Chicago late 20's newlyweds relocating to Miami. Need pointers! (Coral Gables: to rent, townhomes)

[rmcculloch]

Hi,
My husband and I are relocating to Miami the first week of August. He is attending the Law School at the University of Miami and we are looking at different areas to live in. We are open to venturing out of Coral Gables to have a bigger house since we have a large dog. Which neighborhoods might we be able to find a house with a yard for under 1200 that is still safe? Also, we are big 'foodies' here in Chicago. We love fine dinning and good food and wine. Have any recommendations for good restaurants to check out?

Thanks,

Rachel

[cuba libre]

Originally Posted by rmcculloch

Hi,
My husband and I are relocating to Miami the first week of August. He is attending the Law School at the University of Miami and we are looking at different areas to live in. We are open to venturing out of Coral Gables to have a bigger house since we have a large dog. Which neighborhoods might we be able to find a house with a yard for under 1200 that is still safe? Also, we are big 'foodies' here in Chicago. We love fine dinning and good food and wine. Have any recommendations for good restaurants to check out?

Thanks,

Rachel

Hello,

I grew up in Chicago, and moved to Miami in the early 2000's. You will not find a house in an area anywhere near as nice as Coral Gables for $1,200/month. You will be in a seedy area for $1,200/month if you plan on renting a single family home in Miami.

ON the other hand, if you expand your options to a townhome, you can probably find a nice, new one with a small fenced backyard in the Homestead area, or in therefore, down SOUTH, a 45-min drive from UM. Another place to look is Doral (West on 836), which has a lot of townhomes, but commuting to and from Doral, especially to UM, would be awful.

[matchpoint]

I would seek info directly from the Univ Miami Law School Administration. You can not be the only couple who have moved from afar to go to UM Law. They should be able to put you in touch with a 2nd or 3rd yr law student in a similar situation.

[vpcats]

Mr. Furry will be the problem. Will need space to run around. Not everybody wants to rent to someone with a dog, much less a big dog. A TH community might limit size of dog and it may also be too small a property.

I'm going to be daring and suggest you look around the City of West Miami and areas to the south towards Miller Road and Sunset, more or less. The campus won't be that far from these areas and you just might be able to rent a SFH. The homes may not be totally upgraded and modernized but they should be moderate. Many of these areas are highly hispanic, albeit mostly bilingual but you'll have to search your soul as to coping tolerance.

[rmcculloch]

Thank you for the suggestions, everyone. We are open to living in a more hispanic area, considering we are currently living in a highly Puerto Rican are here in Chicago. We don't mind that, as long as our chances of getting broken in to are still relatively low. I'll take a look at some of the areas you suggested. Thank you.