sense to rent without even coming to check the place out in person.
2. Is it reasonable to look for a rental and then buy in UP for these price that I mentioned? Are there better places in Tacoma itself to look for the same solution?

Thanks for all the help, I'm clueless right now and everything will help.

[homesinseattle]

Tacoma Schools - Tacoma Washington School Ratings - Public and Private. I love the historic district of NE Tacoma, North Slope area. It is full of character.

[okawaa]

I grew up in University Place, and it really is extremely safe. I would recommend not living East of Alameda Ave, it's kind of crappy. Basically, the closer you get to Tacoma, it can get crappy. The further you stay to the water, the nicer it will be. I can't really answer housing questions but I would recommend Redfin website.

[shorsh]

Thank you!

[mkarch]

Oddly, university place is not a particularly hot market. Houses sell fairly slow there. Not because it isn't a nice place, but because it's far off by the water and not easy to commute from. It's a trade off- good family neighborhood, low crime, but not all that convenient to get to and from.

[shorsh]

Would you say it's cheaper there than Fircrest or north Tacoma?

[DANNNY__]

University Place was just designated as a Regional Growth Center, which is great! But as such, I'd recommend taking all the usual measures and making all the typical preparations that come with moving to a Regional Growth Center.

[shorsh]

What do you mean by that, DANNY?