Moving back to Asheville from Detroit (Charlotte, Black Mountain: real estate, apartment, foreclosures)

[Detroit77]

I've had enough of this town, the crime the corruption the crime, the abandoned buildings, dead bodies everywhere and oh did I mention the crime? We relocated here to take care of my sick grandmother in 1991 and now that im 34 and have a 2 year old daughter I realised how lucky I was to grow up in such a great town like Asheville. My wife and I have decided to sell our home and move back to Asheville. I dont want to raise my children here. Im not saying Asheville dosen't have its problems but compared to Detroit....meh. The city is emptying because the ghettos have gotten so bad that even the gang bangers, prostitutes , thugs and other people that MAKE it that bad cant stand it anymore. PRoblem is there coming to the suburbs because the housing slump has made homes that used to go for $120k now so cheap that thier within the price range of the drug dealers and trash. Sorry for going on so long, that was a bit of a rant wasn't it? lol Can you tell im irritated? I was threatened while in my garage by a thug walking by last week and my mom was told to get her blankblank out of dtown by another thug. My family has owned the home since 1962....yeah I know. Anyhoo onto my question...

I grew up in Oak Forest and attended Asheville country day school etc. so I know the area for the most part. My wife and I have returned to Asheville 6 times in the past 4 years on our honeymoon and vacations and now I see oak forest housing prices are in the $200k + range. Were looking more in the $90-120k range with the ability to put $15k down on the house initially. We want a nice nieghborhood like oak forest. Any ideas? I recall the areas around the grove park inn to be nice tho Town mountain road scared the crap out of her when we honeymooned haha. Were trying to avoid buying too far out of town so our kids can have a nice nieghborhood to play in. I recall there being nice nieghborhoods out around beaver lake as well. Also where are the "rough" parts of the city? Its been said that parts of Woodfin are bad now is that true? Work isnt a problem for me as I can transfer but my wife has worked at the same Art supply store for over 10 years and has an associates degree. She has multiple works in galleries here in metro detroit and a huge portfolio so I dont think finding a job will be too hard for her but were a little concerned. My mother will be coming with us as I cant leave her up here alone so that helps with my wife and I working. Free babysitting from Grandma is awesome . Im hoping to find a place with a garage apartment or where building said apartment is allowed. Im quite handy and have done it before.

So what do you think am I nuts or can i get my fam out of this place and back to where my heart is?

[NC_Paddler]

Can't blame you at all for wanting to move back to Asheville -- a no-brainer for sure -- but in all honesty, you'll have a hard time finding a decent house in the 90-120K range anywhere close to Asheville. I think you'll probably have to go out a bit (Madison County, for example).

Best of luck to you.

[The Mule]

Well, here is the cold dose of reality. If you are constrained to $90k - $120k, you are severely limited in choices. A quick check of Realtor.com found a ton of condos, some modular houses, some mobile homes and a handful of small houses, generally under 1200 sq. ft. When you mentioned housing prices in the $200k + range, that is consistent with the bulk of the houses in the area. I've seen some decent foreclosures go for $175k - $200k, but I would not expect any diamonds in the rough for $120k and under. I'm not a real estate agent and am not actively following the market, so my view may be skewed. But I think you are looking for a needle in a haystack in that area, particularly with the other constraints you have (and I did not even factor those into my search).

I'd also be concerned about the wife's employment prospects. There certainly are galleries in the area and they hire, but the number of people wanting to work in those galleries is greater than the number of jobs. She may get lucky and find a job or not. It is a very big variable (risk).

I think you probably have to get out of Detroit for your own well being and for the betterment of your family. I'm just not sure given your list of wants/needs that you can work things out here. Cheap housing and available employment are not qualities synonymous with Asheville.

[Detroit77]

Yeah I was concerned about the employment thing for her. I think I might check out black mountain as well. I recall it being very pleasant tho I only visited while I was very young. Were looking at a year or two before we make the move tho im hoping for less than that. Selling our house up here will be the main thing but the housing market up here has gotten a bit better so heres to hoping. Im figuring a good $15k to $30k to work with to move depending on what we get for our house and my moms so the main thing is looking for a nice affordable home withing 30min of asheville. We may have to settle for a condo but I hope not.

[motordavid]

I grew up in the Motor, but it was a different place then, circa '47 through pre-riot '67. Got transferred to NYC as a young man, in '74, and never looked back. I hear you...

Can't help you on the housing situ. If your wife is as talented as you write, there are galleries by the dozens in any & every town around Asheville, for her art work, but gallery jobs are less paying than Walmart, and with zip bennies.

Good Luck on your getting out.
BR, mD

[Mr Yuck]

Originally Posted by Detroit77

Yeah I was concerned about the employment thing for her. I think I might check out black mountain as well. I recall it being very pleasant tho I only visited while I was very young. Were looking at a year or two before we make the move tho im hoping for less than that. Selling our house up here will be the main thing but the housing market up here has gotten a bit better so heres to hoping. Im figuring a good $15k to $30k to work with to move depending on what we get for our house and my moms so the main thing is looking for a nice affordable home withing 30min of asheville. We may have to settle for a condo but I hope not.

