Hudson, Wisconsin relocation (River Falls, Somers, New Richmond: foreclosed, for sale, condo)

[racquel]

Hi - my husband has taken a new job in Hudson, Wisconsin; we are trying to figure out where to live in the surrounding area. We are looking for homes in the 130-150K range, decent neighborhood, good schools, Catholic church. We grew up in the Twin Cities, Minnesota, suburbs; have been living in a mid-sized, somewhat small-minded Minnesota, rural town for the last few years. We are don't want to get "stuck" in another town where it takes a lifetime to be accepted if you are not a native!

We like a house in Somerset, but don't know much about the area. We are willing to go in about a 20-25 mile range around the Hudson area, both the Minnesota or Wisconsin sides. Any info about surrounding communities?

Thanks!

[disneyrecords]

Hudson is expensive. Your price range will get you nothing but an older fixer upper. No bad neighborhoods in Hudson-- but it comes at a price. River Falls is climbing up in price. Hudson seems to have survived the housing fallout well; however, everyone else surrounding Hudson has lost value.
You should look at the surrounding area for something in your price range.

Somerset is okay. You have to deal with the Apple River tubing all summer long. They really rip the town apart. Somerset has improved tremendously over the past ten years, though.

Spring Valley is really relaxed-- probably what you are trying to get away from. nice town but a little bit of a drive to get there.

River Falls is dynamic, growing, and starting to climb up in price.

Hammond-- watch for old decommisioned landfills in the area. Some not so great watershed problems.

Roberts-- same as Hammond

New Richmond-- affordable. away from the river. feels like a farming community

Prescott-- pretty and small. On the river. Prescott is cheap but the city government is as corrupt as Hazzard County. My address is River Falls, but Prescott is our closest city (2miles) and our school district. Consider it a good week in Prescott when you open the weekly newspaper and don't read about the mayor, city council member, police officer, etc and fraud, embezzlement, disorderly conduct, and larceny in the same sentence!
Prescott could be a great place if some of the new blood could push the "good 'ol boys" out of power.

Catholic churches in the area are great! We've been members of the Hudson parish and the Prescott parish. St Patrick's in Hudson went through some troubles, but they are emerging strong. New Richmond, River Falls, and Prescott have strong catholic churches (and schools) too!

Welcome to the area,
disneyrecords

[golfgal]

You aren't going to find anything on the MN side of the river in that price range either. You might get lucky and find a one bedroom condo in that price range. The twin cities metro (which sort includes Hudson now) is pretty expensive. You will need to add about $100,000 to your top end to find a basic starter home.

[racquel]

Thanks so much for the info. We are going to begin looking this weekend, so these tidbits will be very useful!

[regankrieger]

My husband and two young daughters and I moved to the Hammond area 7 years ago and really like it. We are not originally from this area and were pleasantly surprised as to how nice and friendly nearly everyone is. The elementary school is top notch and our girls love it. You will find a HUGE selection of homes available for sale around here being that so many developments have been built and, unfortunately, many families have foreclosed. The developments are filled with young families. You will not find much in the price range you stated, but Hammond is definately much more reasonable than overpriced Hudson or River Falls.

[racquel]

Thank you so much for your insights! We are still looking, so all information is helpful. Glad to hear that your experience in Hammond has been positive; that is one of the areas we have been looking into.

[tvdxer]

Originally Posted by disneyrecords

Somerset is okay. You have to deal with the Apple River tubing all summer long. They really rip the town apart.

How? Just curious.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by tvdxer

How? Just curious.

Tubing on the Apple River used to be a nice, safe, family activity, now it is a total drunk fest. It must be some right of passage now to tube down the Apple River and get as drunk as possible. Every summer you hear reports of fights, arrests, and worse. It is really too bad because we had a great time tubing on the Apple River as kids and would love to take our kids now but there is no way we would do that now.