JayPea

Oh, good. We have both of those on our list to see. Good to hear about South Hills.

Again, thanks everyone. Peabody, we are in Fairfax and I work in DC - because that as close as $1400 in rent will get 'ya these days. Although we're in the suburbs now, my husband and I both have lived in transitioning areas in the recent past, he in Chicago and me in a town adjcent to Oakland, so we would lean toward that as long as it's not an area like we saw on Trowbridge - broken liquor bottles in the yard and very likely someone squatting in the garage. We thought we had probably missed out on options in our price range in OC and Tremont but that would be the type of area we would like. Our realtor hasn't been high pressure, but I get the idea that he doesn't think too highly of Detroit Shoreway, so your thoughts are helpful. We could stretch our price range, but we still want to be able to travel and afford some little luxuries, as well as home improvements, so we've put that limit on ourselves. We will likely rent for a few months, because I doubt we could even close on a house by the time my husband needs to be at the new job. (Not that you all haven't been persuasive.) It's when we think about the cost of doing it, it is around 1.5% - 2.5% of the purchase price we are looking at, so that does give a little pause. On the other hand, perhaps worth it when talking about such a big purchase. I also hear more inventory tends to come on the market in April and May. I'm sure 'll be back with more Qs... Thanks.

Thanks. A short term rental is an option. My husband and I go back and forth on it, but we really don't want to have the cost of two moves. We're renting for $1420/month now, but would want to half that if we rented - no use paying that much for a short term rental. We don't see ourselves in a condo. I had a feeling that the Marvin and W 37th areas were rough. We looked at a place on Trowbridge around 31st or 32nd that was a no-go and it didn't look to be too far away. Is Old Brooklyn the same? We've asked the realtor to see places in West Park and Kamms Corners this coming weekend. We are definitely looking to build some sweat equity in a place. Some heaver cosmetic stuff and a dated kitchen/bath is ok but a new foundation or roof (or, as we saw in one place, walls) is another thing.

Hi All, I've been lurking for a few weeks and have reviewed several of the previous posts from folks looking to relocate to Cleveland. My husband and I, currently in DC, are getting close to our move and have been out with a realtor the past couple of weekends. We've looked primarily at the West side of town. My husband will be working downtown and I expect to end up working downtown also. We're looking to buy what will be our first home - couldn't dream of affording one in the DC area - and I was hoping to get the scoop on a couple of areas that I can't quite figure out. We're looking for at least a 3br/1ba for under $100K. We have don't have kids yet, but we do have family and friends with young kids and would want to feel confortable that they could play in the yard when they visit. We will have a dog, so ideally we'd like to be someplace near a park and a nearby dog park would be fantastic. One place we're considering is in Old Brooklyn, behind Deaconess Hospital. I haven't seen a lot of posts about that neighborhood, so any info would be helpful. There are a couple of others places that I can't quite figure out what neighborhood they are in and how they stack up, safety wise. The first is the 2800 block of Marvin Ave and the other is the 3700 block of W 37th. My husband lived in Chicago before the DC area and I am originally from the San Francisco area. We want to be relatively close to downtown to be able to take advantage of live music, theatre and those great downtown sports venues. Hope that is enough to give you an idea what we might be looking for. I appreciate the help.