I just sent you a DM. Might have a job for your wife. With gas where it is, I'm not sure living 30 miles out would make any sense with the pay scale here.

[Tony1790]

I moved from Detroit and grew up in Asheville/Black Mtn area.

Moving from Detroit to Anywhere is so obvious that isn't even a question.

As to housing price, you are a little low on your price range, unless you are willing to live in a double wide. However if you expand your search to $200k, there are many possibilities.

$175,000 at 4.5% for 30 yrs is $886 month, $120,000 at 4.5% is $608. Personally I'd look at homes up to $200k, trying to get the price closer to $180,000 and use the cash downpayment to get close to $160,000, payment would be payment would be approx $810 month, you'd be hard pressed to rent for that amount a similar home.

Good luck, wherever you move, I'd leave Detroit........now.....

Tony

[Detroit77]

you all rock thanks for all the input . I miss Asheville for just this reason you know? The kindness and plain old friendlyness of its residents. Guess were a little spoiled because our monthly payment is only $577 right now because we practically stole this house from someone retiring who couldnt afford to live alone anymore. We bought for $50k and put all new plumbing and new bathroom in. Its a 3 bedroom bungalow about 1300sqft and a detached garage thats only 2 years old. i put up a nice 6 foot high privacy fence too. The other homes in the area have sold for bout 70-100k so im hopefull. If we sell for at least 75k that will leave us with a good 20-25k to work with after fees and whatnot. Plus my moms house should get a good $10 - 20k if we dont just walk away from it. Her neighborhood is a hood for sure. They regularly find bodies in alleys blocks from her place. The house next door sold for $12,000 a year ago .

Problem will be finding a house with a mother in law apt attached. I can build one easily as i've done it before but id rather not have to if I can avoid it lol. What a pain.... Still it will be nice to get my little girl out of here. More than anything my daughter is the reason im doing this.

[jukes]

HI,
you probably know this but our search for a house with an apartment for my mother has led us to understand they are often called 'mother in law suites' and you can do house searches with this requirement included.
good luck.

[gigimac]

Dear Detroit,
You must check some of the main real estate sites in Asheville and see what $125,000 will buy you. Detroit has a lower market price than the rest of a lot of the country for the very reasons you are leaving. $200,000 starting in Oak Forest is really very good for that area now, you simply must figure out a way to get a home in that range over there. Up off Charlotte near Grove Park, very rare can you get anything below $200,000, same thing around Beaver Lake. However, you CAN find a number of fairly good homes, small like yours, for $150,000, and it will be in a pretty good neighborhood. For example, near UNCA, as long as you stay away from where all the kids have two-stories filled with noisy all-night keg parties, you might can get something for $150,000, and a tad further away from downtown going west over the Patton Bridge, like all around in Deaverview and beyond, a $150,00 will come up sometimes that looks halfway decent, but forcing you to make the trip up and down Patton Avenue with all its lights. There are parts of Black Mountain that are not as attractive as the close-to-town areas, where you can get something around $150,000 perhaps, but the nieghborhood will suffer. As for where to steer clear in Asheville, in the north part of town, stay at least two blocks north of the freeway, just too much rough activity in there, streetwalkers, drug deals.

Keep in mind that the pay grade is a little higher than where you are, thus more or less supporting the high price of homes (altho most jobs are tourist-oriented and low-paying), but if your wife's artwork is good enough, she could pull in some pretty high prices if she can get a gallery to show her work and keep it in there for a while because tourist season is coming up and folks from out of town will lay down a lot of cash. I also think with the huge growth of galleries and the improvement in the downtown area being substantial, she just may get a job right now, and then even hang onto it through the year if they like her, particularly since she is an artist. Other places she could consider showing if she can't quite get a gallery right now is, if you can still get on the list in the Kress Building during tourist season, they have an art gallery on the main floor off Patton that you can get a booth and show for very little cost for a month.

I was here when you left, came in 1982, I lived in an apartment in Montford, and a few years later husband and I bought a small three-bedroom in West Asheville to the north of Patton, up on a little hill on a dead-end street, for $40,000. When we sold it in the mid-2000s, it went for $150,000, so that's how much prices of houses have changed since the mid-1980s. We downsized to a single-wide (but a really good one in a very nice neighborhood just outside the city limits in Northwest Asheville) for $60,000 on a half-acre, the people before us landscaped the yard beautifully with a gazebo and carport, we got it at a steal, and it's better than the stick-built house we had before, so while a mobile home might seem an awful idea, there are spots where they sit in regular neighborhoods these days and much cheaper than the standard house, but gosh they build them so well, a look through one and you will be able to tell if it's one of the good ones. Just trying to give you a real-life picture of what's going on in the housing market here.
GG