Bates Hendricks VS Mapleton Fall Creek (Nashville: transplants, real estate, apartment)

[Cellardoor91]

My husband and I are transplants from Nashville. Both young professionals. Currently we rent in Emerson Heights near Irvington. We love the vibe around Irvington, but are having trouble finding a home to buy in the area.

We've had more luck outside of this area. Specifically we really like a house on Parkway in Bates Hendricks and also one on Ruckle (between 32nd and 30th) in the Mapleton-Fall Creek/Historic Meridian area both are about the same size and price. Really we are just torn about the neighborhoods.

We aren't from around here y'all! Lol. Any advice on which neighborhood we may like more?

Thanks!

[sweetana3]

I would personally look at Bates Hendrick. 1. Closer to downtown 2. Closer to Fountain Square 3. Smaller houses easier to afford and remodel. Took a look at a couple of streets and noticed several nice outdoor remodeling jobs. House prices have exploded and are rapidly becoming too high for ordinary purchasers in the downtown area and they are looking a little farther out. BH is still affordable although I think I saw one on mibor.com for $300,000.

Same schools, same distance to amenities like groceries. Some will lie the MFC area better but these big old houses are going to take longer to get fixed up and I, unfortunately, remember a whole lot of crime in the area. Hubby says gentrification is starting to happen but there are a lot of big crappy houses and apartment buildings in the area.

I would get out of the car and walk up and down the streets and alleys in the areas being considered. Do you see trash, chained up dogs, lack of care, etc.? Do you see progress in the general area with pioneers fixing up properties?

[projectmaximus]

Take this with a grain of salt because you certainly know Indy better than I do living there every day.

As a long distance investor I looked at a couple houses on Parkway in Bates and one on 34th street just a couple blocks east of Ruckle. I really love Bates-Hendricks a lot and think the neighborhood has strong potential to improve rapidly. Parkway area is already looking really good.

Mapleton Fall Creek looks a little safer on paper. Much of the northside is pretty safe both in crime and values. So logically joining an up and coming area of the Northside is wiser than the Southside. But if it's up to me I think I'd prefer Bates.

[Ed Ferris]

When I was looking to invest in real estate five years ago I looked at several properties in Mapleton - Fall Creek. Of course, the market was very depressed in 2012. But the neighborhood was very bad. One house in the 3300 block of Ruckle was a crash pad for homeless, operated by the sectarian church at the end of the block. People on the sidewalks acted like they expected to be robbed or spare-changed. I passed on one house on Central when I found it was next to a drug or prostitute rehab center. The prospect on Broadway was next to a house whose roof had fallen in. Many houses were boarded-up. The realtor I was with commented that at least they showed some color sense in painting one set of boards purple. He was obviously astounded at how run-down the neighborhood was.
The absolutely worst house, however, was on Tecumseh Street. It has since been given the granite-countertop treatment and has been on the market at $160K for quite some time.
Mapleton - Fall Creek looked at lot better the last time I drove through. You don't see big duplexes with the copper stolen offered for $12K anymore. The collapsing house has been demolished. It is still in a food desert, however, and I wonder if the same people still live there.

[Serious Conversation]

I think Bates-Hendricks is poised for pretty quick gentrification. I was looking at homes there last spring and summer before I moved back to Tennessee. Any of the major Indy neighborhoods will be far, far more reasonable than their Nashville equivalents.

Much of B-H is still ugly and rough around the edges for now, but didn't seem dangerous and housing prices seem to have risen there since last year. You could walk (though it would take awhile) or easily bike to the action downtown. My biggest complaint was the roads (extremely rough) and it felt "cramped" with cars sometimes parked on both sides of the street and not much space to maneuver, but that's going to be part of an urban area anywhere.

What is your budget? I saw numerous homes in Irvington on Trulia for <$150k. Some need some work, but would live in Irvington over B-H even if it was a small price increase.