North Olmsted, OH - Looking for a Live-In Property To Rent Later

[Sean Frick]

I will be working in North Olmsted near Great Northern Mall soon for a new job.  

Completely new to this area and would appreciate any advice:

I expect to be there at least a couple years, and will receive some housing allowance.  Interested in using the allowance toward building equity instead of leasing, that I will either (a) feel reasonably comfortable reselling without taking a loss in 2 years, or (b) turning into a rental with a PM that would generate reasonable returns.

I'll be commuting from our home in Indiana, so I'll be only occupying ~4 days/week.  So my priorities are:

• No yard needed & won't have time for the maintenance, so this probably pushes me toward townhouse/condo
• 2-3 Bedrooms for when wife and kids do visit
• Either in nice shape, or re-habbable to be in nice shape
• Closer to Great Northern Mall the better - I'll be in town each week only to work - and not to do anything else. Don't want another commute once I get here.
• Want neighborhood/condo/townhouse community to not have crime issues, and would be nice if it had exercise amenities (but lots of gyms nearby, so probably just as easy to join one of them)
• Price <$125K
• Will be looking to make an offer in March-April

I appreciate any advice on neighborhoods/communities to look for that would fit some/most/all of these goals!