Neighborhood Recommendations Please (Madison, Middleton, Shorewood: best city, for sale by owner, real estate)

[helpfromsandiego]

I have read several posts but am not sure what suits us best, so perhaps you can point me in the right direction.

1. My husband will need to be able to commute to University of Wisconsin's Medical Center for work, but being from southern California, I suspect anything will seem like a breeze.

2. I want to be at the academically best public schools (need elementary to high school).

3. I would like to live in a walkable community ie walk to dinner, shops, etc.

4. My husband is a golfer and we may want to be near a golf course or country club, though I suspect we will need that only a couple months out of the year...just a thought. 1-3 are my priorities, and I am not sure what would suit that best.

Thanks in advance!

[Drover]

Middleton.

/thread

[ChiDad]

We moved up 5 years ago and chose the Middleton school district. It is very good and the high school does a great job welcoming transfers.

Middleton Hills is the best fit for your criteria. Walkability is the tough one for others to meet. It could be had in downtown Middleton but that housing stock is older (20+ years) and doesn't turn over that much. Others to consider would be Blackhawk, Bishops Bay (pricey with a CC) and the subdivisions out Airport Road (Prairie Home Estates, Whispering Winds, Summit Ridge).

What are you looking for in a house?

[rekuci]

why even consider a suburb? you can meet all your criteria, even #4, being practically across the street from the UW medical campus (south of university ave), anywhere on the near west side, eg. university heights, westmorland, sunset village, or monroe st areas. check maps for glenway golf course and odana hills. the only issue is what your price limits are, but you'll find that even the fanciest areas on the near west side are pretty dang cheap compared to anything in southern california. in any of the neighborhoods i mentioned above except monroe st, for which this would be possible but pushing it, you can buy a nice 3 bedroom house for less than $250k. rents on the same house would be in the $1300/mo range, but 2 bedroom apartments can be had in the $800/mo range. to stay away from undergraduate student rowdiness, anything 1 to 1.5 miles west/southwest of campus will eliminate 99% of them.

[nunesvetpath]

Originally Posted by rekuci

why even consider a suburb? you can meet all your criteria, even #4, being practically across the street from the UW medical campus (south of university ave), anywhere on the near west side, eg. university heights, westmorland, sunset village, or monroe st areas. check maps for glenway golf course and odana hills. the only issue is what your price limits are, but you'll find that even the fanciest areas on the near west side are pretty dang cheap compared to anything in southern california. in any of the neighborhoods i mentioned above except monroe st, for which this would be possible but pushing it, you can buy a nice 3 bedroom house for less than $250k. rents on the same house would be in the $1300/mo range, but 2 bedroom apartments can be had in the $800/mo range. to stay away from undergraduate student rowdiness, anything 1 to 1.5 miles west/southwest of campus will eliminate 99% of them.

Sorry, but based on my research it seems that it would be almost impossible to find any decent house for less than $250K in the city near UW... unless it is a property in very bad shape... The search with those criteria (<250K and 3 bedrooms) at realtor.com failed to retrieve any house in the whole Madison city, not only close to UW…

[rekuci]

well sorry but you're wrong. we bought here 2 years ago for less than that price, when prices were even higher than now, and there were several houses, in good shape, all over the near west side (and going west of midvale blvd within the city, even cheaper). i keep up with all the local listings just to see where it's going, and always see plenty for <$250k in our neighborhood.

unless your criteria is for more than 2000 sq ft, you can find a 3 bedroom home for less than $250k in decent shape. fixer-uppers for <$200k.

not sure where these sentiments come from, it just doesn't jive with reality and you're deluding yourself. you'll find 26 single-family homes for less than $250k east of midvale blvd ("near west") on MapIT Search Technology | First Weber Group REALTORS® (http://www.firstweber.com/mapping/ - broken link)

[nunesvetpath]

Originally Posted by rekuci

well sorry but you're wrong. we bought here 2 years ago for less than that price, when prices were even higher than now, and there were several houses, in good shape, all over the near west side (and going west of midvale blvd within the city, even cheaper). i keep up with all the local listings just to see where it's going, and always see plenty for <$250k in our neighborhood.

unless your criteria is for more than 2000 sq ft, you can find a 3 bedroom home for less than $250k in decent shape. fixer-uppers for <$200k.

not sure where these sentiments come from, it just doesn't jive with reality and you're deluding yourself. you'll find 26 single-family homes for less than $250k east of midvale blvd ("near west") on MapIT Search Technology | First Weber Group REALTORS® (http://www.firstweber.com/mapping/ - broken link)

Wow, maybe you need a chill pill or a break? I did not understand where all the rudeness responding to my post come from...?!?

