Real Estate with View of the River - downtown? (Memphis: for sale, condos)

[Savannah2009]

Hi Everyone,

I'm seriously considering a move to Memphis from Savannah. I'm interested in buying a place with a budget of 500-700K (big span, I know, but I'm not sure what prices are like). I'd ideally like to be downtown - in a place with an inlaw suite ideally as my mother lives with me, but a large place where we can both have privacy is the real necessity. Pet friendly as well is a must.

Can anyone share some good neighborhoods or communities/ townhomes? What is the crime like in this area? I was at Memphis in May last year and I love the riverfront.

[sldream]

Founders Point is very close to the river, it sits on the south western side of downtown, near the River Tower condos and Horizon condo building. The homes that sit a bit higher are probably what you saw during Memphis in May. They are technically on Tennessee street but overlook Riverside drive mostly run more than 700k and usually aren't resold often if at all. There may be one home currently for sale. Also there are nice-sized townhomes next to those and they are a bit older construction, but they have direct river views as well. A few steps away is the "South Bluffs" community, you can find a home in that area in your price range, but there are maybe around 50-60 properties in a small enclave and only a handful, maybe less than 10 homes have direct river views. Harbortown is on the north end of downtown near the pyramid and is a pretty large family oriented community, and a very small percentage front the river. Search for homes on "Island drive". Be careful to search ONLY "island dr" in this area if having a river view is important. Nearly every street( and there are many) is named using some variation of Island or Harbor in the name.

[Pearlbob]

Downtown is very safe. Most homes are zero-lot lines though, or very close to it. So, even the big houses are rather "compact" and probably won't have a whole in-laws suite or wing for guests. Very few places have direct river views, but there are some properities on Harbortown and in South Bluffs where you may be able to catch a glimpse of the river from a window.

Search for homes and condos within the 38103 zip codes. That encompasses a large area, but in your price range, there won't be much (that is a lot of $$ for Memphis!). Any home that has a river view will specifically state that in the listing, since it's a selling point. Most likely will have a picture in the listing too.

[Pearlbob]

I only come up with 13 homes in your price range for downtown. Some appear to have river views, but are small condos.

Crye-Leike, REALTORS®:: Property Search Results

[Savannah2009]

Thanks, you guys are wonderful to respond so quickly! I'm going to look in the bluffs for sure :-)

[sldream]

OP, There are tons of high end property in south bluffs and harbortown, just most of it isn't available for sale. Generally downtown is a bigger condo market as opposed to single family homes. Harbortown has lots of 400- 700k homes both with and without river views. Also even though having compact lots, many homes in that price range will have 3000-4000+ sq footage. Areas where the single family homes are have more of a family feel and people usually don't sell as often. Any real estate agent worth anything would have you look around and see if something interests you, whether it's on the market or not, and many homes are bought/sold by finding out if a homeowner would entertain an offer. Often times people are interested in selling but are holding out for better market conditions.

[Savannah2009]

Has Memphis been hit like the rest of the country with the real estate downturn?

[Pearlbob]

This home is directly on the river, as close as it gets. Seems to be priced very low, says "to settle an estate."

958 Island Drive - Memphis, TN 38103 Details of Property Real Estate for Sale

[Pearlbob]

Memphis is a very cheap place to live, period. So from what I understand, the real estate crisis has not hit Memphis as hard as in other cities where prices plummeted (like in California, I imagine). However, one issue is that Memphis has fewer high end homes, so it's harder to sell those, let alone in today's market. So you can probably find very good deals on high end homes.

[sldream]

Originally Posted by Savannah2009

Has Memphis been hit like the rest of the country with the real estate downturn?

No place is exempt, however, the areas you'd be interested in is less affected than others. There is very strong demand still for downtown property. Buyers with the means will buy no matter what's going on. There are no unsold houses, just ones that haven't sold yet. There are many high end homes, the difference between Memphis and some other places is the values are more realistic as opposed to places where people bought homes that were overpriced from the beginning.