Possible Move to Fenton-STL (St. Louis, Oakville: condo, how much, house)

[ZenFamily]

Hello everyone,

My husband may accept a new job in Fenton. So, of course, we will be looking for a home.

Here is our information. Thanks, in advance, for your help.

- When are you moving? within the next 6-9 months
- Where are you coming from? Virginia Beach, VA
- Are you married or single? Do you have children? Married. I am a stay-at-home-mom with 4 children (3, 4, 12 and 15). I am in graduate school and plan on going back to teaching when my youngest is in kindergarten.
- Have you been here yet? No, although my husband has visited several times on business.
- Will you buy or rent? Buy
- If buying, are you looking for a house or a condo? How much can you spend? We are looking for a detached, single family home. Ideally, we would like to spend 255,000 for a home (2000 sq ft+) but can go as high as 275,000 (I am an at-home-mom so we are working with one income - for now!).
- Do you prefer public or private schools? public
- Do you have pets? 2 Golden Retrievers
- Do you want or need a yard? yes, preferably fenced.
- Are you keeping a car? yes
- Do you prefer bustling activity or calm and quiet? either if the house and property are right. we don't have a suburb or city preference.
- What do you want to be closest to? We would like to avoid more than a 20-30 minute commute for my husband.
- Do you want to live with people of a similar age, race, religion or sexual preference or do you prefer a diverse neighborhood? minimal diversity, but, if the overall quality of the neighborhood is above average it doesn't matter.


Thanks!!!!

[stlcitygirl]

Minimal diversity? Fenton sounds like a good start.

[inahandbasket]

Originally Posted by stlcitygirl

Minimal diversity? Fenton sounds like a good start.

...And the 'souther' you go, the whiter it gets. Try Murphy:
[LEFT]Races in Murphy:[/LEFT]
[LEFT]

• White Non-Hispanic (97.0%)
• Hispanic (1.1%)
• Two or more races (1.1%)
• American Indian (0.6%)

Read more: http://www.city-data.com/city/Murphy-Missouri.html#ixzz0h87PXhFQ
[/LEFT]

No, wait - Arnold is whiter:
[LEFT]Races in Arnold:[/LEFT]
[LEFT]

• White Non-Hispanic (97.2%)
• Hispanic (1.0%)
• Two or more races (0.9%)
• American Indian (0.6%)

Read more: http://www.city-data.com/city/Arnold-Missouri.html#ixzz0h86QIiSd
[/LEFT]


Hope this helps....

inahandbasket

[wustu87]

If you are planning on going to graduate school and teaching later, I am guessing schools are important to you, so I would steer you towards Rockwood, Parkway, Kirkwood or Lindbergh schools if your husband is working in Fenton. I am also guessing with 4 kids you will want at least 4 bedrooms which will limit your selection in those areas within your price range, but you should still find enough good choices. Note that Rockwood and Parkway are both pretty large districts geographically so make sure you only look at homes there that are relatively close to Fenton (i.e. the southern parts of those districts). Good luck!

[ZenFamily]

Just to be clear because I see where this thread is going....I am not trying to avoid minorities. My post says it DOESN'T matter as long as the neighborhood is above average. I only mentioned less diversity because it seems that the more diverse an area is the poorer the education system. This is very, very unfortunate, but I have 4 kids and the reality is I have to consider this. We wouldn't be able to afford private schools like many do in STL proper (not the 'burbs).

I may just take that out of my thread because I do not want people to misunderstand :-(

[ktCakes]

actually the whiter you get out into Jefferson County the crappier the schools gets. Things get pretty ummm... "uncultured" pretty fast. Look at the western suburbs.

[moorlander]

Zen,
I work in the Fenton industrial court and I would like to personally welcome you to the area. There are many very nice areas nearby that fit your criteria. I would start my search in Kirkwood, Lindberg, sunset hills, Webster Groves and Ballwin however meeting your price point may be difficult. Genearally speaking, the farther away from the city center the cheaper the housing. Many of my coworkers live in Arnold, Crystal City, Eureka, Pacific, Fenton, and High Ridge.

Best of luck in the house hunt.

[billiken]

Lots of good suggestions here. Just know that even though a lot of south county is very white, this doesn't mean the school districts are automatically fantastic. Oakville is good. I've heard very mixed things on some of the others. Homes generally get cheaper out past 270 or south of 44--that's where I'd focus.

[Stiery23]

Ballwin, Manchester, and Ellisville would all be excellent buys. Much of Manchester is in the Parkway school district, which is one of the better ones to be in, in West County. Ballwin is in the Marquette High School district. Marquette is like 700-something out of the top 1,400 public high schools in the nation, so obviously the quality of education is excellent. As far as your price range, there are certainly decent homes to be had for less than 275k, but just know that the closer you get to your limit, the better the selection and the newer the homes you'll be able to find. Good luck with your search, and welcome to the St. Louis region!

[inahandbasket]

ZenFamily:

I apologize for my earlier snarky reply. We've had a few not so veiled racists/homophobes post on the STL boards and there's a distinct city vs. county atmosphere. It was in that context that I snapped out my reply, thinking, "oh, here's just another city-hating, scared Caucasian..."

My family and I are in the Parkway school district because it is an excellent public school system. I would much rather be in the city but we chose the county because the STL city school district is AWFUL. We looked at the inner ring burbs (Webster, Brentwood, Clayton) but couldn't find the right size house for the right price, so we looked a bit further out.

Stiery23 has good advice w/ looking at Manchester and Ballwin, especially if you're in close proximity to Hwy. 141, aka Woods Mill Road. 141 going south of Ballwin/Manchester will take you right into Fenton. There's a lot of good housing stock in Ballwin and Manchester right now in your price range.

inahandbasket