Hi all,

 

I will be moving to Cleveland in a couple of months and am interested in Cleveland Hts/ Shaker Hts area.  I am planning to rent initially and perhaps in a year or two will buy. In the meantime, if someone could help me figure out how much (a range/ or the minimum) I should expect to pay in rent if I am looking for the following:

1) 2 bedroom / 1 and 1/2 bathroom (at the least) - do not mind if duplex/ single

2) air conditioning

3) will allow a large dog (a lab)

4) updated kitchen/ bathrooms will be a great plus

5) At least 1 car garage and another dedicated parking spot (driveway is ok)

Thanks a ton. Great forum!

Welcome!  For everything you state there in Cleveland/Shaker Heights, you should be able to find something for about $1000/month.  I'd say max is probably $1200.  I lived in a building in Shaker Heights for 2 years that meets your requirements, but the landlord is a total jerk (avoid the Shaker Regency and Continental Luxury Apartments like the plague).  When I was looking for my apartment, I saw a couple other nicely renovated places around the intersection of Warrensville Center Rd. and Fairmount Blvd. - there may be something there for you.  Of course, there are also plenty of houses, but they may not have air conditioning.

I can't help with specific suggestions for Shaker but wanted to say hello and welcome to the forum!

Welcome!  The extra 1/2 bath requirement will probably negate a lot of options.  Most of the older rental units in the Heights only have 1 full bath.  You might be able to find a side-by-side duplex that has a 1/2 bath in the bsmt.

 

Also, you may have to accept window units over forced air.

 

For better variety, you might want to expand your search outward, where you will find newer buildings (less than 50 yrs old) that have central air and a master suite.

 

If you want to stay in the Heights, your best bet might be to look at some houses.  However, once again, you will be hard pressed to find a rental with central air under $1200 IMO.

 

BTW, when I first moved back to Cleveland about 8 yrs ago, I rented a 3 bdrm, 1 bth house in Mayfield Hts for 2 years.  IIRC, rent was $840/mo.  It was a little monopoly house.  Probably only 800 sq ft.  I have a dog too, so a fenced in yard was a must.  And I had just spent the past 7 yrs in NC, so central air was a must as well.  I would have preffered the Heights, but could not find anything that met those req's within my budget at the time.

 

You might be able to find a rental in your range that fits your requirements around the Cedar / Warrensville Ctr Rd intersection.  Lots of bungalows in that area that can't go for much more than $1000/mo.

Welcome!

 

FWIW, the small houses in Mayfield Heights are now going for around $900-1000/month.

One tip: this area has the highest utilities in the state. If your landlord has tenants pay utilities, you might want to find out what kind of heating bills you'll get into. I just looked at an older 1700 square foot house w/a newer furnace that had a heating bill of over 470 last January and went to budget billing of $230/month. COntrast that with my sister in Columbus, who has a 3 (small) bedroom/2 full bath house (1200 sq ft or so) and has never paid more than $100 a month for gas heat.

Yep, I'm looking for something smaller. Or kicking myself for not moving to Columbus instead!

Thanks for all the invaluable advise. Yeah, the fact that we want more than 1 bathroom and central air limits our choice. I am really considering the option of a window unit, in case it comes down to that. The bathroom I am less ready to compromise on. I really do not want to pay over 1000$ but that seems quite impossible. Although the HHeights are desirable, I will probably willing to venture outside that and see what's available. Yeah the utilities thing is scary - and the larger and older the units, the worse it will get .

 

Also I hear that if you live outside the Cleveland city limits but work within, you are double taxed? Anyone can throw any light on that?

Many suburbs will credit a portion of what you paid to Cleveland... it varies, often 1/2 %.  But other than that, yes, you do get double-taxed.  That's a big reason why I live in the city.  Saves me a few hundred bucks a year.