Moving to Memphis/ University of Memphis (Bartlett, Germantown: sale, new home, neighborhoods)

[jimlacas]

sliverbox, I hear you. We plan on renting at least 3-6 months and do just that, look around for a house. I am not in a hurry to own a house it is just hard for our growing family in an apartment these days. I want to make the transition the right way and not fall flat on my face. Lately my thoughts are to live in a rural area and have a large piece of land with some outdoor activities. Even if the existing structure is older we would have the space to build our dream house. I have lived in a city for about the last 11 years and near one for the remainder of my life. And if i didn't live with relatives then I rented. At the end of the day we have no assets at all and our credit is in really good shape, but without assets accumulating wealth is an uphill battle. My initial thoughts were to rent near the university for convenience, but the lack of space and safety associated with urban living is not desirable, at least not on a permanent basis.

[Pearlbob]

I don't think anyone lives in Midtown so they can tell people, "Look at me, I'm cool, I live in midtown." I live there because A) I hate the burbs, B) I love old homes, C) it's a 5 min drive to work, and D) it's near a ton of good restaurants, bars, and things to do that you're not going to find in the burbs. Once you live in midtown, you realize why so many people have the bumper stickers "Midtown IS Memphis."

I think the same house in east Memphis as the one near the tracks in iffy areas of midtown would be much more expensive (the east Memphis one would be more expensive).

When you say you have kids with you, that changes everything. Living in an "iffy" area as a young single person might be fine, but when you have kids that want to play outdoors, ride bikes around the neighborhood, a wife that has to be alone at night, etc etc....that's a whole different story.

I agree with renting for 6 months....one of my best buddies from work moved here with her husband, who was going to med school. They bought a house immediately, on a quick visit here. Turned out the house was NOT in a good area and with her husband in med school and doing over night rotations often, she was scared to death in their home. She hated it. But they had minimal money due to him being in school and couldn't afford to sell and buy again just to keep the house another few years. She said repeatedly, if they had to to it over, they would have rented an apt for a few months, gotten a feel for the city, and then found a house. But they too said, "We rented for years of our youth, we're not doing it again..." Well, with that attitude, they wound up in a bad neighborhood and regretted it for years.

[Pearlbob]

There are TONS TONS TONS of homes for rent in Cordova. Mainly because the city has annexed the area, thus people are paying more for property taxes (no one wants to buy there now) and the schools are now city schools (gone downhill and people don't want to move there with kids). If your kids are young enough and aren't in school, I'd suggest renting a house in Cordova for 6 months if you can.

crye-leike.com has a "Rental" section where you can find a zillion Cordova homes for rent.

[jimlacas]

i noticed some large plots of land (some with houses) in the unincorporated areas of cordova. how is this area? the privacy would be nice. with a dependable car i would not mind the commute.

[sliverbox]

jimlacas,
Have you thought of renting a house, not an apartment? Me and my wife rent a pretty nice house out here in CA and the rent costs about 1/4th the cost to buy. Of course that's out here and not in Memphis, which probably doesn't have such an extreme cost difference. You might also consider a duplex- an older home with 2 units. We did that for years- had a back yard, garage, with 3 bedrooms, a kitchen, living room and all.

As far as living in the country, well one thing about the Southeast that is different from most other large metros is that you can get to and from the city pretty quick because the city turns into countryside a lot quicker than it does in more densely populated regions. So you could have the yard, house... whole nine yards and not be terribly far away from the city. Lastly, just because you don't have equity in a house doesn't mean you are guaranteed a bad financial position.Me and my wife save 60% of our income versus if we had bought and would be spending 70% of it on just the mortgage. No house could appreciate what we save and what we save will allow us to get a decent home in a few years. Just do a month to month calculation and see which would be better at the end off the month.

Anyhow, good luck to your future in Memphis and hopefully you'll find the house you want someday. Keep a good head on your shoulders and you'll be fine.

[Pearlbob]

Unincorporated would mean that the city hasn't annexed the area yet. I am pretty positive Memphis will annex all of Cordova soon. That is definitely something to keep in mind if you want to buy. People move to the burbs to be out of the city limits for a variety of reason, many of them financial as property and car taxes are double if you are considered "Memphis." So people don't want to move to the burbs and STILL be considered Memphis. One reason Cordova housing is so cheap now.

Commute could mean 45 min to and from work, if at rush hour. To UM though...actually that wouldn't be as bad (I'm thinking of to downtown).

I personally do not like the Cordova area at all...too burby, too many strip mall, to many chain restaurants....but I think for a family who wants a big yard, new house, but doesn't have tons of money, it is a good option. (i on the other hand don't want a yard, don't have small kids, and love old homes)

[csawats]

I am in a similar situation as some of you. I am moving to Memphis this summer with another girl to attend grad/dental school. We are both 22 year old females and actually just rented an apartment on Mudd Island. I noticed that no one had really said anything about Mudd Island on this thread, but I was wondering what it was like. This may be terrible, but we were so busy finishing undergrad and moving that as soon as the people at Island Park called and told us that an apartment was available, we took it. We've looked at it online and it came recommended by some of the grad students. If anyone had any information on Island Park Apartments and the surrounding areas I would really appreciate hearing whatever you had to say. Thanks so much!

[Pearlbob]

I don't know about the specific complexes down there, but Mud Island is fine. It's a yuppie area, lots of young rich people. It has a nice park goign along the river, but of course you always get that river smell There is a great pizza place and a great deli there, along with a very nice medical office and fitness club.

Mud Island is considered downtown, but it's not. You can't walk to anything from it; it is very secluded, you have to drive up over a monster bridge to get there, etc. You can't just stroll down to Beale, you h ave to drive everywhere. That's my main problem with it - if I'm going to live downtown, I want to live downtown. Not near downtown. Renting is fine, but the homes built there can be very crummy. Built too quickly, cheap materials, cheap labor, and there is a huge termite problem down there. If you are renting - none of this would matter though.

[DJ K]

Suggest you expand your commute parameters a little. I live in Bartlett, which is about 20-30 minutes from the U of M. very low crime rate, reasonable rentals (I have lived in Quail RIdge Apartments and found them very good) and a wealth of amenities.Probably a fair number of commuters you could share the gas $$ with. Midtown area is okay also, and frankly, with all the city has to offer, it would be a shame for you to spend too much time in the burbs. My teenaged daughter gets around the city safely. She is a member of an excellent self defense class (called Krav Maga) and is careful to avoid situations which will attract trouble. With a AAA card, credit card, cell phone, reliable car, full gas tank and a good head on your shoulders and you'll be fine. I think most crime here is related or domestic. I grew up in CHicago, and I'd rather have my kids here. Welcome to Memphis-make sure you check out the COOper-Young district.

[pearlieBOBbieQ]

I'm sick of people painting the Midtown area as some sort of slick, outstanding and upscale quasi-urban area that is somehow unparalleled--it's NOT---there are relatively nice areas, but some of them are too close to dumps---within one or two blocks

The facts are that the suburban areas still outpace interest in central Memphis-

Cordova is an urban planners screw-up for sure, but I'll take living in Germantown, Collierville, Arlington, Eads, River Oaks, Walnut Grove/Perkins, Massey, anyday over living within a rocks throw of some very nasty areas and inconsistent areas of so-called "Midtown"--

Midtown is really NOT Memphis at all ! most people are not choosing to live within the city at all, thus the explosion in Collierville and beyond (like Desoto County MISSISSIPPI)