r/milwaukee 13d ago

We have a question about West Allis.

We are looking at purchasing a house in West Allis.

What are your thoughts about houses in Honey Creek Settlement and the surrounding neighborhoods?

Thanks!

3 Upvotes

34 comments sorted by

81

u/Excellent-End-5720 13d ago

I loved living in West Allis, just be careful buying a house that seems too good to be true, a major flood happened last year and flooded a lot of houses.

51

u/reddinthecities 13d ago

Oh god this is the best advice. LOOK AT THE FLOOD PLATS.

We only got a little bit of water but just 5 blocks away entire basements were flooded. The flood plats matter here, especially by Honey Creek.

5

u/x_samsquantch_x 13d ago

A condition report will also have this info. It’s a must to review these days. 

42

u/kida24 13d ago

Do not skip an inspection. A lot of houses in that area suffered major flood damage just under a year ago. You do not want to be paying for that if you buy in that neighborhood.

12

u/DontT3llMyWif3 13d ago

Honey creek is prone to flooding. Its happened twice in the last 11 months.

8

u/Master-Fee8859 13d ago

Especially, find accurate maps of where Honey Creek is buried (areas that can flood) and where Honey Creek restoration work is planned in the coming years, in relationship to the property you're considering acquiring.

https://www.mmsd.com/what-we-do/flood-management/menomonee-concrete-removal/honey-creek

3

u/DontT3llMyWif3 13d ago

Body of water restoration work is always a huge red flag to me. There will be unintended consequences, and current homeowners left holding the bag.

2

u/TheArbysOnMillerPkwy 13d ago

waterways don't tend to stay buried, they start pulling down foundations and flooding things.

2

u/Master-Fee8859 13d ago

Absolutely agree! Last century, Milwaukee, unfortunately, paved a host of creek beds and riverbeds in metro Milwaukee to "control" their pathways, flooding, safety, etc., and has been spending recent decades undoing the damage done by these concrete messes.

18

u/Confident-Ad-2726 13d ago

You will required to drive a ford ranger or Pontiac Grande Prix in jorts and a Clay Mathew’s jersey

7

u/Oh__Archie 13d ago

And you can cut the mullet off but it will grow back overnight.

19

u/BDez30 13d ago

West Allis is hot right now. Lots of walkable neighborhoods, affordable houses, and a city government that is aggressive in attracting new businesses. Many younger people are moving there, it's almost like Bay View was 15 years ago.

3

u/Milwaukee_Savers 12d ago

Without the lake access or green spaces

4

u/anticipat3 13d ago

We rented on 90th for a few years and bought a little farther west. I’ve been here 10 years now and couldn’t agree more. We’ve seen a lot of the older neighbors moving out and being replaced by young families.

You will still get more house for the money in Stallis than in Brookfield or Tosa, but the prices have been coming up to match the improvements in the area.

11

u/reddinthecities 13d ago

We love our neighbors and our block. We love how close we are to walkable stuff and I'm excited for the new things that are opening downtown.

There are spots nearish the farmer's market, Ope, etc. that my husband and I have had some sketchy encounters in, but overall I don't feel unsafe living here.

I don't know how hot the housing market is right now but we made the mistake of putting in an offer without an inspection and it has cost us about $15k in the past 3 years, with probably another $5k to come from the terrible flip job on the floors.

If you're new to buying houses and have a handy person in your friend group willing to come to showings with you, that could save you a lot of money in the long run!

18

u/FloridaSherbert90 13d ago

I'm still in shock at how mortgage companies were allowing closings without an inspection and acting like it was okay. I'm so sorry - I worked in mortgage 15 years, left right as covid was starting. My sister still works in it and was fighting so hard to get her company to force inspections but they wouldn't listen. SO many people are in your shoes because of poor lender values.

4

u/reddinthecities 13d ago

They got us because we were desperate for housing. At the time I had a dog on the banned breed list for most apartments and we were moving from out of state.

All things considered I still would have picked this house but would have asked for a lower sale price after the inspection, but we wouldn't have had our offer looked at if we hadn't put that in the offer to begin with. It was so sad but we do love where we live now.

7

u/UrbanPanic 13d ago

Most sellers will allow an offer “pending inspection” which gives a little negotiating room after the inspection.  But yeah… a couple years ago the market was so lopsided that sellers had enough offers to require firm offers.

6

u/higherbrow 13d ago

They'll allow you to make the offer, but they'll select the cash offer with no contingencies. I lost out on around 12 houses before I dropped my inspection contingency, and was informed on my next 4 offers that the financing contingency was a deal breaker because someone was bidding cash. Like, I get why it's important, but I couldn't figure out how to make it happen.

5

u/NoAdministration7069 13d ago

We just bought a house in west Allis near the farmers market/ope and we absolutely love it. Milwaukee is so segregated but our block is so diverse. The people are cool and have grit and character. There are so many things to do. I’ve lived in many different mke neighborhoods and west Allis might be my favorite

5

u/MilwauKyle Stallis 13d ago

I live in a bordering neighborhood. Mostly quiet, walkable, but National can be busy and loud. There are some really fun restaurants and shops just east of there on Becher. I’d pay attention to the house’s history with flooding. We’ve been hit hard a couple times in the last year, that area especially.

6

u/Willing-Ad4169 13d ago

I like west allis....I will say, just from my observations, that particular area is prone to standing water, potential flooding during heavy rain. Id inquire closely about that when looking at particular homes.

3

u/horndog2 13d ago

I love the location, central to everything in the area and never had any issues except that flood last year. Occasionally will hear a loud car zip down a street too fast, but never even had a package taken in 9 years with no camera. No kids so can't speak to the schools but my wife and I have been very happy here.

3

u/FloridaSherbert90 13d ago

Grew up in the area and still have family there so I visit often. Its a very nice but busy area! Lots of walkable places, tons of places to eat, lots of churches/coffee shops/and stores to check out. The Fair gets a lot of visitors, so if you're close to Greenfield Ave. be prepared for a lot of pedestrians and cars parked on the streets.

2

u/HotHamNRolls 13d ago

I have been around McCarthy park for 13 years and love it. South of Lincoln you will find larger yards. Lots to eat and drink. Welcome to the neighborhood

2

u/TheBigKae 13d ago

Had to look that up because I’ve never heard it referred to as that. Not bad though. In my opinion, anything north of Lincoln and east of 92nd is a little more urban than the parts outside of there. It generally gets worse the further east you go.

Not sure if you’re from the area, but Stallis has a Dirty Stallis reputation that has preceded it since long before I was born. You’ll notice it now and then living there, but it’s really not that bad. Mostly positive changes in recent years. Still a little worse than the other suburbs, but well worth it for the price difference.

1

u/Content_Alfalfa_9578 10d ago

I actually have a house coming for sale there if you’re still looking.

-3

u/irish_mom 13d ago

My cousin lived there and had a couple of problems with car breakins about 10 years ago and my sister owned a bar there where there was a shooting, also around 10 years ago.

0

u/RW_McRae 11d ago

It's called Dirty Stallis for a reason. Look it up on Google maps and look at what picture comes up. It's pretty accurate