From email to client moving to Huntsville;The link is to our "
New to Huntsville " page for area newcomers. The information is equally applicable for Huntsville area investors.
The areas I usually point our to clients are Madiosn, the area between Redstone Arsenal and the Airport, Hampton Cove and
close in northeast Madson County.
Madison has good schools, shopping and is close to Redstone Arsenal and Research Park. South Madison and areas near specific traffic arteries are preferred for easy commutes to RSA and Research Park. As mentioned yesterday, most clients moving from large cities find Huntsville traffic laughable but by Huntsville standards sitting through two traffic light cycles or moving at less than the posted speed limit is intolerable.
The area between Redstone Arsenal and the Huntsville International Airport is rapidly growing and while there have been some growing pains I really like the area both now and for future appreciation and livability. There are a couple of neighborhoods that are selling remarkably well. I have clients who attempted to purchase three pre-construction houses. All three were sold before we could move on the houses. In our current market this still amazes me. There are however neighborhoods that are still bargains with builders and sellers financially stressed and willing to negotiate. At the height of Huntsville's housing boom a developer started Lake Forest, An upscale gated community just outside the Redstone Arsenal's Martin Road (west) gate. The most expensive houses range from $600,000 to approaching $2,000,000 are situated around a large, gorgeous private lake, clubhouse and pool. Several sub neighborhoods radiate from the lake and have more affordable houses. The area has really suffered the past two years. Local lenders call the development "lake foreclosure". I have no doubt that this area will recover and be a prestigious address but there are some bargains to be had in the area for now.
Hampton Cove is another area to consider. It is just east of downtown Huntsville and Huntsville's medical district. Commutes are generally reasonable and there are a couple of alternative routes into Huntsville and additional road development is in progress. Hampton Cove is a gorgeous area that is surrounded by mountains. It started our as an rural faming area the at was developed into an exclusive golf community. (Robert Trent Golf Trail) . In latter years more affordable houses have been built as well as shopping and restaurants.
The last area I like to point out is close in northeast Madison County.The area has natural beauty, is an easy commute, has great schools and basic shopping in place. Before the economy crashed, site work was done on a huge Target shopping complex. The complex is still slated to be finished but had been delayed until better economic times. There are rumblings that some outparcels and restaurants will be developed soon. There are also plans to extend the I 565 interstate spur about 3 - 4 miles further into the area making the commute even faster.
I have mixed feelings about south Huntsville. The schools are good, it is very close to Redstone Arsenal and there is newer shopping, restaurants and entertainment in place. The bulk of houses in this area are however older while there are some new houses under construction. My chief reservation about south Huntsville is the commute to other parts of Huntsville, Research Park, Madison and the airport. Again traffic is a relative term but one must first go north on one of three roads for several miles before going west or east to other parts of Huntsville. Even with new road construction and overpasses it's a little difficult.
I hope this information was helpful as a starting point in your search for
Huntsville houses.
The link below is to candidate properties in Madison. I filtered the listings for newer brick houses that will in a normal market have better appreciation. I also filtered on ranch verses two story. Tenants and buyers on an eventual resale that are older or have small children will tend to prefer ranch style houses over two-story houses. My comments on neighborhoods and specific houses follows.
You can click on the photo on the listing for additional photos and on the address for a map of the approximate location of the property. On the map, you can click on hybrid for a satellite image overlay. In some cases there may also be an interactive street level image. You can click on the zip code to link to the US Census data for the zip code area.
COLINWOOD ESTATES, also spelled COLLINWOOD is one of my favorite neighborhoods. We manage several rentals her and the neighborhood has consistently performing well. We do annual market value updates for two of our clients who own properties here. Even over the past two years when Huntsville has seen a soft market for houses this neighborhood has continued to soldier on, showing consistent appreciation. The neighborhood is served by good schools and is not too far north in Madison. It is near the new Madison location for Huntsville hospital under construction. The link below is to listings of seven of the eight rental houses we manage in the subdivision.
STONE CREST is another neighborhood were we manage several rental houses. The neighborhood has been a good performer in terms of rental performance but prices have been flat. As you can tell form the large number of available houses that there are more houses available than house buyers. The location is good, near schools and shopping. The neighborhood is a little far north but on County Line Road a major north south artery. There are plans to connect County Line Road to I 565.
The link below is to several of the rental house we manage in the neighborhood.
We have a few rental houses in the OXFORD subdivision. OXFORD is also on County Line Road but much further south. The quality of construction if not quite as high as
COLINWOOD ESTATES and STONE CREST. The lots are pretty small. The rentals we have in the neighborhood have been easy to rent to stable tenants. The link below is to the rental houses we manage in the neighborhood.
We don't mange any houses in OLD IVY yet but I really like the location. It is at he southern side of Madison near Highway 20 / Madison Blvd. and I 565. It is close to schools a wide range of shopping and very close to Redstone Arsenal and Research Park. A few of the houses have decent views.
