good places to live

LEXpert’s top picks for around $250k

by John Rice

Okay.  You want a 4 bedroom house in Lexington.  Nothing too old.  Maybe you have kids.  Maybe you don’t.  Either way you realize a house in this price range and size should be in a good performing school district to keep the resale potential up.

Here are a few neighborhoods I always suggest and why:

Andover Hills-I know, I know.  I am always talking about Andover Hills.  I lived there for several years and it has been my absolute favorite place I’ve ever lived.  You are close to Hamburg, but since you are on the southeast side of it, you do not have to pass through Hamburg EVERY time you go any place else in town.  Since I now live on the northeast side of Hamburg and must get past Hamburg to get anywhere, I am always aware of this.  Andover Hills has a nice vibe.  Upscale without being pretentious.  $250k is the low end for this neighborhood.  An added plus is having Andover Golf and Country Club so close for golfing and the pool if you wanted to join.  There are a lot of businesses that you use regularly that are very close too.

Chilesburg-This neighborhood would not have been on my list many years ago.  It has always been nice, but the school district change finally put all of Chilesburg in the elementary school that sits in the middle of it.  It is just a few minutes past Andover Hills, so it shares many of the same perks.  One cool thing Chilesburg has is a bunch of walking trails through the neighborhood.

Willow Oak-This is one neighborhood few people know exists.  It is tucked away behind Millpond Shopping Center on Boston Road.  If you’ve been out there and seen a park with a pool and a big pond, that belongs to this neighborhood.  There is only one way in and out, and it is across a picturesque bridge.  Anything you want in South Lexington is close, and you could walk to Starbucks.  The streets are lined with huge pin oaks.  This neighborhood has one of my highest “Good vibes per dollar” ratings ever.  You could spend twice as much elsewhere and not get as much neighborhood character.

Copperfield-This is one of the most desirable neighborhoods in this price range.  It is upscale in a classic sense like Andover Hills and has all the character that you find in Willow Oak.  It is also on the edge of the Dunbar High School district, which is one reason it is so popular.  The neighborhood has it’s own pool and clubhouse too.

 

 

 

LEXpert’s top picks for around $150k

by John Rice

Let’s say you are a first time buyer, retiring, downsizing, or maybe you just don’t need a big house.  Your budget is around $150k.  You don’t want to compromise location.  You don’t want a characterless neighborhood.  What to do?  Where to look?

Here are my top 5 picks for neighborhoods to consider.  All are from the 80s and 90s and all are in southwest Lexington:

  1.  On the low end of the budget, you should consider Overview Drive in Hidden Springs.  One side of this street backs to a creek, so you have a little breathing room since the houses on the other side of the creek are a little further away.  Not that you will, but you could walk to the Boston Road Kroger, or Starbucks, or all the stores on either side of Boston Road.  You’ve got a gas station and pharmacy too.
  2. If you like being in an affluent part of town at a bargain price, look into either Ashbrooke or Harrods Point.  Both are right on the Fayette-Jessamine County line out Harrodsburg Road.  Both are nice, quiet and convenient locations.  You have Bellerive Shopping Center sooo close.  Just down Harrodsburg Road is Palomar Shopping Center, the library and the YMCA.
  3. Copper Trace is in the middle of it all.  It is on the outside corner of Man O War and Clays Mill Road. Anything you want to do in south Lexington is a very short drive.  Unless you are on Spring Run Road, there is only one way in and out of either side of this neighborhood.  The huge pin oak trees that line the streets give it that established vibe everybody likes (except in the fall when the leaves drop!)
  4. While all of Clemens Heights is a nice neighborhood, one street in particular is amazing.  If you know the area, you know I am talking about Steamboat Road.  Almost the whole street backs to either greenspace or the city owned Waverly Park.  I’ve been in many houses on either side.  The wooded greenspace is a great view.  Waverly is a real gem of a park.  Just the right size and all the features you’d want.
  5. The fifth one was Harrods Point, but I combined it in #2 with Ashbrooke since they are so close.

Great Time to Downsize/Retire in Lexington

by John Rice

It is always a good time to be in the market for somebody.

A few years ago anybody moving up had it made.  The price of their old house had dropped, but the price on their move up house had dropped even more.

