[quote=SD Realtor]. . . Looking at this thread you see people pushing neighborhoods and homes on Scarlett when in reality all they are doing is looking at API scores and home prices.

In the end that is not really the way the best way to evaluate your purchase.[/quote]

TOTALLY AGREE, SDR! That is why I’m encouraging her to look more urban for better locations (she stated on this thread that she hasn’t looked at too many “old” houses). It was Scarlett that stated she was “API-sensitive” so I included those scores.

Correct me if I’m wrong on this, but you just mentioned how you loved the area “feel” with the proliferation of kids everywhere. Is your spouse employed FT, SDR? Scarlett and her spouse ARE, with two young children. I was in her place, for many years. I can tell you that after work, I wanted to stop at the commissary express lane (if needed), get gas and pick up dry cleaning on base there and then pick up day-care kid (if not already picked up). After I got home, I wanted to throw something together to eat, get kid(s) to bed and then sink into the jacuzzi with a wine cooler. I was NOT interested is tripping over tricycles, scooters and skateboards in the street/sidewalk before I could get my car in the garage, listening to some kid’s drum practice in his garage (until city/county “noise curfew”), or listening to low-riding teenagers’ cruise my street with boomboxes in their trunks. And, for the record, I’ve never owned as stroller in my life!

In my experience, neighborhoods with zillions of young kids are just a cesspool of noise, litter, extremely full garages of junk and parents who can’t afford to maintain their properties. I believe the more established, “quieter” neighborhoods hold their values much better.

Dual-income parents are a completely different breed with different needs than a single-income household or a household on public assistance/SSD, IMO.