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Old 09-07-2010, 02:46 PM
 
13 posts, read 23,526 times
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HI....

I just got back from my first house hunting trip and covered a lot of area but still feel like there is so much more to see. My husband will be working in St Charles, so I looked at homes in St Charles county area. Which town in St Charles county would have the best schools and have restaurants/shopping near by?
Right now we are forced to rent a home since our home has gone down so much in value here in the west and can't sell it. Our price range would be up to $3200/month and would like it to be 12 years old or newer. This was a huge challenge finding rental homes. I only looked at about 6 homes, as the inventory is really low and I looked in the paper and found nothing. How do people advertise their rentals there besides listing it through an agent?
Any other recommendations would be appreciated.....thank you!!!!
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Old 09-07-2010, 03:07 PM
 
Location: Houston TX
264 posts, read 700,447 times
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CHeck craigslist.org for listings. Rent.com, forrent.com are pretty good sources too.
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Old 09-07-2010, 05:40 PM
 
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I'm faced with a similar challenge of finding a rental home but in the city. There are a few I've found but nothing "ideal". I'm definitely going to have to compromise on my wants, but I figure that it's only for a year so I can deal with it.

One thing I did was to look on a real estate website and found a few homes that have been on the market for a long time. I then contacted the real estate agent and explained my situation (I'm a professional, relocating for a job, not a typical renter, would like to take care of a home as it was my own, possibly buying a home in the future) and asked that they ask their client if they would be interested in leasing the home for a year. A good portion said no, but I did find one person who's open to leasing their home. I'm considering that one. This might be a good option for you.
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Old 09-09-2010, 09:58 AM
 
13 posts, read 23,526 times
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I did look on Craigslist and other sites, and had no luck. I am trying to call on homes that have been listed for a while to see if they would do a lease.

Can anyone tell me if Chesterfield has more shopping and restaurants than towns in St Charles county ( O'Fallon, Lake St Louis etc.)?
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Old 09-09-2010, 10:36 AM
 
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Chesterfield is pretty similar to O'Fallon and Lake St. Louis shopping and restaurant wise.

In this market I am surprised to hear you guys are having problems getting sellers to lease their homes. My sister recently moved to a new house in Hazelwood and immediately found someone willing to rent her old house in Florissant. That's steady income and getting to move to a new place right away versus staying put and letting her house sit in the stagnant market. I bet if you keep at it you should find more people open to the idea.

Checkout Zillow.com and local real estate websites and I'm sure you will find something...there's plenty out there.
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Old 09-09-2010, 11:06 AM
 
Location: Huntington Beach, CA
5,888 posts, read 13,008,662 times
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Dining is horrid in Lake Saint Louis. Standard Franchise faire. But living is more than just going out to restaurants and clubs.

But Saint Louis itself is only a 35 mile drive, and with all the other activities and amenities, Lake Saint Louis is still one of the best places to actually live in Missouri.
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Old 09-09-2010, 06:47 PM
 
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Do you guys have any idea why the schools score higher in Chesterfield than O'Fallon or Lake St Louis? We like the price points in those areas on homes, but are concerned about the schools. I couldn't really get a feel for the community in any of these areas since my trip was so fast there last weekend.
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Old 09-09-2010, 07:34 PM
 
Location: Huntington Beach, CA
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schools are fine in Wentzville/Lake Saint Louis. talk to some teachers or pta members and you will get a good feel for the quality of education in the area.
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Old 09-10-2010, 06:47 AM
 
787 posts, read 1,414,956 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JPeate View Post
Do you guys have any idea why the schools score higher in Chesterfield than O'Fallon or Lake St Louis? We like the price points in those areas on homes, but are concerned about the schools. I couldn't really get a feel for the community in any of these areas since my trip was so fast there last weekend.

The best public school districts in STL county in my opinion as a parent (and teacher) are:
Clayton, Ladue, Parkway and Rockwood and not necessarily in that order.

Since I am a violinist and violin teacher I know that, for example, the Parkway CENTRAL district is the best out of the four if any of your kids play a stringed instrument. The Parkway Central Middle School and High School orchestras are consistently top prize winners at state and regional contests. There is a significant Asian population (lots of docs and scientists) in Chesterfield who simply by word of mouth tend to gravitate toward Parkway Central because of the offerings of the curriculum (AP everything) at Central High. And a lot of those Asian kids play a stringed instrument, too.

I know for a fact that in the Parkway district, all third graders participate in a modified Suzuki violin class for one year. Then, in fourth grade, the kids get to make a choice between violin, viola or cello, or discontinue taking strings class. They can continue playing a stringed instrument through high school. Band class starts in middle school, sixth grade.

If you have a budding visual artist student (I do) Parkway WEST High has an outstanding art faculty and AP Art History and AP Art Studio classes.

STL County public schools are better most likely because more of the professional class lives in the above districts than in St. Charles County. The professional class in STL County consistently supports tax increases for their public schools.

Lake Saint Louis has a lot of retired people who may or may not support tax increases for their public school system.

If you live in Chesterfield you'll do a reverse commute to St. Charles County and be much more centrally located to the amenities of STL County and city.

inahandbasket
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Old 09-10-2010, 10:26 AM
 
13 posts, read 23,526 times
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Thank you for this great information. My middle school daughter is currently in accelerated classes, very involved in honor society, and is in choir. I was trying to find a school that had these same type of offerings and is known to have a good vocal/ choir program. It looks like the newer (12 years old or newer) homes are in the western area of Chesterfield and would be Rockwood district.....I think, just by looking at maps, of course.
My two younger children are in elementary school and I can find schools in St Charles county that are rated high, but not middle & high schools.
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