Condos (St. Louis, University City, Webster Groves: HOA fees, neighborhood, to buy)

[FedExpress50]

I am looking to buy a condo with a budget around 100k. I would like to stay within 10 miles of downtown Saint Louis. I recently saw a listing for a condo priced right under 80k that is in Shrewsbury. I think it is part of Kenrick Manor. The location seems great and the condo itself looked very good from the listing. It was a 2BR 2Bath with a lot of updates. The price seems very good, is there a reason it is so low in a great location? Any other areas I should be looking at? Thanks for the help

[zach_33]

It is remarkable how inexpensive housing is in this area. 80k for a 2/2 condo in Shrewsbury does seem reasonable, but you should find out what the HOA fee is; it's probably not much, $200 per month would be a wild guess, but HOA fees can make a big difference on a budget when comparing condos to single families. It's not a bad area at all, not glamorous but certainly not trashy either. Not sure if that part of Shrewsbury is served by Webster Groves or Affton schools. WG are considered better. Other areas you could look at - there are a lot. Do schools matter? Are you more partial to suburban areas over urban? St. Louis has some gem vintage buildings which can be had for a song if you don't mind abysmal public schools and pockets of extreme social ills. With $100 as a max and assuming no kids, I would look for a 2/1 or even a 2/2 in Soulard or Benton Park perhaps. You might also look west in the Skinker Debaliviere neighborhood. If you like suburbs more that the city you can find plenty in your budget...Maplewood, University City, maybe even some choices in Olivette. Give the folks on this board more insight into your preferences and they will give you ideas.