Under $90K in Tallahassee? (Memphis: renters, houses, neighborhoods)

[scyscyscy]

I'm moving to Tallahassee from NE Tennessee later this summer to go to grad school at FSU. I'll be giving up my lovely little house in a working-class neighborhood within walking distance of the university. Is there any possibility of an equivalent there? I'm wondering if there's anything similar to what I have now- an established older neighborhood, slowly converting from renters to owner-occupants, quiet and safe, where I know my neighbors, where homes are selling for around $85K or $90K, where the people who buy those homes move in and do renovations as time and money allow, and where it's relatively quiet and we all feel safe and know our neighbors. Is there anything like that? I spent a long time in Memphis, where the neighborhoods around the university were either very expensive (where I did not live) or were filled at night with the sounds of gunfire (where I DID live).

Would I be wasting my time looking for a place to buy, or should I just bite the bullet and rent?

[fsuphd2b]

I'm a grad student here that just relocated with my family from Raleigh. We debated for awhile on the rent/buy idea. In the end, we decided to rent. We're only here for a short amount of time and even though we're not building up any equity -- it's a "safer" option for us. Renting allows more flexibility about when we can leave (I'm in a doc program, so the sooner I can crank out my dissertation, the sooner we're outta here!). I'm not sure that the market will turn around enough in the next 2 or 3 years to make a profit or even break even on a house.

As far as areas right around campus -- you may want to look a little further out. 10 miles in any direction from downtown/campus area and you're pretty much out of Tallahassee, so "further out" is pretty relative. Areas right around campus usually have a lot of undergrads. There are also several "pockets" around campus that aren't the best.

I just did a quickie search for houses under 90K and found 200+. So, there are homes out there. I would recommend looking on a map to see where they are and then actually driving around the area. One street might not be a good area, but the next few streets over might be better.