Choosing a Neighborhood

By: Erik Hare

Is this a good neighborhood?  Teresa dealt with this question just a few days ago.  While her answer was an excellent one, I happen to think that the question is so important it’s worth revisiting a few times over.  Teresa answered it as a REALTOR, which is who she is.  Me?  I’m just a guy who gets into this stuff.  I’d like to talk to the potential buyers out there more directly.

First of all, everything Teresa said is right on.  It’s not just a question that a REALTOR can’t answer, it’s a question people can only answer for themselves.  The sources of data that Teresa provided are very helpful for anyone looking to move to Saint Paul.  As I said once before, there’s nothing like heaps of old fashioned “quantity time” spent checking things out.  But even before you do, there are many things to consider.

Keeping your costs down isn’t just a matter of trading off the cost of houses here or there.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, American households spend 17% of their income, or about $613 a month, on nothing but cars.  That’s half what they spend on the houses.  If you make a point of living close to work or, even better, close to transit options, you can save enough money on cars to improve your life in other ways.

That was one of the things that attracted me to my neighborhood, the West End of Saint Paul (also known as West Seventh).  Nearly twenty years ago, I came here on a bus for a night of fun in the many watering holes located here.  Wandering around, I found that there was an incredibly cool neighborhood conveniently located by more things than I could ever dream of living near.  And there was a condo for sale, too.

I didn’t just pick out a neighborhood to live in, I fell in love with one before I committed to it.  Buyers should give consideration to the dreams as much as the practical considerations.  You never know until you spend a lot of time getting lost in a place just how much you might enjoy being at home in a place.  The odds are that you won't like the things I do, so what good is my advice?  Depends what questions you ask me.  Getting an opinion isn't the same as a solid, verifiable statement about what's in the neighborhood.

There’s also all that data we saw before.  Some people understand that wherever they’re living just isn’t going to be forever, so resale value is going to be an important consideration.  That’s when the data about neighborhoods really becomes important.  But even that is backwards looking, and if you hope to make a profit off of your home you have to be able to predict the future.  Which neighborhoods are on the rise?  Once again, it takes time on the street to know.  Seeing a lot of homes being fixed up tells you that a neighborhood is on the rise.

What’s right for you?  No one can tell you but yourself.  But what matters more than anything is to understand just what you are looking for and to be willing to search it out.  That’s not an easy thing for someone being transferred from one city to another, but I think a lot of REALTORs would be happy to help – if you ask the right questions.  Which neighborhood is good?  Sorry, Teresa can’t answer that one.  How about asking which neighborhood is historic, or has the most fun, or is a bit on the funky side? I spent the time finding it on my own, but Teresa will confirm what I’m saying.  What matters for you is making sure you ask just the right questions, and the answers will come on their own.