Where should I buy a house/condo around here? (Columbus: crime, neighborhoods)

[Jbeechuk]

Originally Posted by nep321

I just moved to Columbus last month from the east coast and so far I am very happy here and plan to stay here for the long term (at least 5 years). I am currently renting a 2 bd condo for $995 in the area near Westerville, inside I-270. I am considering purchasing a small house or condo next summer. I will be 32 years old and have over $70K in savings with no debt and making a salary of $63K plus $3K bonus. I am single and have no kids. I am also gay. So hopefully I am in a good financial position to buy a home here. I work in Dublin, but my company is looking to move out of Dublin next year, possibly closer to Polaris or Westerville.

I think I can only afford up to about $210K on a home, after doing my calculations. I want something that's NOT outdated or a fixer upper. It must be in reasonably good, reasonably updated condition and no more than 25 minutes away from work, assuming no traffic. I want quiet, privacy, no kids, no traffic noise, etc. If it's a condo, I want VERY good soundproofing between units. I also prefer to stay in Franklin County, because it's more progressive/liberal. I would like a very small lot (or minimal mowing required) and the neighborhood has to be okay with transplants living there. I want a small lot and the home should be in the 1,000 - 1,500 sq ft range MAX. I don't want anything big.

I had the opportunity to drive around a LOT over the past month and explore. I must have driven through about 90 cities, villages and townships across Franklin and surrounding counties. Some were obviously disgusting. Others were nicer. I do not want to live in a college oriented area either.

I have also had the opportunity to look on Zillow for homes and was sorely disappointed. It seems like the best places I could afford are Westerville, Hilliard, Gahanna and Columbus. These places seem fine to me, but I am not 100% sure. Gahanna seems questionable. Reynoldsburg was disgusting. Some of my friends say that Hilliard is "lower class" or something, compared to Polaris and Dublin. Grandview Heights seems very pretentious, snooty and filled with yuppies.

Either I'm missing something here, or just not looking in the right places.

Help!

Hilliard is certainly not lower class. The median home value is $204k. Columbus? $105k. Galloway? $106k. Gahanna? $168k. No, it's not as expensive as Dublin, Bexley or Upper Arlington, but that's not a bad thing. It's a solid middle - to even upper middle class city. It has an excellent school system. And it's growing like crazy. And there are plenty of $300k+ neighborhoods in Hilliard too. The northern part of Hilliard has newer and nicer homes. Only Dublin snobs would say Hilliard is low class. Besides, there are dumpy parts of Dublin, too, if you drive around.

Grandview Heights, like you said, is full of yuppies. The houses are crazy expensive, yet are old and in not great condition. People like to live there because it's trendy to be able to walk to bars and restaurants. No parking anywhere, drunk kids stumbling around all hours, crappy streets....no thanks.

[WRnative]

Originally Posted by nep321

Oh nice. Those are all nice condos! I was hoping for something more closer to downtown Columbus though.

You might have a much more difficult commute from downtown to Westerville or Dublin. German Village condos are more expensive.

Perhaps look in Schumacher Place or Merion Village adjacent to German Village.

883 Beech St, Columbus, OH 43206 | Zillow

Schumacher Place Columbus Real Estate - 11 Homes For Sale | Zillow

BTW, with laminate flooring, be especially careful if it's Chinese sourced. Perhaps make any purchase agreement contingent on testing for both formaldehyde and radon.

Lumber Liquidators customers still testing laminate floors for formaldehyde - CBS News

You pay substantially more to live nearer downtown/German Village.

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/41...33840311_zpid/

These areas, including German Village, likely also are not as safe as the Worthington, Dublin, Westerville areas.

[WRnative]

Merion Village Columbus Real Estate - 54 Homes For Sale | Zillow

[WRnative]

Brewery District - Columbus OH Real Estate - 11 Homes For Sale | Zillow

[Zen_master]

Originally Posted by nep321

I just moved to Columbus last month from the east coast and so far I am very happy here and plan to stay here for the long term (at least 5 years). I am currently renting a 2 bd condo for $995 in the area near Westerville, inside I-270. I am considering purchasing a small house or condo next summer. I will be 32 years old and have over $70K in savings with no debt and making a salary of $63K plus $3K bonus. I am single and have no kids. I am also gay. So hopefully I am in a good financial position to buy a home here. I work in Dublin, but my company is looking to move out of Dublin next year, possibly closer to Polaris or Westerville.

I think I can only afford up to about $210K on a home, after doing my calculations. I want something that's NOT outdated or a fixer upper. It must be in reasonably good, reasonably updated condition and no more than 25 minutes away from work, assuming no traffic. I want quiet, privacy, no kids, no traffic noise, etc. If it's a condo, I want VERY good soundproofing between units. I also prefer to stay in Franklin County, because it's more progressive/liberal. I would like a very small lot (or minimal mowing required) and the neighborhood has to be okay with transplants living there. I want a small lot and the home should be in the 1,000 - 1,500 sq ft range MAX. I don't want anything big.

