East Saint paul (Harding: short sales, foreclosure, high crime)

[tim2005]

I found a very good house at a very good price a couple of blocks from maryland and whitebear ave. The price seems too good to be true, even for this market. Could it be because the area is so unsafe or high crime rate? Any info if this area is safe or not?

[golfgal]

That area can be hit or miss. You could have a couple blocks are nice, well kept houses and then the next block over run into some major problems. My aunt lives in that general area, around Harding High School. Her neighborhood is turning over from lifelong residents to younger families and not for the good. Many of the houses on her street could have once won awards for the amazingly well kept lawns, etc. and now there are way too many junk filled yards. It is really sad.

Just make sure you do a lot of driving around the surrounding several blocks at different times/day and get a good feel for the area before you commit.

[Alt Dach]

I used to live in that exact area. It is very iffy now-I would not live there.

[Sarah Maske]

That area is just fine but some blocks are a better investment than others. There's a high foreclosure rate there, so I wouldn't be surprised you're seeing some tremendously low prices. Sometimes short sales start out quite low too, so that is another thing you might be looking at.

I just sold a house near that location - was the most expensive house on the block and in the blocks surrounding. It sold for top dollar in 35 days to a nice young couple who were going to start a family. I'm not saying this to be a braggart (because I give my sellers A LOT of credit for their part in getting it sold fast), I am mentioning this more to show a point that people aren't loosing their rear ends in this area. This home appreciated VERY nicely for this area. I got to know some of the neighbors around this property and they were all very nice, hardworking people.