Inexpensive housing in Indianapolis (for sale, real estate, rental homes)

[DadandMomOfJunior]

I am curious and ask the insight of people living presently or recently in Indy. One article I saw rated Indy as having very low housing costs. Indeed, as I checked realtor.com, there are hundreds of older 3BR homes in used condition for under $50,000. Is their condition the only reason, or are the neighborhoods also a factor?

Indianapolis, IN, Real Estate Listings and Indianapolis, IN Homes for Sale - REALTOR.com®

[DadandMomOfJunior]

http://www.spotcrime.com/in/indianapolis This is a very cool site showing crime maps for crimes reported in a given area. Date ranges are selectable. Very nice! But I still need input from the locals. TIA.

[Michelle Morris]

Indianapolis is consistently ranked at the top of the list of most affordable cities, the ranking is done by Forbes magazine. Of course, before purchasing in ANY city, you need to check out the neighborhoods you're interested in for crime rates.

[Naptowner]

I only looked at the first page of listings, but most of those are in pretty bad areas. However, $50,000 is ridiculously cheap, and I would say that overall, Indianapolis is pretty affordable.

[DadandMomOfJunior]

Yes, thanks for that. It is why I need the input of the locals. Realtors will not talk about anything more than generalities when it comes to neighborhoods.

[Michelle Morris]

That's because by law we're not allowed to steer you towards or away from any certain areas.

[DadandMomOfJunior]

Originally Posted by MikiJayne

That's because by law we're not allowed to steer you towards or away from any certain areas.

Understood. But the information is still required.

[sweetana3]

I am not in real estate or any related field. One of the biggest issues is school district. Crime is second but close. We used to have places called Dodge City for obvious reasons and I think the police pretty much concentrate on certain areas. When murders occur it is often in generally the same areas, same with drugs and such. There are stable areas with stable house prices but $50,000 is pretty low for a good or stable neighborhood.

Anything in Indpls School District will be marked down drastically unless in a special historic area and even then you have to consider the schooling cost as well as the house cost.

That said, we have a alot of family friendly house subdivisions in the outer areas (Indy is very large) because land was and pretty much still is available and cheap.

As with any city, there are downtown urban areas, older surrounding donut areas with declining commercial areas (with pockets of nice or interesting neighborhoods) and vast suburban areas on the outside of the donut areas. If you are careful, you can sometimes find a fixerupper in one of the rare improving and/or gentrifying areas. Some of the nonprofit neighborhood revitalization groups are doing this and at the same time their enthusiasm is helping to bring the neighborhoods back. You can try and find some of these groups and talk to them. Occasionally they will have renovated or partially renovated property on the market.

[AliciaKiovsky]

It would definitely depend on what you're planning on using the homes for. I work with quite a few investors who purchase properties such as the ones you mentioned for rental homes. Indianapolis has areas that are hit and miss on crime rates. If there are particular homes that have caught your eye, I'd recommend doing some further investigation on them (I'd be happy to provide you information as well.) The crime reports can speak for themselves. The city is doing some great revitalization in areas that has really helped with the crime rates as well as the property value. As a real estate agent I can't steer you one way or another, but I certainly provide you all of the information to allow you to make an educated decision for yourself.

We have quite a few bank-involved homes as well. Banks typically price homes under market value in order to move them quickly. The less they have in inventory the better. So some of the homes may be in good areas, but if a bank has them that may be part of the explanation for the price. It will vary by each home.

[DadandMomOfJunior]

Thank you for all the tips thus far!

My plan is to buy a cosmetic fixer in one of those improving neighborhoods (which ones I don't know because nobody has identified them with names and cross-streets), living in it while fixing it up with drywall, a little plumbing, a little electrical, alot of paint but no remodeling, then renting it out and buying a similar one, etc., until the market recovers and they can be sold for a few dollars' profit. I will not buy a home of any condition I would not want to get "stuck" in due to national events, etc., so being a slum lord is out of the question. This is a time of opportunity for a little money and alot of sweat, but first I need that help with Indy neighborhoods.