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↑ chaylizi ↓

Mon, Sep 06 2010, 11:40 pm

amother wrote:

Nope. I started off there and I loved our apt. It's more expensive than the others though.

Pity, it used to be such a nice area with lots of frum couples. The prices were pretty reasonable too.

↑ amother ↓

Tue, Sep 07 2010, 11:12 am

My sister just moved to Oak Park from NYC about a month ago. She ended up in oak park because that is where she found a house to rent. She told me about the neighberhood "south park" - she said that it was the border between southfield and oak park. So far she seems to be happy there.

↑ ray379 ↓

Tue, Oct 19 2010, 9:22 pm

OP here.... What's the story with the eruv there? where are the boundaries and is it accepted by most people? (We have a 3 year old and a 1 year old, so an eruv is a NECESSITY!!)

Also, how far from the shul do people live? is the frum area concentrated in one particular part of say, Oak Park, or is it spread out?

We're looking on sites like zillow.com to check out houses, and there are some reasonable ones, about .8 miles from 10 Mile and Greenfield. Is that too far away?

Thanks!

↑ amother ↓

Tue, Oct 19 2010, 9:30 pm

Eruv is not a problem as long as you buy a house where all the frum ppl live there will be an eruv as for houses u see on zillow the neighborhoods change really quickly so it could be not in the neighborhood at all. I would call a realtor that knows the frum community to help you with houses.

↑ amother ↓

Tue, Oct 19 2010, 10:16 pm

amother wrote:

↑ ray379 ↓

Wed, Oct 20 2010, 12:16 am

Does anyone know of a frum realtor or one who knows the frum community?

zipporah ↓

Wed, Oct 20 2010, 7:40 am

ray379 wrote:

Does anyone know of a frum realtor or one who knows the frum community?

I can recommend Abe Dobrusin he sold to/from a lot of my former neighbors, and he is the brother of my brother-in-law's old boss. Gotta love Jewish geography.

http://www.c21mjl.com/ABRAMDOBRUSIN/

We left Detroit as fast as we could... to make aliyah! LOL

Otherwise, it's a great place where pretty much everybody gets along, cuz the community is too small not to do so. Keep in mind that there are other neighborhoods besides Oak Park and Southfield (though we lived in Kollel Heights, behind the 7-11 that does the most slurpee business in the country). South (Oak) Park and Southfield are older and more middle class. North Oak Park is getting nouveau riche. Farther out, you have West Bloomfield and Farmington Hills which were already nouveau riche... what is that called?. You should factor in your budget and where your husband will work. A crosstown commute of a few miles can take an hour, if it's the wrong few miles.

You can PM me if you want Detroit info. I miss the people (and real weather).Abe Dobrusin Abe Dobrusin

PinkFridge ↓

Wed, Oct 20 2010, 9:23 am

South Park? Love it. My first thought was it was re the SW Ten Mile and Greenfield quadrant.

I have a hunch you'll like Oak Park north of Lincoln (OP between Lincoln and Ten Mile is great but you may be too young). And Southfield, Prairie, Ridgecliff, that area, where the young families are moving in. (They're also moving into OP and Southfield south of Ten Mile, and you may well like it, but they tend to be more yeshivish. Though that quadrant of Southfield is up for grabs as families are starting to buy on the outer fringes due to the market - cheap and larger.) There are also younger families moving in closer to Lincoln and Southfield, don't know your budget.

If you're not panicking about real estate prices I would recommend you rent for a while when you come. A house would be great; if you can manage in a comfortable 2 bedroom apt. with a nice basement storage area Rue Versailles is full of young couples of all sorts and close to a lot of shuls. Then again, the community is compact enough you're close to shuls wherever you are.

Renting will give you the breathing time to get to know the area and see where you want to live. I've found that each block almost has its own family feel. Not that your and your kids' lives will be ruined if you don't get onto "THE" block, but as time goes on you will likely clearly see yourself comfortable on certain blocks.

Sorry about amother's experiences. The midwest is a wonderfully healthy place to live.

↑ PinkFridge ↓

Wed, Oct 20 2010, 9:24 am

South Park? Love it. My first thought was it was re the SW Ten Mile and Greenfield quadrant.

