relocating to Fort Wayne (real estate market, apartment complexes, renting)

[bfraley79]

My family and I might be relocating to Fort Wayne this summer...can anyone give me some good areas to look for a house? We have 2 young children, so low crime and high rated schools are very important, but we'll only be able to afford a house up to about $180,000. My husband is a federal agent, so he'd be working downtown, but would be willing to drive up to 30 min to get there. So, surrounding cities would even be considered. We've never been to IN, so zip codes would probably help us more than street names. Any info will be greatly appreciated Thank you

[Piggy]

I am from that area. I just sent a private mail.

[belovenow]

I've posted a few forum entries the past few months on this very topic - you may want to check them out. I've been in Fort Wayne for several years with my wife and kids - my recommendation would be to do house/building lot hunting on the SouthWest side of town. On this side of town you have the greatest concentration of well educated & high paid people (check out the census bureau maps), very low crime, and great/newest schools. I would check out the neighborhoods closest to highway 69's exits 105 or 102 if you want quickest travel all over and through the city.

You can spend as much or as little as you want in this side of town as well and still have a nice home. Your upper level price range is reasonable and will get you a 4 bedroom 2000plus sq foot home in a nice neighborhood no problem (perhaps with $ to spare even).

Lastly - you may want to consider renting until you get to know this area. The thought of moving "again" might not be all that exciting, but it will definitely we worth your time/effort. If there's one regret my wife and I have is rushing out of an expiring temporary corporate housing/rental situation into purchasing a house right away. There are a ton of great neighborhoods in the SW-side and we only looked at about 10 houses locally because of a lousy real estate agent who made it seem like they were all that were available in our price range. I keep seeing people post on this forum asking about Fort Wayne and then after only one or two visits they have a house picked out and purchased - it makes me cringe. The real estate market here really is not one where you'll ever make a profit or even break even if you plan to sell within 5 years and that is not an exaggeration. The economy is keeping home prices down and the area developers keep building more and more new homes so that supply outstrips demand.

Feel free to private message with any other questions.

[inndeeannaaa]

Tell me about fort wayne -- the good the bad and the Hoosier!

[LoriRN]

My personal opinion is definately to look in the NWAC school district - 46845 and I think 46818 - while the SWAC school is highly rated its very over rated as well. My kids went to SWAC schools for several years and it was a living hell. We have since then moved out of state and are considering going back to Fort Wayne, if I would I would NEVER in a million years go back out SW. I feel that kids should recieve a quality education but are entitled to having a life! The school system as a whole is WAY too much. Both NWAC and SWAC schools offer the same things but I think you will find the SW side of town much more uptight than the NW side. SW is a very competitive area so if your into "Keeping up with the Jones" and all of the one upping games that go along with that, then SW is the place for you. Otherwise, I'd look into NWAC!

[CindyM]

There are a couple really nice apartment complexes near the I-69 exits that Mbuszu mentioned ...

http://www.harborgroupmanagement.com/Properties/Indiana/indiana.html (broken link)

(can't figure out how to get rid of the brackets and URL. I guess they don't want us doing links?)

Anyway the apartments are Pointe Inverness and Willows of Coventry.

We stayed for a week at the later when we moved my mom from the SE side of the city to the SW 7 years ago. She paid about $110,000 for a 2 bedroom/2 bath with loft, screened porch, and 2-car garage. The area is extremely convenient for shopping and has easy interstate access.

I grew up in the SE part of the city in the 60s before things began to change. I never realized when I was a kid what a great place FW was. It's funny how your perspective changes.

[belovenow]

Just speaking of schools - LoriRN could you please share more details about why you are so opinionated re: SW-Fort Wayne schools vs NW (your 3 posts opening up old FW-specific threads yesterday got my attention)? I'd like to hear more specifics about your experiences in SW as I've never heard of any of the things you've mentioned from my friends in the SW vicinity. I have on the contrary heard many stories of young parents who went to HomeStead High School that had such a great experience that after college they brought their spouses back to this area to start and raise their family.

Statistically... both high schools (HomeStead and Carroll) appear to be rather new and both areas are experiencing growth. One thing is for certain, do be wary of "snapshots" in time of any school, especially if it will be years before your child will be attending. Schools change as new students and new teachers come and go, and the change can be dramatic in just 4-5 years.

The nice thing about the SW area of FW really has to do with proximity to other things around town... you'll be much closer to the Airport, the major W-E route (Jefferson Blvd), and the non-annexed expansion areas where you may enjoy several years of lower taxes surrounded by brand new/upscale neighborhoods. There's also a new Middle School on the SW side and talks of a new High School for the future.

Lastly - if you want to go the private school route, the SW area is in proximity to the best... Canterbury. At 11k USD per year for the High School and competitive to get into... it's out of most people's attainability. However, if you really want to do what's best for your kids and can afford it definitely try to enroll them there... at least 40% of their graduates are national merit scholars/finalists every year (meaning a free ride to most public universities nationwide and to some private universities as well), while at least 10% of the graduates apply and are accepted to Ivy League Colleges, while the rest can generally get into a non-Ivy 1st Tier College/University of their choice upon graduation. If education is really that important, I'd accept absolutely no substitutes. If you live on the North side of FW, then one of the private schools there (there are several - Bishop Dwenger comes to mind but I know there are at least 3 others which are really reputable) would be good choices as well. Several of the Medical Dr.'s I've met in this area which now practice at either Lutherin or Parkview Hospitals actually went to FW private schools... they obviously are pretty good. I'd argue that even the best FW area public school won't match the good private schools educationally.

[jennjennjohn]

zip-46814 Best schools, low crime, very friendly with lots of neighborhoods to choose from. Good luck

[juliestephen]

I suggest that you look in the city of Fort Wayne as well. There are some beautiful neighborhoods throughout the city There are also some wonderful schools within the FWCS district. (see http://www.fwcs.k12.in.us/)
The schools are very diverse and they offer a magnet program with school choice. My kids went to a school that offered concentration in computers and others have emphasis on things such as music, arts, foreign language and science.
You will find other people are suggesting northwest and southwest areas, which are very nice and also have excellent schools. Those areas are "booming" suburbia if that is what you like. (nice tract housing developments)
Fort Wayne is a nice area-I hope you enjoy living here.