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So we are currently renting and our lease will be up soon. We have been looking for houses and are leaning towards wanting to buy. So far, we haven't found anything we like that's in our price range in our area. My dream home has always been the beautiful historic Southern home. We live in Mississippi, so that's not hard to find - well that's what I thought. Everything like that in our area is way out of our price range. We live in a small town, what you would call the "country". One street light, everyone knows everyone, don't have to worry about bothersome or loud neighbors, and there's little to no crime. I LOVE where I live and would love to stay here. But the house hunting in our area has showed us no luck.
But now my heart is torn. Lol. I came across this BEAUTIFUL house I've always dreamed of having. A beautiful 2story historic home (built 1920) with the wrap around porch and pillars and just everything. It's gorgeous! And it's listed at a great price! The only problem - it's not in our current town. It's in a nearby city. Although its in a safe neighborhood in a safe part of the city, overall the city is not nice. Alot of crime throughout most of the city. While I feel the neighborhood and part of town is safe, I don't like the idea of being that close to the bad parts. Another thing is that it's not the "country" as I've grown to love. I'm torn between should we pass it up because we don't want to live in the city, or go for it because we'll most likely never find such a great beautiful affordable home like this? Anyone ever experienced this? I don't know what to do!!!
Always remember the old saying: Location, location, location.
First question is: how bad is the city? The urban area is supposed to be the "it" and the blueprint for the future. Is that city on the upswing? What will it be like 10-20 yrs from now? You could be buying in a great location right when it is about to take off.... or not.
On the other hand, how good is the location in the country? How's the employment? Will you be stuck with the house when/if you have to move for a new job? Is it realistic to live in country for 10-20 yrs?
Here's a little about the city, I took this from the Internet,
As of the census[2] of 2000, there were 17,653 people, 6,714 households, and 5,228 families residing in the city. The population density was 634.0 people per square mile (344.8/km²). There were 6,237 housing units at an average density of 249.4 per square mile (96.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 28.04% White, 70.56% African American, 0.15% Native American, 0.21% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.44% from other races, and 0.57% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.00% of the population.
This city was heavily damaged by Hurricane Katrina, being on the east side of the storm (worst side) it took a very strong hit and aside from the heavy wind damage and etc. the city was pretty much underwater. BUT Katrina demolished all of our coast, so the threat of a storm is anywhere we decided to move. We are more inland (North), about 15-20 miles so the only advantage we have where we currently live is that we are at no risk of being affected by storm surge. But we are more prone to tornados then there. We also have to worry about river flooding.
As far as crime, based on the statistics that I saw here on this website, the crime rate on a scale of Very Low, Low, Average, High, and Very High, this city ranks as High.
On the crime scale index, this city's crime ranks higher then every nearby city. And when compared to the US average crime rate, this city ranks higher in EVERY category.
Also, and this is not a racist remark or anything like that, we are white, I really don't know how Id feel being the minority, though the neighborhood is primarily white.
Also the school system is absolutely awful. If we ever had children I would sent them to a school outside of the district.
I'm pretty sure I've just answered my own question lol. It just really sucks because I LOVE this house!
I doubt it would be possible or probably very expensive to move the house to a different piece of property lol
Oops I forgot to mention, we are both in stable careers, low risk of ever losing out position. If that happened though, we could easily pick up another job. The job outlook on the coast seems good, especially with several ship building yards.
Where we live now, we are commuting about 60 miles per day, 30 one way. Moving to this city, the commute would only be about 15, if that.
1. You would cut your commute by either 50%. 30 miles a day x 2 people is 60 miles a day or 3 gallons of fuel and 2 hours of your lives. The data say that a car costs 55¢/mile to drive. So you would save $40/day and get back 1 hour of life for each of you.
2. The crime rate (according to City-Data) is 2x the USA average. Not good.
However, city-wide crime rates are not neighborhood crime rates.
Big cities have all kinds of crime info online. Small cities/towns do not. Visit the Police HQ and talk with them about crime in the neighborhood you are considering.
3. Look at the neighborhood. Not just the house. The expression "location, location , location" refers to the neighborhood and beyond.
I'm pretty sure I've just answered my own question lol. It just really sucks because I LOVE this house!
Believe it or not, the location doesn't sound bad to me. More on that later.
What it sounds like is that you really love the country. You're commuting a long way to work just so you can live where you are. If you love the country, buy in the country.
