Where are the B and C neighborhoods?

Question

Excuse me if this is a newbie ignorant question but.... what areas in Columbus would be considered B or C neighborhoods? If anyone has any tips on local online resources that could point me in the right direction, that would be great.

Thanks in advance!

Matt Stewart · Answer

@Neddie Smith  You may get a few different ideas from people on here because everyone classifies areas in their own way.  I would consider certain, but not all areas of Pickerington, Canal Winchester, Blacklick, Gahanna, Reynoldsburg, Grove City, and Westerville to be solid B areas.  These are all suburban areas and there are certainly some inner city areas that would meet that criteria also, but you can go from a B to D in a matter of a couple blocks in some places.  You really need local knowledge to be sure what you're looking at there, whereas the suburbs is a much safer bet for an out of town investor.

Account Closed · Answer

D= Bars on windows, industrial, pawn shops, high crime.

C = Moderate priced houses, reasonable crime, very few board ups, or burn outs.

B= Starbucks areas, low crime, good schools, well kept properties, lower upper middle class dominate.

A= Top 1%, the population is loaded and they will often snub people driving 300 series Mercedes.

John Horner · Answer

This is a pretty loaded question but I agree with Matt, he hit most of the good B rental areas!

To keep it simple I think C areas are in the $70k-$110k price range, and B areas are $110k up to $160k.  This isn't always going to work out, but it's a quick and easy way to evaluate.

Neddie Smith · Answer

@Matt Stewart and @John Horner as locals that gives me a good barometer to start with.

Account Closed I'll hit you up with your offer shortly.

Thanks everyone for the awesome answers to my question.

Account Closed · Answer

My shorthand: Drive down the block or use a recent google streetview:

- Are there lots of old multifamilies and it looks trashy/run down?  Do a lot of the single family houses have chain link fences in their front yard, but not on a busy street? Do you see a lot of boarded up homes? Are there empty storefronts, or really scary looking bodegas with random dudes hanging out front? Are there lots of trails in the grass yards near intersections when you look at arial photography?

= D Area

- Are there lots of small, single-family houses with neat yards, maybe an occasional car in the grass, but no chain link fences? Not many multifamilies? Small markets with busy parking lots?  The main roads have stores the average suburbanite wouldn't be too afraid to go in?  Also, often adjacent to B/A areas, good access to freeways and several bus lines, but possibly adjacent to D areas also.

= C Area

- Is it small houses or older tract homes anywhere in the north west quadrant of Columbus or outside I-270 (except the southern half of the city, which is kinda C-area)?

= B Area

- Condos downtown, Upper Arlington, Clintonville, Dublin golf course communities, parts of Westerville, New Albany, etc..

= A Area

Brandon Schlichter · Answer

They need to fix the ranges a bit, but Trulia's heatmap is darn good. At one time it was near perfect.

https://www.trulia.com/home_prices/Ohio/Franklin_County-heat_map/

BJ Everson · Answer

Agreed with @Matt Stewart on his specific areas and @John Horner for his price points for the most part. Another step you can take is to turn on the School and Crime heat maps on Realtor.com or Trulia.com and that will give you a good idea of the areas at the same time as the average price range of the neighborhood. I would add Whitehall, Obetz, Groveport to the C rated areas.

Etienne Martel · Answer

Hey Neddie,

My advice to you would be to cold-call a bunch of Realtors in Columbus to get the inside scoop. You will definitely come across agents that don't know anything about your market, but brush it off and call the next one.

Take notes and cross reference the data you collected to find out which market you want to be in. There are pockets everywhere.

Thanks & hope this helped!

Account Closed · Answer

Hilarious, but pretty accurate!

Richard Leyba tejada · Answer

@Matt Stewart @John Horner @Nicky Reader thank you!

Where are the B and C neighborhoods?

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