Moving to STL in 2 weeks, Help! (St. Louis, St. Peters: rental market, houses, transfer)

[Timbur411]

I am transferring from Louisiana to St Louis in about two weeks and need some rental help. We are a family of 6(me,wife, 3 yr old son, my sister, my mother in law, yellow lab). We are looking for a relatively safe neighborhood to rent a 3 bd, 2ba(with basement). I will be working in Manchester, but I have a company provided vehicle so as long as my commute is less than 40 min that is fine.

What are some good neighborhoods around the area, and if I chose to live in the city itself, what areas should be avoided?

Thanks

[glamatomic]

Hello

The neighborhoods which will fit the bill are endless- so we can better help you, what is your max budget per month?

Good luck with the move!

[Timbur411]

1050 Would be max... I know that's not much, but I am not looking for a 200k plus value house. The rental sites I am using are giving me a good amount of search results for my parameters, but most of them seem to be concentrated in what looks like northern STL county, and the south side of the city proper.

[glamatomic]

Since your budget is limited for a 3/2 + basement, you're right, the areas that will most prominently come up are North County and the City. The school districts in either the city or North County are nothing to write home about, but with the age of your son that probably isn't a concern right now.

I personally live in North County, in Florissant and I love my neighborhood. In Florissant you would be about 25-30 minutes from Manchester, a touch more in peak hour, so it would work for you. The houses here range from some old cottages to a lot of mid century ranch houses, with a splattering of new builds (although they would probably be out of your price range). Obviously there are areas of Florissant which are more desirable than others, but if this were a place that you were genuinely interested in I'd be happy to PM you with links to houses that I know are in decent, safe subdivisions.

Other areas which may work include:

Ferguson
St. Ann
Bridgeton
Hazelwood
Overland

Areas to be avoided include:

Spanish Lake
Black Jack
The majority of the area beyond the city limits, but South of I-270 and East of I-70 (with a few exceptions, including Ferguson).

In the city, as long as you steer clear of North City you're in pretty good shape, although some neighborhoods in South City are definitely still in a transitional phase. Some of the city dwellers will be able to clue you in on the better parts within your price range. One thing to note though, when DH and I were looking to buy, we briefly toyed with the idea of South City and not a lot of the basements that we encountered were finished, however, you might get more bedrooms upstairs to compensate.

Good luck to you and your family!

[Dawn10am]

Most of South City (the better part of the city) will be within that price range, but you may have to settle for 2 bedrooms. If you rent in South City, you generally want to be west of Gravois or east of Jefferson, but not in the area between the two (unless it's south of Bates).

[Timbur411]

Wow! Thanks for all the good advice! We will be doing some narrowing down this weekend and making a trip there later this week. This advice will definitely be of help.

[zach_33]

I agree with the comments above and would add some other areas to consider. Admittedly I am not that familiar with the rental market, but with a little bit of searching, you may be able to find a house down in southwest county nearer Manchester for around ~$1000. The areas of Ellisville, Ballwin, Manchester itself and uincorporated St. Louis county down that way come to mind. In fact, if you don't mind living in a semi-rural environment, down more toward Eureka and even Pacific are within 30 minutes of Manchester. Those are all good areas to consider as well with stronger school districts on the whole than north county. for example I just spotted this on Craigslist:

Pet friendly house that's been completely updated & remodeled for you

A little high on the price, but sounds like a possible match. Anyway, happy hunting.

[MJ7]

Just live near manchester, all the areas out in west county are safe and active...I live in town and country, one of the most affluent places in missiouri, it's right next to manchester. Chesterfield is nice and is close, you could live across the river in St. Peters if you really wanted to save the money, it's not all that far from manchester either. If you choose to live in the city, you will have to deal with more traffic, and the 1% city tax (not terrible but its still money youll never get back).

[Hazel W]

Originally Posted by Timbur411

I am transferring from Louisiana to St Louis in about two weeks and need some rental help. We are a family of 6(me,wife, 3 yr old son, my sister, my mother in law, yellow lab). We are looking for a relatively safe neighborhood to rent a 3 bd, 2ba(with basement). I will be working in Manchester, but I have a company provided vehicle so as long as my commute is less than 40 min that is fine.

What are some good neighborhoods around the area, and if I chose to live in the city itself, what areas should be avoided?

Thanks

Let me confirm. Do you mean the town of Manchester or Manchester Blvd? If you mean the town, why not South County instead of in the actual city which is much farther away. Someone has already posted several good places: Ballwin is a lovely town. A bit closer in is Crestwood, Sunset Hills, Concord, Melville and Oakville. I was through Melville and in Oakville last week. Melville looks like a lovely family-oriented town.

[St.louienative]

South county is a very family friendly area. I grew up in Sappington, my mom still lives there. Lindbergh school district is top notch.