I have a hunch you'll like Oak Park north of Lincoln (OP between Lincoln and Ten Mile is great but you may be too young). And Southfield, Prairie, Ridgecliff, (those last two are street names) that area, where the young families are moving in. (They're also moving into OP and Southfield south of Ten Mile, and you may well like it, but they tend to be more yeshivish. Though that quadrant of Southfield is up for grabs as families are starting to buy on the outer fringes due to the market - cheap and larger.) There are also younger families moving in closer to Lincoln and Southfield, don't know your budget.

If you're not panicking about real estate prices I would recommend you rent for a while when you come. A house would be great; if you can manage in a comfortable 2 bedroom apt. with a nice basement storage area Rue Versailles is full of young couples of all sorts and close to a lot of shuls. Then again, the community is compact enough you're close to shuls wherever you are.

Renting will give you the breathing time to get to know the area and see where you want to live. I've found that each block almost has its own family feel. Not that your and your kids' lives will be ruined if you don't get onto "THE" block, but as time goes on you will likely clearly see yourself comfortable in certain neighborhoods. Or not.

Sorry about amother's experiences. The midwest is a wonderfully healthy place to live.

bbmom

Wed, Oct 20 2010, 4:15 pm

All I can say is get ready for the Detroit housing market Smile

Keep in mind a few things -

Many homes in the metro area are selling through what the banks call a "short sale" this basically means that the seller is selling the house for less than what's owed to the bank and is settling with the bank to avoid forclosure. Depending on how far into the short sale application and process the seller is it can take between 30-60 days just to hear back from the bank that are willing to accept your offer. Then you'll apply for a morgage which also takes between 30-60 days. the advantage of short sales is that the seller is usually desperately trying to avoid foreclosure and will generally accept any decent offer.

Buying a foreclosed home might seem like a tempting option because they sell for next to nothing and there are home improvement loans available for fixing up a foreclosed home. The reality is that it isn't so simple - most foreclosed homes sit vacant for many months before the bank actually puts them on the market and by the time they make it on to the market they have been completely vandalized including ripped out sheetrock, missing appliances, missing toilets, ripped up kitchens, etc. In this case not only would the house need thousands of dollars worth of work, if you are applying for an FHA loan you will not be approved to buy such a house.

One last thing - when you see the prices on homes in the area it may seem very tempting to buy immediately, especially with interest rates as low as they are, but it is very hard to sell a house in the Detroit area these days (most sellers are selling at a loss of some sort). Don't buy until A) you know you're staying for a while, B) you're very comfortable about which area you want to buy in. The last thing you want is to be stuck in a position where you have to move but you can't sell your house.

↑ chaylizi

Wed, Oct 20 2010, 5:05 pm

Actually the vandalizing is usually done by the previous owners before they get kicked out. We looked at several houses without toilets, sinks, kitchen appliances- for a song, but then you have to put serious money in to replace everything that is missing.

↑ amother

Wed, Oct 20 2010, 5:06 pm

I know someone selling a house in the prairie ridgecliff area. They want a little more then what houses are going for but it is totally redone inside which means move in ready all new floors walls kitchen bathroom the house is gorgeous.
Just remember If you buy a house for 160 but have to put in 40 grand to bring it up to your expectations your better off buying a totally redone house for 190

↑ ray379

Wed, Oct 20 2010, 10:46 pm

We're actually most likely only staying for three years, that's how long my husband's job is for. But I think it might be worth it to buy instead or rent, seeing that the rental prices seem to be high, and I feel like we wouldn't end up paying that much more in the end for a house. We're not looking for a fixer-upper, but we're also not looking for anything too fancy.

↑ zipporah

Thu, Oct 21 2010, 1:54 am

ray379 wrote:

Don't buy unless you're staying if it's only 3 years... unless you'd be willing to be an absentee landlord. The market isn't stable and values could go down, plus it may be hard to sell immediately. Get a cheap apartment and save the rest towards a downpayment where you'll be staying long-term. Also some of the apartments include heat or hot water... in Michigan, that means a lot!

↑ PinkFridge

Thu, Oct 21 2010, 9:32 am

Don't know exactly what's going on here but there may be houses to rent, if you want or need that much more space.

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