Another relocator looking for suggestions (St. Louis, Columbia: real estate, house prices, to buy)

[henjude]

Thank goodness for this site. My husband and I will soon be relocating to the St. Louis region (by soon, I mean by the end of November most likely) and we, like so many others here, are looking for information on where to purchase. We absolutely love where we now live and hope to be able to find something similar in MO.

We currently live in a rural area outside of Richmond, VA (with low property taxes – two grand-ish, but with personal prop tax – around 500 a year). It takes about 30-45 minutes to get into the city (depending on what part of the city we’re going to) and we’re fine with this commute because traffic is non-existent unless there is an accident or construction. We go into the city quite often for the restaurants (we like to find new funky places w/ great food…)

We are looking for a newer home - maybe 10 years old or so, and an area where the houses aren’t on top of each other. A wooded lot (we currently have 4 acres –2 of which are wooded) is on our wish list along with a finished basement for our game room and a nice kitchen. I am a huge history lover so anything near a historic little town would be great, and we don’t have kids (just two barky dogs) so schools aren’t an issue.

We would like to look on either side of the Mississippi and our budget is in the range of 250,000.00 to 300,000.00 (we think).

The realtor I spoke to today said it was unlikely that we would find what we were looking for at that price, but also didn’t know anything about the towns I had mentioned in MO (Arnold, Byrnes Mill, Eureka…) and new nothing about the Illinois side.

So – can any of you help with suggestions? We want to be as educated as we can so we won’t waste time looking in areas that don’t fit what we’re hoping to find. Any suggestions are appreciated!

[ucfjtm]

Property taxes are higher on the IL side, but house prices are generally lower. Also, I don't believe IL has a personal property tax on your toys (cars, boats, ATVs, motorcycles, etc) but MO does. There are plenty of new-ish areas on the IL side, all of which are easily within 45 minutes of most parts of STL city. On the IL side, O'Fallon and especially Columbia, Waterloo, and Millstadt have newer housing areas with plenty of 1+ acre lots. I'm sure there are other areas, but I know those areas fairly well. I like the terrain on the Missouri side more for the hills and trees - especially as you travel southwest on I-44.

I highly doubt you'll find a newer house on more than 2 acres anywhere close to that price range within 45 minutes of town - the best bet would be to buy land you like and build your home.

[aragx6]

Get a new realtor. There are places that will work for you, though they won't be perfect.

Look south - the Festus area would be my suggestion, but it will probably end up being closer to 45-50 minutes into St. Louis. Like this place: Single Family Home - 2525 Rock N Horse Farms Dr, Festus, MO, 63028 - Realtor.com There are at least 10-15 other properties out that way that would fit your needs.

If you really don't want to be that far out, you can give up a bit of acreage and get a place outside of Barnhart probably.

Also look west to Pacific where you can get what you want, but again it'll be more in the 45-55 minutes to the city range. Like this gorgeous place on 7 acres! It's a little older (18 years) but it lokos as though it's been well kept and updated. place: Single Family Home - 2175 Apache Trails, Pacific, MO, 63069 - Realtor.com

Or look a little closer in at Eureka (which is growing by leaps and bounds) and get this beautiful newer home on 3 acres: Single Family Home - 609 Hoene Ridge Estates, Eureka, MO, 63025 - Realtor.com

Let me look around at north and east as well and get back to you

[dringkor]

Washington, MO may work for you. It's a town located about 45 minutes to an hour from St. Louis. It's charming and old, having Civil War historical significance, and has 445 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places (source: Wiki). For $299,900 you can get a five bed, three bath home built in 2003 on 3.01 acres of land, with a finished basement (realtor.com).

We have friends and family in Washington, so we've visited the area often. It's a straight shot into St. Louis, and is also very near to Missouri wine country, if you're into wineries and lovely views. There are lots of shops and restaurants in Washington, and a Christmas tree farm where we cut down our own Christmas tree every year.

[aragx6]

There are some options out near O'Fallon MO, but all the houses are considerably older - about 30-40 years old.

There's also this beautiful old farmhouse - 88 years old that's been marvelously updated and it's on 5 acres, about 55 minutes from downtown St. Louis:Single Family Home - 1600 Koch Rd, O Fallon, MO, 63366 - Realtor.com

[aragx6]

Originally Posted by dringkor

Washington, MO may work for you. It's a town located about 45 minutes to an hour from St. Louis. It's charming and old, having Civil War historical significance, and has 445 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places (source: Wiki). For $299,900 you can get a five bed, three bath home built in 2003 on 3.01 acres of land, with a finished basement (realtor.com).

We have friends and family in Washington, so we've visited the area often. It's a straight shot into St. Louis, and is also very near to Missouri wine country, if you're into wineries and lovely views. There are lots of shops and restaurants in Washington, and a Christmas tree farm where we cut down our own Christmas tree every year.

I agree that you'd probably really like Washington. Lovely area.

But it's worth noting that the house I believe you were talking to the OP about is this one: http://www.realtor.com/realestate/wa...90-1097800057/ which is actually on the far outskirts of Washington, making it probably an hour and 5 minute drive or so into St. Louis.

[DKVA]

We are also moving from Richmond to St Louis area. We decided to live in O'fallon,Il-new house on 1/2 acre for 390k. The taxes are higher but as others have said you get more house for your money. Even though Ill does not have a personal property taxes like Mo it will not make up for the real estate taxes in Il. We choose Ill because we are used to more rural yet 1/2 hour away from from St Louis-we were never city people. When we lived out in LI/NY- cornfields- we had an acre but my husbands commute to the city was 2 1/2 hours 1 way!
To get more property you may have to look into Columbia,Ill or other towns-I need help from others. Unfortunately for your price range and property size I don't think you will be able to duplicate it in either Mo or Il with a reasonable commute to St Louis.

[CellarBelle]

Be sure to check out my other posts about the Edwardsville/Glen Carbon, IL area. Great location for families, and there are a lot of great buys right now housing-wise. Of course, I think that is the case about everywhere these days!
Good Luck!

[henjude]

Thank you all so much for your suggestions!

[dawnnh]

Hi CedarBelle,

I have read your posts on Edwardsville and I too am relocating to the area - from Phoenix, AZ. I have family that live in Pacific, MO (too far away and too secluded for me) and in Auburn, IL (I like better, but I'm a sports nut, particularly HOCKEY, so would love to be able to see my Avalanche whenever I want and not have to make a loooong drive esp. in the dead of winter), so am thinking of maybe the Edwardsville area to be in the middle of the family and closer to the "action" with easy access to the airport as well.

I'm a single mom to a 9 mo old boy and from what I've read, this may be the perfect location?? I wondered if you could email me directly so we can correspond more on details as I would love to own a home instead of rent, but since I'm in a bit of a time crunch, it may not be feasible (looking to relocate by end of November). Thanks for any help you can provide.

Dawnn (dhannover@yahoo.com)