Moving to Cincinnati metro area - April-May 2011 - any advice? (Columbus: real estate market, apartment complex)

[mjcastro1984]

Hey everyone! I am moving to the Cincinnati area in the next couple of months for work, and am curious as to what people on these boards would recommend as far as where to live, etc. My family consists of myself, my wife and 2 kids, aged 3 1/2 years old and 4 months old. We are coming from the suburbs of Chicago, where we've lived our entire lives. We are looking to rent an apartment, but after digging around through countless listings in Craigslist, Rent.com, etc, I have no idea where to begin to look. I would like to stick to the suburbs, and have been pointed in the direction of Mason, West Chester, Liberty Township - pretty much any area in Butler and Warren Counties. My high limit as far as monthly rent is ideally $1,000, but i believe we can comfortably do up to $1,200. My work will consist of a lot of traveling to as far north as Columbus, and as far south as Lexington and Louisville KY, so I'd prefer to be close to the highway. Great schools, parks, recreation, etc are also very important.

I appreciate any help you all can provide! Please feel free to ask questions if it'll help recommend something.

Thanks!

Miguel

[kjbrill]

First, consider what your work traveling distribution will be. Where is the majority, north or south of the river? If an even distribution, then locate on the Ohio side. You are just nearing school age so a decision there is not earthshaking, you have time to make a change. If you locate on the north side, such as Mason, Westchester, Liberty Township, Lebanon, etc. you will be close to and have good access to Columbus, Dayton, and other points north via I-71/I-75.

If you can locate a condo within the range of rent/lease you are considering, grab it. I have to believe in this real estate market, where condos are an absolute drag, there have to be a number of owners who have decided rent/lease is better than nothing.

[kelent]

We also are moving to Cincinnati. We are currently renting in NY. Until we find a house to buy, we will be living at Ivy Hills Place, an apartment complex east of Cincinnati. We're getting the 3 bedroom townhouse. It also has a small office and a (not attached) garage. It's about a third less than our current rent, and the utilities will be half!





Unfortunately for us, this place is a bit closer to the city than I would have liked. We will be looking a bit farther out and I have no interest in being in the suburbs. I really couldn't find anything further out that met our requirements. For houses, we're looking further south, in the New Richmond - Monroe Township area.




As you can see, this place is very close to 275.


Here is the Ivy Hills website: Ivy Hills Place...Relax, you're home!

Here are a couple of my blog posts with more...

We're Ohio Bound!: A lot more 'house' for a lot less!
We're Ohio Bound!: Renting: The Necessary Evil