I was just saying that realtor.com fails to identify any 3 bedroom house for sale in any where in Madison for less than 250K regardless of the square footage. Please check yourself, if you don't believe me.

You mentioned… East of Midvale blvd... That may explain the lower prices... do those houses you are talking about have actual Madison physical addresses?

Also, why consider a burb? It appears that the burbs have much better public schools except for Shorewood hills... but I guarantee you won't find that a 3 bedroom for <$250K in Shorewood hills…

Thanks for the website... very useful.

[rekuci]

sorry, but i took your post as being of the same tone.

no idea about realtor.com and never used it when searching here, i seem to recall they post very few of the actual MLS listings in this area. i'm just trying to give realistic info to relocators.

east of midvale is kind of considered the western boundary for "near west," which makes it more expensive because it's closer to campus and downtown. note i never mentioned shorewood hills, that place has a ridiculous price tag and artificial exclusivity, in my humble opinion.

i don't have kids and won't argue it, but i'm also not sure where the sentiment comes from about suburban schools being superior to madison city schools, which by most national accounts are supposed to be pretty excellent (with west high school often cited as the best city high school). the only reason i could think of someone purposefully placing themselves in a suburban school district would be to avoid the diversity of the city schools (which i would consider a benefit), or some other conceived notion that is related to that diversity. the city schools are considerably more diverse than the city's population as a whole.

i also think a lot of people moving here from much larger metro areas don't realize that madison is a city of only 200k people, that most of the land in city proper essentially IS suburban, and that their gut instinct to move to an outlying community is often not necessary at all for what they're looking for (and especially someone who specifically says they want walkable). i'd recommend a reconnaissance with google maps satellite view, to witness the suburban character firsthand.

[nunesvetpath]

Originally Posted by rekuci

sorry, but i took your post as being of the same tone.

no idea about realtor.com and never used it when searching here, i seem to recall they post very few of the actual MLS listings in this area. i'm just trying to give realistic info to relocators.

east of midvale is kind of considered the western boundary for "near west," which makes it more expensive because it's closer to campus and downtown. note i never mentioned shorewood hills, that place has a ridiculous price tag and artificial exclusivity, in my humble opinion.

i don't have kids and won't argue it, but i'm also not sure where the sentiment comes from about suburban schools being superior to madison city schools, which by most national accounts are supposed to be pretty excellent (with west high school often cited as the best city high school). the only reason i could think of someone purposefully placing themselves in a suburban school district would be to avoid the diversity of the city schools (which i would consider a benefit), or some other conceived notion that is related to that diversity. the city schools are considerably more diverse than the city's population as a whole.

i also think a lot of people moving here from much larger metro areas don't realize that madison is a city of only 200k people, that most of the land in city proper essentially IS suburban, and that their gut instinct to move to an outlying community is often not necessary at all for what they're looking for (and especially someone who specifically says they want walkable). i'd recommend a reconnaissance with google maps satellite view, to witness the suburban character firsthand.

Thanks. I currently live in a burb of Indianapolis. Realtor.com worked perfectly to find most (if not all) available homes in my area 2 years ago when I bought my house here. I just assumed the site worked well nationally, but apparently not. The site you provided me has many houses not listed in realtor.com. Awesome!

From what I learned so far, most Madison public schools are good, but there are some in certain burbs that excels. It appears that Middleton is a good example. Shorewood hills schools are in that list too because its high tax funds but there is absolutely no way I would afford or want to live in Shorewood hills. Another factor is that I don't really prefer old houses, unless I have no other choice. Newer houses can typically be found only the burbs in recently built neighborhoods.

Cheers...

[rekuci]

no problem, thought you were a madisonian trying to prove me wrong

but yeah if you're also relocating, the first weber site was the best i found for MLS listings, and they post new ones (and take down old ones) quickly.

for-sale-by-owner is also much more popular in madison than most other parts of the country, so another good place to try is "FSBO"-For Sale By Owner-Real Estate-Madison Wisconsin-Houses-Madison WI-Madison Wis-"fsbo"-for sale by owner-homes-houses-real estate-madison wisconsin, and there are some other listing services too. you have to combine all of these sites to get a good picture of what's for sale in the city.