Cincinnati OH places to live (Madison: real estate, foreclosure, condos)

[ndcairngorm]

Could someone give an overall view of the best areas for a retired couple who want to live quietly but don't want to have to drive to amenities. I'm thinking a condo somewhere that would be big enough to house all our clutter but would still be central enough to get everywhere - but not have to deal with "street types" and am wondering if I am in never-neverland thinking Cincinnati might supply that sort of thing. Thanks for any thoughts.

[ndcairngorm]

I looked at my original post and figure I must have been having some sort of hangover when I wrote it. We're looking at Cincinnati but since we've never even visited there haven't a clue where to look. It'll be a condo for sure but want to get into a fairly safe, secure area - but walkable and something retirees would like, rather than 20 somethings.

Walnut Hill? That looks nice. The area up Madison Road that seems to have some sort of secondary downtown-ish shops seems full of amenities and nice. We'd like to be on a bus route for sure. Any other ideas?

[cincydave8]

Any condo in Hyde Park, Oakley, Mt Lookout or Columbia Tusculuum will meet your needs. Oakley tends to a younger crowd though. Frankly, Hyde Park is probably your best bet.

East Walnut Hills is nice...Walnut Hills is getting better but based on your first post, I'm not sure you'd be interested in the area. But it depends. The condos along Victory Parkway just north of Eden Park are very nice. The downtown area along Madison Road....I'm assuming you're meaning East Walnut Hills. It's where Woodford and Madison meet. That area is nice and has made massive improvements over the past several years.

[ndcairngorm]

Thanks so much! Just looking online at the moment as we don't have a chance to visit yet. I see some realty ads saying "tax abatement until 2020" or some such. Do you have any idea what that's about?

[SalamanderSmile]

Tax abatements mean that the “improvement” (building) portion of the real estate tax bill will be “abated”(forgiven) until a certain time. For example, a piece of land worth $100,000 with a $100,000 building upon it is taxed at a valuation of $200k (this is simplified since around here you have sky high tax rates but you only actually get taxed on 35% of the value).

If this property is abated you would generally pay either no tax or reduced tax on the “building” portion and pay regular full rate on the land portion. A common abatement may be 50% of the improvement value. Some abatements will be 100% of improvment value.

Abatements will effectively expire a year later than they actually expire because you won’t see a tax bill at the new rate until a year after the abatement ends. Keep in mind with higher end properties this abatement ending may be a significant drag on your ability to sell. Around me we have four developments built 3 years apart each, that are all abated. When the abatements get close to half way through people will sell and move to the next abated property. Eventually someone will be left holding the hot potato.

Most lenders do not qualify purchasers on a “post abatement” monthly payment. So people may find themselves in for a shock and a foreclosure if their taxes go up so much that they cannot pay the post-abatement rate.

[ndcairngorm]

Thanks for that explanation. And I just noticed that Ohio's means determination for a homestead exemption was removed in 2007, so it is possible to get a homestead exemption on any property one would buy, I guess.

It's always difficult to try and look in a big city where there are all kinds of neighborhoods - and so many of them. Thanks for the recommendations.