Today, the winner is the buyer who is downsizing.   Sure, the house they want to buy is worth a lot more than it was a few years ago, but so is the house they are selling.

I’ve worked with several buyers who have been empty nesters or retirees.  Some already lived in Lexington.  Some have moved from out of state after discovering Lexington is a great place to retire.

Almost all of them want a ranch house less than 2000 square feet.  Some want an older house for the character.  Some want a newer house for maintenance free living.  Some have considered a condo, but none have bought one (yet).  They all have wanted to be close to shopping/dining/entertainment as well as health care facilities.  Many of them have family spread out in different states and tell me they like how Lexington is two hours to their grandkids, or 3 hours in the opposite direction to other family.  Guess having two interstates with Lexington in their crosshairs helps.

It is a lot of fun to work with these buyer, and it sure is a good time to be one of them!

Neighborhoods with good design

by John Rice

Some people just want a house.  Some people want a house and a neighborhood.  I don’t mean location when I say neighborhood.  That has more to do with proximity to features.  Neighborhood is a vibe thing.  A feeling.  Has to do with trees, the layout of the streets, etc.  Think curvy streets and roads with landscaped medians.  Some good examples are Hartland Parkway in Hartland, or Slashes in Ashland Park.

It is no surprise that neighborhoods with a good vibe are more desirable than neighborhoods that don’t.  That is one reason the exact same house is worth more in a neighborhood like Chilesburg than it is in Willow Bend or Masterson.

I am more of vibe person.  I really like neighborhoods that have some pretty features to see as you walk or drive through them.  An element of design.  So, here are a few that I can think of off the top of my head and why I like them:

  1.  Hartland is probably the best thought out neighborhood in Lexington since Chevy Chase and Ashland Park.  It has a landscaped median running through the whole neighborhood.  All of the cul-de-sacs have landscaped islands in the middle.
  2. Chilesburg-Since it has so many creeks running into the reservoirs in Jacobson Park, the developer didn’t have much of a choice but to work around them.  There are several ponds in the neighborhood, a walking trail with plank farm fencing around it, and some wooded greenspace areas such as the best one on Willman Way.
  3. Greenbrier-There is just something about seeing so much green as you drive through it.  Then you pass the clubhouse and see the golf course.
  4. The Woods-I really like the elevation changes and meandering road that runs through the whole neighborhood.  It is now old enough to have some amazing trees.  You feel like you have left the heart of the city and are in a secret, private place.  Lakewood is a lot like that too because Lakewood use to be on the edge of town.
  5. Chevy Chase and Ashland Park-no explanation needed.

Those are my favorites.  I don’t think we will see anything like these neighborhoods in Lexington again.  There just isn’t the space left.  Other than a few areas in town, we are down to infill projects.  Those often don’t have the space to do much more than clear the land and lay out the neighborhood in a way that maximizes the number of lots.

Time is the enemy of Location

by John Rice

Location sure is a funny thing.

I showed a property in Gardenside this week.  It was on the street behind the shopping center on Alexandria Drive.  I was thinking, that when the house was new, it was probably a great bonus to be so close to one of the premier shopping centers in Lexington.  That was in the 50’s and 60’s.  Now, being so close to that shopping center is more of a negative than a positive.  It use to have businesses like Dawahare’s Department Store and Lexitalia Restaurant.  Now it has a strip club.

My family moved to Kenwick in the mid 80s.  There was a super neat house on North Hanover that we loved.  We didn’t buy it because it was just a few houses down from all the scuzzy commercial sites on National Avenue……which is now a trendy spot with cool restaurants and businesses.

Part of the whole “Location Location Location” mantra is what desirable commercial areas are close.  Schools are another big one too, but that is another post.  Can you imagine what would happen to Townley Park if that shopping center in the middle of it was half vacant, and the rest were the same businesses you see in every failing shopping center?  Nobody would want to live there.  On the flip side, look at the NoLi District on the north end of downtown.  Al’s Bar gets discovered by hipsters, then we get a lot of other cool businesses like North Lime Coffee & Donut and suddenly what use to be a scary part of town is now desirable.  I just sold a house on Rand Avenue.  Just a few years ago NOBDODY wanted to live on Rand Avenue.

It is kind of sad to see some locations lose their luster, but seeing other parts of town be transformed makes up for it.

Location is never static.  Time usually makes it better or worse.