Homes north of the airport? (St. Louis, St. Charles: for sale, real estate, houses)

[Raingirl497]

Hello. It's looking like we'll be moving to the St. Louis area this spring and could use some advice about where to look for housing. I tried to search unsuccessfully for my particular question, so I apologize if it's been asked 100 times already. My husband will be working just north of the airport; I'm a stay-at-home mom. Other people from his company suggested Chesterfield or Wildwood (we can afford a fairly nice house, probably in the upper $500's); but as we look at the map, that seems like more of a commute than my husband would like. Does anyone know what the commute would be like from either of those areas to north of the airport? Or can you give us an idea of good areas closer? We prefer the suburbs, but not necessarily super rural. It's nice to be a reasonable distance from grocery stores, gas stations, the library, etc. Of course, we'd like a safe area with good schools (just one son at home, age 11). Thanks in advance for your input!

[Lewis123]

Chesterfield is going to be about 25 min from the airport. Wildwood about 45 depending on what area. I-270 is the most crowded highway ever and gets backed up every day. I'd recommend Ladue, Clayton or Brentwood with your price range. All great schools and about half the commute. They have more ammenities much closer also.

[aragx6]

Lewis' suggestions are very good ones.

Would you like a newer home (less than 10 years old) or something older? How big a home do you want/need? Any amenities of particular importance to you?

[wustu87]

If your husband will be working "just north" of the airport, you could also consider something in the Parkway North district (the further north the better for his commute) or something in the Pattonville district. In Pattonville you will not find many homes over $500K, but you can get some really nice newer construction in the $300K-$500K range. It may not be as prestigious as areas with "better zip codes" but you can get a lot for your money. In Parkway North you can definitely find homes over $500K but they tend to be south of Olive. That is still not too bad of a commute and they both are very safe areas with very good schools.

[Raingirl497]

Thanks for your replies so far. To answer aragx6, we are most interested in newer construction, probably around 3000 square feet, give or take; maybe 1/3 to 1/2 acre lot. We're not "city" people, but we like to be close enough to occasionally take advantage of the culture/shopping in the city. A neighborhood with other children would be a plus. It would be nice to be within 5 minutes of grocery stores and gas stations and a restaurant or two. We do use the library a lot. We'd like to avoid flood zones (not being from Missouri, we're aware that can be a problem but a bit ignorant of how bad/widespread the problem is. ) Other recommendations we've received lately are O'Fallon, MO and Edwardsville, ILL. Any opinions?

[aragx6]

I would look in St. Peters. If you go out to O'Fallon and beyond, I-70 traffic will stretch your commute farther and farther. Francis Howell and Fort Zumwalt school districts are very good and your budget should get you what you want -- in fact there are some brand new options.

Like this place: 2113 Asher Ct, Saint Peters, MO, 63376 - MLS ID#80060473 - Single Family Home Real Estate - REALTOR.com®

You'll also be only 40 minutes or so from the city for the occasional trip in.

[Greenciti]

From what I am hearing, you may want to check out the Newtown community in St. Charles. They are really promoting that community living concept. It is really nice, almost too nice. The homes are a bit over priced in my opinion but I think it may be a good option for you. Plus, it is close to "North of the airport", via I-370. Here is the link. Let me know what you think about this planned community. I am curious to your reaction of it.
New Town at St. Charles :: Welcome

[Raingirl497]

I really appreciate the input. I've been checking out these areas as well as I can online. It's so hard to tell without being there! We're hoping my husband's company will pay for us to have a quick trip to check things out in advance--they did when they sent us here (we're all the way in England right now).

I can't quite figure out where Parkway North/Pattonville are from my Google map. Any hints? As for Newtown . . . hmm, not sure. It looks very attractive and shiny, but almost too much so and with houses rather close together. But we'll have to check it out when we're there.

From what I'm reading from various people on this board, we may be pleasantly surprised by the commutes/traffic. Before these past 2 years in the UK, we lived about 18 years in the Seattle area. Someone mentioned that traffic in St. Louis isn't nearly as bad as Seattle . . . Guess we'll see.

Is it a buyers market in St. Louis like in so many parts of the country? (Doesn't help that we still have a house to sell in Seattle . . . in a buyers market, sigh.)

Thanks loads!

[aragx6]

New Town is creepy IMO -- like the Truman Show or Pleasantville or something. The whole concept of new urbanism seems flawed to me anyway, and a lot of the retail space (as of Dec. when i was driving around there) was still empty, which I don't take as a good sign.

Traffic is St. Louis is pretty moderate, but I'm not familiar enough with Seattle's to make any comparisons.

Parts of St. Louis may be a buyer's market, but others certainly aren't. Friends of my family lived in Des Peres in West County (part of Parkway South) -- they put their house on the market and sold it in a week. They hadn't even begun to look for a new place yet.

It's very location specific, but the best way to gauge this is to look at inventory. Places where many hundreds of homes are on the market in any one price range will show you where the deals to be had are.

[wustu87]

Since I suggested the Parkway North/Pattonville area I'll answer your question about them. You should look in the 63146 zip code (it's unincorporated) as well as Maryland Heights (63043) and Bridgeton (63044). The 63146 zip code covers Pattonville, Parkway North and even Ladue schools (at its southeast corner). Maryland Heights is both Pattonville and Parkway North, and Bridgeton is all Pattonville. You could even look in Creve Coeur (63141) which covers Parkway North, Parkway Central and Ladue. That is still not too bad of a commute and you will find more homes in the $500K+ range south of Page.

And Aragx6 is dead on about the buyer's market in St. Louis. Some areas are still selling fairly briskly and others are very slow. It is all supply versus demand and how people price there homes. I think the more fully developed parts of mid-county and West County are still selling well as long as people do not price their homes thinking it is still 2006. We know of two of the homes in our area that sold the first week they went on the market, but others that have been for sale for months.