I Went Searching For Apartments Bethlehem yesterday.....Help!

[SDWNC]

Originally Posted by ringler24

I'm not sure what you mean by "poor". I grew up in downtown Bethlehem. It offers a range of housing from expensive to affordable. I'm also not sure what you're looking for. If you want newer homes, then you have to choose a township with newer construction. If you want what a downtown city has to offer then you either have to have the budget to afford something much pricier that is restored or you have to be willing to live in something less updated. Lower cost of living (in terms of groceries) is just that. It's cheaper to live in PA relatively speaking than in NJ. That's why many choose to live here and commute there for work.

We just moved here. My partner is primarily from NJ and I've lived in too many states including NY
and NC. We hoped to settle in Bethlehem. We looked at a great-looking house on Main St. and that's
where a relative lives in a duplex. That area has older homes (one we loved has a sistern - obviously
dry) but I was concerned about a couple areas of dampness that I knew I would not be able to
locate the source of the water. But understand our house in NYS was built in 1890 and we had
minor dampness. But i that house, it was a matter of easily finding where cement was cracking
in the stones and I easily fixed it outside with hydraulic cement.

We attempted to set our budget for a house to $200-240k but with the updates to a house built
in 1950 (we prefer homes from that age or older - lived in a house in NC built in 1991 that was
thrown up quickly and required a lot of work and it was known how great the houses looked in
our OA in Asheville but how poorly they were built). The house we found is higher-priced
but became the impossible dream house we never envisioned. The utilities "on a budget" are
amazingly low. The house is immaculate and 95% updated. For the first time in our
lives together, I'll spend time cleaning the house (it's >2000') rather than doing endless
projects. We saw smaller houses that were fine for around $200k in Hellertown, Allentown,
and Bethlehem. You just need a really good and conscientious agent who can find that
right house for you. Homes exist and we fell in love with a house that will breeze through
closing.

We looked at other houses in an area called Beverly (Bethlehem). It has a mixed reputation and we liked
the area. But we ended up being in the process of buying a house in Allentown. We're from
Asheville (organic farmers markets and plentiful organics in various grocery stores) but the
food here is much cheaper, hence my needed weight gain. It's much cheaper than in NY/NJ
where we lived prior to NC @10 yrs ago.