WINDSOR PARKE is another of my favorite neighborhoods. It is located on Balch Road near the new Huntsville / Madison Hospital, The surrounding neighborhoods consist of larger more expensive houses. The neighborhood is very close to the desirable Columbia Elementary school. There are plans to widen Balch Road and possibly extend it to I 565. One must be careful in this neighborhood to avoid houses near Balch road to avoid future traffic and noise.
BUCKINGHAM is a little further south on Balch Road and has the same great location features at WINDSOR PARKE. The homes in the neighborhood are a little older but usually larger.
ASHBURY is a new construction neighborhood located adjacent to Oxford on County Line Road. While this builder is a production builder, I really like the quality of their homes and the prices are remarkable. This same builder has a new neighborhood in northeast Madison County not far out of Huntsville that I really like. We will point out that subdivision when we get to that area.
ST CHARLES PLACE is a smaller, central Madiosn neighborhood where I don't have a lot of experience. The location is good overall. Nit too far north but it is located between two busy roads, Wall Triana / Sullivan and Hughes.
KENSINGTON ESTATES is a nice well kept neighborhood. It may be a little far north in Madiosn for easy acess to RSA and research Park.
The house on 214 JACKIE'S TERRACE is a stand out to me. I really like this settled, family friendly neighborhood. There is a small pool and a decent homeowners association. This house is probably one of the smaller ones in the neighborhood which will tend to trend it's value upward. The house does back up to County Line Road so there will be traffic noise and a lack of privacy. We may want to pass on this one.
LEXINGTON is a good neighborhood located between Balch Road and County Line Road.
ARBORS AT BROWNS FERRY CROSSING is a new construction neighborhood at the south end of County Line Road. The location is good but there is a large albeit nice apartment complex under construction in the same area. As long as the apartments weren't too close this might be an option.
I do really like FRANKLIN STATION. The location is great near the south end of Balch Road. There are pools and clubhouses and a good since of community with neighborhood activities.
The links below are to the properties I mentioned that are not on market now but are tenant occupied and where the owner is willing to sell. The stated list prices are probabably greater than what the sellers would be willing to sell for. Having a tenant in place already can be an advantage to you.
The Gilmore house above is a unique property. The location and pool are great. The kitchen is gorgeous. The only real negative is that the bedrooms are small and closet space is limited.
The next area I wanted to point our is south of Madison, West of Redstone Arsenal and East of Huntsville International Airport. The area is one of Huntsville's fastest growing and I really like the area for long term appreciation and growth. The area is just outside the Redstone Arsenal west Martin Road gate on over can be on the Arsenal very quickly. There is shopping nearby with plans for a strip mall in the immediate area. The school that serves the area has an average ranking but there is an new school under construction. With all the growth, tax dollars, federal grants and well educated parents moving into the area the school will without a doubt become one of the areas better ones. There is a bit of traffic congestion north and south but there are alternate routes and road projects in final planning stages.
There are a couple of very hot neighborhoods in the area where buyer compete for a limited number of houses. There are several areas wit an oversupply of properties where one can often negotiate pretty hard.
The link below is to properties you may consider in this area.
SHADOW CREEK and Shadow springs have been solid rental houses neighborhoods. We have several house that we manage that have always been easy to rent to stable tenants. With the exception of the past two years when appreciation has been flat the neighborhood had see steady appreciation. The neighborhoods are just outside the arsenal gate. The link below is to our rental houses in teh neighborhood.
There are a number of relatively upscale neighborhoods in the area that are struggling where one can often get a great buy.
THE RESERVE is one of those neighborhoods.
LAKE FOREST is a unique gated community where the homes around the large lake range from $600,000 to well over $2,000,000. Neighborhoods with more affordable houses radiate from the lake. The neighborhood had been struggling but this will be a great location long term.
The link below is to some new construction properties in the area you may want to consider. The downside of new construction is that we will have to deal with construction noise, traffic and nails in tires for about a year until the neighborhoods build out.
Hampton Cove is located just east of Huntsville's downtown and Medical district. I have one tenant occupied house in the area with a motivated seller. The tenants are very stable and we have always been able to rent the house quickly. We just had a roof put on and are doing touch up work to get the house ready to go on market. The link below is to an old listing where we were on market last year at $205,000. When we go back on market we will probably be in the $197,000 range. If we represented both principles in a transaction we can cut our brokers fee on this or other client owned properties. In this case we could cut the broker fee by around $5,000.
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The link below is to properties in the area that might be candidates for you.
The next area I wanted to point our was close in northeast Madison County. The area is very attractive with open space, mountains streams a river and a large public lake. Commutes are generally easy and the schools are good.
The link below is to a tenant occupied property we have in this area that is not on the market but where we have a motivated seller. It is a cute house in good condition at the back of a established subdivision. The back yard of the house is at the rear of the subdivision on a county road.
I hope this information was helpful and please let me know if any property interests you. Please let me know if we are on the right track with the search and if there is anything else we can do on this end to assist you.
Best Regards,
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