I had the opportunity to drive around a LOT over the past month and explore. I must have driven through about 90 cities, villages and townships across Franklin and surrounding counties. Some were obviously disgusting. Others were nicer. I do not want to live in a college oriented area either.

I have also had the opportunity to look on Zillow for homes and was sorely disappointed. It seems like the best places I could afford are Westerville, Hilliard, Gahanna and Columbus. These places seem fine to me, but I am not 100% sure. Gahanna seems questionable. Reynoldsburg was disgusting. Some of my friends say that Hilliard is "lower class" or something, compared to Polaris and Dublin. Grandview Heights seems very pretentious, snooty and filled with yuppies.

Either I'm missing something here, or just not looking in the right places.

Help!

Originally Posted by nep321

That area is so tiny that there's a limited amount of homes on the market. But I will look. They also all look old and shoddy, unfortunately. I was hoping for newer.

Is Gahanna a bad place?

Columbus has a reputation for being gay-friendly. The areas of town with above-average gay populations are centered around the immediate downtown area such as German Village, Short North, Italian Village, and the Near East. Many of the desirables you mentioned can be found in these areas along with nightlife, progressive culture, walkability, but the schools aren't the best which is why I suspect many heterosexual families eschew these areas. Grandview may also be considered a 'hot spot' for gay residents but it also has good schools and therefore attracts a large number of families (as a posted before noted - more hipster type families). Finding something for $210k won't be impossible but it might be a bit of a challenge. German Village real estate is way overpriced in my personal opinion. It is a cute area but I'm not going to drop 300-400 thousand on a <2,000 sq. ft. home and have to worry about my car getting broken in to each night when I go to bed.

Westerville, Gahanna, and Hilliard are all fine middle-class suburbs with good school systems. For this reason they tend to be dominated by typical families (lots of 30-something to 50-somethings with 2.1 children a dog and a minivan). I don't think anyone is going to harass you for being gay but you may feel like an outsider if the weekend thing to do is go to the community pool with the kids or attend little Johnny's soccer game.

Gahanna and Westerville will meet your drive time requirements. If you decide to go with the 'burbs, your best bets may be Uptown Westerville or Old Gahanna. Both should offer walking distance to bars and things to do (but nothing like downtown nightlife). Homes will fall within your budget and yards will be smaller.

[nep321]

Originally Posted by Zen_master

Columbus has a reputation for being gay-friendly. The areas of town with above-average gay populations are centered around the immediate downtown area such as German Village, Short North, Italian Village, and the Near East. Many of the desirables you mentioned can be found in these areas along with nightlife, progressive culture, walkability, but the schools aren't the best which is why I suspect many heterosexual families eschew these areas. Grandview may also be considered a 'hot spot' for gay residents but it also has good schools and therefore attracts a large number of families (as a posted before noted - more hipster type families). Finding something for $210k won't be impossible but it might be a bit of a challenge. German Village real estate is way overpriced in my personal opinion. It is a cute area but I'm not going to drop 300-400 thousand on a <2,000 sq. ft. home and have to worry about my car getting broken in to each night when I go to bed.

Westerville, Gahanna, and Hilliard are all fine middle-class suburbs with good school systems. For this reason they tend to be dominated by typical families (lots of 30-something to 50-somethings with 2.1 children a dog and a minivan). I don't think anyone is going to harass you for being gay but you may feel like an outsider if the weekend thing to do is go to the community pool with the kids or attend little Johnny's soccer game.

Gahanna and Westerville will meet your drive time requirements. If you decide to go with the 'burbs, your best bets may be Uptown Westerville or Old Gahanna. Both should offer walking distance to bars and things to do (but nothing like downtown nightlife). Homes will fall within your budget and yards will be smaller.

Yeah but I want to stay in Franklin County, if possible. So uptown Westerville is out of the question.

[nep321]

My friend who has lived in Cbus for 11 years keeps warning me that Clintonville is noisy and very college oriented. I would not like that, if that is the case. He thinks Worthington would be a better fit for me. But $190K seems impossible.

[PerryMason614]

Originally Posted by nep321

My friend who has lived in Cbus for 11 years keeps warning me that Clintonville is noisy and very college oriented. I would not like that, if that is the case. He thinks Worthington would be a better fit for me. But $190K seems impossible.

You should stick to the Mill Run area between Upper Arlington and Hilliard. Grandview is another place you could try. Of course, finding new housing in your price range might be difficult. Harrison West would be another option.

[nep321]

I'm just very upset. Ohio is supposed to be affordable, and now it doesn't seem like it is. I am absolutely appalled at how expensive everything is now. It makes me not want to bother working harder.

[Sruckus]

You're in Ohio's hottest city and one of the top housing markets in the country right now. Any place desirable will be more expensive. Venture out to the burbs like others have recommended and you'll find cheaper. Personally, why not just rent for awhile and casually keep an eye out?

A coworker who isn't really making all that much just recently bought a house in Clintonville (and the posting about it being college-oriented and noisy seems...inaccurate. Clintonville is full of lots of adults and whiny people IMO who hate urban progress or change lol). If he can do it, I'm sure you can.