Relocating to condo/townhouse rental in northern Kentucky (CVG area) (Covington: for sale, apartment)

[IndyFam]

My parents are going through a divorce and my Mom will soon be moving out of the house they have shared for the last 25+ years. They've been married 40+ years and she has never lived alone in her 60+ years of life. Needless to say, the stress of finding a new place to live is quite compounded by all the other adversity she is dealing with these days.

The house in which she currently resides with my father is located in southeastern Indiana. She works five days a week in northern Kentucky, near the Cincinnati / Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG). It is about a 40-minute commute each way.

Her plan is to move to northern Kentucky, preferably within 15 minutes or so of CVG. She is planning to rent a townhouse or condo for now. She may look to buy something 2-3 years down the road, but for now she just wants to find a rental that suits her needs and avoid the loans, inspections, closing, etc that go along with buying. Too much on her plate as-is without all of that right now.

I live in Indy, so I'm not extremely familiar with the CVG area. I've driven through Erlanger, Florence and Crestview Hills. They all seem nice, but I was basically just passing through, so I didn't get a real in-depth feel for them.

I'll be coming down to go check places out with her, but was hoping to have a relatively short list of leading candidates before doing so. I've been out to the popular rental review sites, but it can be hard to get a good feel for a place based on those sites. They tend to bring out the more negative reviewers. And frequently there will only be 2-3 reviews with one of them being some extreme corner case like "my unit caught on fire and the mgmt was not helpful".

So... I was hoping that some of you might be able to provide some suggestions regarding the best condo/townhouse complexes/communities for us to check out.

She is looking for something in the $900-1250/mo range. A quiet community with a relatively older crowd. Something safe and clean. The following features would be great to have (though we don't necessarily expect to find them all in one place)...
- Attached garage with direct entry to unit
- First floor master
- 2+ bedrooms, 2+ bathrooms
- Mature trees on grounds (preferably a wooded feel to it)
- Hardwood or laminate floors
- Nice deck/patio
- Community pool
- Exercise area in clubhouse

To help paint a better picture, something along the lines of this condo would be nearly perfect - http://www.easystreetrealty-indy.com...54/mls21179480

Unfortunately, it is for sale right down the road from me here in Indy. But hopefully there is something very similar for rent in the northern Kentucky area.

Would love to hear what anybody familiar with the area has to say.

If anybody knows of areas/neighborhoods/communities/management companies to avoid, I'd be interested in that as well.

And if you know of a community/location that might fit the bill, but is not in the CVG vicinity, then throw it out there as well. Proximity to CVG is preferred, but if the right place is across the river in IN or OH, then it might be worth the extra 15-20 minutes of driving.

Thanks for the help!

[censusdata]

In terms of areas to avoid.. really just the river towns, otherwise NKY is very monotonous in terms of safety and housing costs.

My brother in law's parents live in a townhouse somewhere (I'm thinking Lakeside Park) that they really like. I think NKY in general is within your price range.

[CarpathianPeasant]

If all she wants to do is rent a place until things are more settled, why not just drive around where she works and look for a likely apartment house? In fact, look for something cheaper without all the amenities until things are settled.

I wouldn't necessarily discount the river towns. I'm in Covington nearly on the riverbank and nearly in Ludlow. I feel safe, although I realize that there is no place that is really safe, and the apartment building is clean, well maintained and full of retirees.

And, I'm not from Kentucky.

[Oldhag1]

Try the cities near Northern KY University, such as Wilder, Cold Spring, Alexandria... There are a fair number of townhouses/condos that are reasonably priced and safe. They are a very quick drive to the airport and traffic isn't bad. It's like being in a small town with real quick access to the big city.

[tonimcclane]

I am looking for a 3 bedroom 2 bath in Northern KY to rent please!