But from an investor's point of view, the city is where the money's at. Take Oakland, CA - the city is broke, crime is high, and the city poorly run. But Oakland is on the upswing, there's no doubt about that - people are flocking to Oakland because of Location, location, location; it's right next to the highest job growth center in the country. Twenty years from now it will be a very expensive place to live (at least for the nice part) and a very lively city. So how things are now is only secondary to what things will be. You have to look past the stats and see what's bubbling underneath.
With that said, if the country is your cup of tea, by all means. But from reading your description, I'm thinking redevelopment and revitalization of the parts of the city that was destroyed - remaking the formerly run-down area into nice vibrant neighborhoods. I don't know if the city has the fund or the plans to do it, but if there is, that screams potential to me.
First - you clearly like the country - if you like country life, you will hate city life! I live in the city b/c I need good schools and a short commute for my wife...I am a country boy at heart, and soon as those kids are grown up, and the wife quits working - were out. I wont look back.
However - if you do not have kids yet - then you need to consider your commute and child care for when you do have kids (if that is planned) Schools/Child care are harder to come by in the country and the quality is significantly lower....Also the commute with kids can be a deal breaker! Nothing like an hour in the car twice a day with a screaming baby - or the phone call that you need to come get your kids from daycare or school b.c they are sick...Those are the things I never thought about until it was too late. So - here I am 7 years later - moving..
Quote:
Originally Posted by beb0p
But from an investor's point of view, the city is where the money's at. Take Oakland, CA - the city is broke, crime is high, and the city poorly run. But Oakland is on the upswing, there's no doubt about that - people are flocking to Oakland because of Location, location, location; it's right next to the highest job growth center in the country. Twenty years from now it will be a very expensive place to live (at least for the nice part) and a very lively city. So how things are now is only secondary to what things will be. You have to look past the stats and see what's bubbling underneath.
I had not heard that anything in California was doing well...everything I read basically says the entire state is a black hole of debt and foreclosures....I searched for anything to back up the statement "highest job growth center in the country" and all I got was article after article after article about Houston/Dallas/Austin.
California is beautiful, but its demographics & Politics have completely destroyed the state. With taxes exceeding 60% of income, I see no way that California will ever retake the title from Texas.
I had not heard that anything in California was doing well...everything I read basically says the entire state is a black hole of debt and foreclosures....I searched for anything to back up the statement "highest job growth center in the country" and all I got was article after article after article about Houston/Dallas/Austin.
California is beautiful, but its demographics & Politics have completely destroyed the state. With taxes exceeding 60% of income, I see no way that California will ever retake the title from Texas.
You probably weren't searching for the right topic. Remember, California is not one region but a collection of several regions. It's politics and environment is a big reason why it's surging ahead of the most of the nation.
4. Phoenix – up 2.9 percent
Seattle – up 2.9 percent
San Diego – up 2.9 percent
7. Cincinnati – up 2.8 percent
8. Riverside, Calif. – up 2.3 percent
9. Portland, Ore. – up 2.2 percent
Boston – up 2.2 percen
Quote:
“California is the state that’s really climbing,” says McPheters, director of the JPMorgan Chase Economic Outlook Center at the W. P. Carey School of Business. “California added 362,000 jobs from July to July, more than any other state, placing it second on the list. It’s all the way up from 38th place last July. Big gains came in the professional and business services sectors, which accounted for almost one out of every three new jobs there.”
You probably weren't searching for the right topic. Remember, California is not one region but a collection of several regions. It's politics and environment is a big reason why it's surging ahead of the most of the nation.
Good data - I had not seen that, but its out of date a bit....Forbes has moved San Fran to #9
...San Fran is a nice city to visit, but I would not want to live there - but still you can't honestly think California's politics is a good thing?
Its climate is awesome and that is what keeps California growing.... Like Houston has oil/energy, healthcare, California has Hollywood, advanced technology, computer programming, and superb farm land (including vineyards) and that is what keeps California popular and growing...
Even the ultra liberals don't ever say, I'm moving to California so I can pay higher taxes with fewer benefits and MORE regulations. Nobody has ever muttered such nonsense.
California is beautiful, and its ground zero for several profitable industries - but nobody moves there for the benefits of failed political policies.
Last edited by Ultrarunner; 03-07-2013 at 12:37 PM..
Reason: Mod Error
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Moss Point, MS
