Relocating to Ohio, need connections! (Columbus, Dayton: apartment, rentals, violent crime)

[kentucky.95]

Hello, my family and I are relocating to Columbus Ohio from eastern Kentucky.
I don't know anyone there, and we still haven't found a for-sure rental.

This is serving to be more difficult than I had initially thought,
and I thought I would drop a line here and see if anyone can point me in the right direction
Here's some info :

Family of 5, looking for a 3-4 bedroom,
My budget is currently roughly 600 rent, 600 security deposit, plus the (if applicable) utility deposits.

We've lined up jobs in Columbus, therefore we could pay more monthly
if the security deposit was lower, or maybe split into two payments.

Tenants would be :
Myself, My Husband, My Daughter,
and as well My Mother and her Son.

We have 1 small/,medium dog, a Chinese pug,
who has been with our family for years.

We will be driving in on either the 19th or the 20th
to place a security deposit on a rental, and we will be
moving in the first-second week of June.

Thanks for reading

[Buckeye614]

Originally Posted by kentucky.95

Hello, my family and I are relocating to Columbus Ohio from eastern Kentucky.
I don't know anyone there, and we still haven't found a for-sure rental.

This is serving to be more difficult than I had initially thought,
and I thought I would drop a line here and see if anyone can point me in the right direction
Here's some info :

Family of 5, looking for a 3-4 bedroom,
My budget is currently roughly 600 rent, 600 security deposit, plus the (if applicable) utility deposits.

We've lined up jobs in Columbus, therefore we could pay more monthly
if the security deposit was lower, or maybe split into two payments.

Tenants would be :
Myself, My Husband, My Daughter,
and as well My Mother and her Son.

We have 1 small/,medium dog, a Chinese pug,
who has been with our family for years.

We will be driving in on either the 19th or the 20th
to place a security deposit on a rental, and we will be
moving in the first-second week of June.

Thanks for reading

Welcome to Ohio.

Within the Columbus area your budget of $600 for a 3 bedroom home will put you in the Hilltop, Linden or the Near East Side. All of which have significant issues with violent crime. I don't think your budget would get you into any of main Columbus suburbs but if you're willing to drive you could try a further out town like Newark.

If you can increase your budget to the mid to high $900's you could be somewhere around The University District or Weinland Park which are significantly better neighborhoods.

[Rosebush1]

What part of town will you be working In? Columbus rents vary a lot depending on location.
Good luck to you.

[Natural510]

That's simply going to be too small of a rental budget for Columbus for a 3-4 BR home. You'll have to expect to pay a lot more, or consider a small town within an hours drive of the city itself.

[kentucky.95]

We have been looking in the general area, surrounding Columbus, but can't seem to find much. I've check with every rental site I could find.
Do have a few options of which I'll call soon,
a surrounding city would be suitable enough as long as we could keep the commute to work under 50 miles.

At this point the odds of finding what we're looking for seem to be slim at best.

Columbus was top choice mostly because of the wide variety of job opportunities, but wouldn't mind at all to drive a ways to work or from a town mear the outskirts, I may even expand my search as far as Dayton/Springfield/Lancaster
(Already looked into it quite a bit) and there still seems to be the most job opportunities and better pay in or near Columbus, vut correct me if I'm wrong

@natural510
It will simply have to work

@buckeye614
The budget (as of now) is at 600$, but I've been picking up work on the side so it may top off at somewhere around 750-800 but I'll keep the thread updated.

[kentucky.95]

P.S I appreciate the replies, you guys have been helpful -
It's reassuring to have input or opinions from people who live in that general area, it's it's a dark zone to me I've lived in KY my whole life. (Besides loving briefly in the tri-state areas and Junction, OH for a few years as I was young)

[Rosebush1]

I wouldn't suggest long commutes in any direction. You will eat up the savings in gas cost, wear and tear on your vehicles. Not to mention personal stress and strain.
I suggest you post job locations and someone may have suggestions on cheaper rentals areas just outside the metro area. Also, expand your search to include older double and multi family units with fewer bedrooms until you get on your feet.
Wish you all the luck in the world but your housing budget is shoestring.

[kevinbelt]

Originally Posted by Rosebush1

I suggest you post job locations and someone may have suggestions on cheaper rentals areas just outside the metro area.

This is a great point. If you're working in Dublin, for example, living in Marysville isn't much of a commute. Likewise London/west side, Lancaster/southeast, etc.

I don't think you realize how unrealistic your budget is. Zillow shows exactly two 4br rentals for under $700 in all of Franklin County. Both are on campus, and neither allows pets. And the next-closest <$700 4br is in Mansfield. There are more 3brs, but that'll be very cramped for your family. I feel terrible saying this, but if you're only able to pay $600 a month for housing, central Ohio may not be the right place for you.

[Fletchman]

Originally Posted by kevinbelt

This is a great point. If you're working in Dublin, for example, living in Marysville isn't much of a commute. Likewise London/west side, Lancaster/southeast, etc.

Marysville rents have been increasing rapidly.

May want to check out London, West Jefferson or Pickaway County. Reynoldsburg could be an option.

Heck, I pay $695 for a one bedroom apartment in Galloway.