Where to buy in Toledo? (Oregon, Sylvania: apartments, foreclosures, crime)

[scarletsue]

My husband and I are from Toledo but moved away because he's in the service. He is getting out soon, and we will be moving back to Toledo. We are looking to buy a home within the next year or two, but given the shaking status of the auto industry... I'm concerned about where to buy. He is going to medical school, so this will not be our forever home and resale is important.

I'm trying to figure out what areas in Toledo will be hit the hardest if the auto industry goes under... and which one's you think will maintain some resale value? We grew up in Washington Local Schools, and also have family in Oregon. That's where we were hoping to look, parts of Sylvania even too.

What areas do you think tanking, and what areas would you expect to maintain themselves over the next few years? Where would you say has the most growth right now and also, where do you see the most foreclosures?
Thanks in advance!

[canudigit]

Hi! I live in Bedford Township, so maybe I can help you a little bit. I know that the 43612 zip code area of Toledo has the most foreclosures in the area. The Library Village neighborhood around Sylvania/Jackman has taken a real beating, and the values there are falling like a stone. A house that would have sold for $80,000 a few years ago can now be had for under $40,000 and crime has seen an increase in that area too. The Alexis Rd. corridor as well as Point Place also have tons of foreclosures and have seen values go down, but not quite as badly as in the 43612. I think that Sylvania, Oregon, and Perrysburg are holding their own as well as can be expected, although new construction has all but stopped completely. There are foreclosures in those areas too, but nothing like in Toledo. I just spoke to a friend who is a longtime realtor in Toledo yesterday, because we are getting ready to sell our house and move to Arizona, and he told me that while nothing is moving in Bedford, the foreclosure problem is not nearly as bad up here as in Ohio for whatever reason.

I will caution you to start reading the Toledo Blade or one of the Toledo news stations like WTOL 11 or WTVG 13's websites to keep up on local news before you move back, because the city of Toledo is suffering from extreme budget shortfalls because of the lack of tax income because so many people have lost their jobs and are no longer paying into the income tax base and, as a result, they are trying any and everything to try to generate income, some of which is not very citizen friendly. For example, the mayor just proposed a week or so ago that people who live in Toledo but work outside of Toledo and are already paying income tax to the city where they work should no longer get a 100% tax credit from the city and may begin getting only a 50% tax credit instead. This means that if you live in Toledo and work in, say, Sylvania, up until now you haven't had to pay income tax to Toledo, since you have been paying it to Sylvania. But according to the mayor's new plan, you would start paying income tax to Toledo on top of what you are already paying to Sylvania, meaning an extra several hundreds or even thousands of dollars a year, depending on how much you make. City council voted this proposal down this past week, but the mayor is still pushing it and telling people that if it doesn't pass, people will have to pay a lot more for garbage pickup or the city will be forced to lay off police officers. I'm just saying that the city of Toledo is in a world of financial hurt, so be careful and keep up on the latest news, because you may be better off financially in terms of your house holding its value and not getting your expenses increased precipitously to try to plug the flow of money out of the city if you buy in one of the suburbs. Of course taxes are higher in places like Oregon, Sylvania, and Perrysburg, but you are also getting much better schools, better police and fire protection, and a better quality of life overall.

Good luck!

[Hey_Hey]

If you're going to buy I would recommend Maumee. It's as close to UT HSC as you can get and not be in the city, and trust me when I say that he will want to be close to campus (within 10-15 minutes). Nothing would be worse than having a long drive home after a 14 hour day in the hospital.

I also see Maumee holding its value better than Toledo. Sure, it will take a hit, but there are some parts of Toledo that are going to be decimated by the mortgage and foreclosure crisis.

[HuskerDu]

Do yourself a big favor and move to any other part of Ohio... it will seem like a big treat when you get there.

[NeedAVacation]

I would recommend looking in Maumee, Perrysburg, SW Toledo or the Monclova areas.

[pear2apple]

I live in Perrysburg (43551) and I really don't think we have been affected much by Toledo. Jobs, yes, but otherwise, no. Yes things are a bit more pricey here, but they are building houses all over the place non-stop and neighborhoods keep expanding. There are lots of nice places to live in Perrysburg, on both sides of town. There's some "luxury" apartments/townhouses over off Rt 20, then by Levis Commons off Rt 25, really nice townhouses there too. If this is a temp stay for you, I would pick a nice townhouse over a house because the selling market is so bad. Who knows when it will get better. Now is a great time to buy, but not to sell.

Maumee is also nice. I don't know much about other areas of Toledo as I grew up in Perrysburg and pretty much stayed there until college.

[Boredinohio]

Originally Posted by HuskerDu

Do yourself a big favor and move to any other part of Ohio... it will seem like a big treat when you get there.

I'll agree with this but if you really want to be in the Toledo area I think Sylvania, Maumee, Perrysburg, Bedford would be a better choice