<p>So I’m looking around at my housing options, and have pretty much accepted that I’m going to have to live off-campus, which is not surprising for a veteran, let alone one entering in the spring. </p>
<p>I’m also looking at the possibility of buying a house/condo/something with my VA loan. Now, the reason I would consider doing this, before people jump over it like its the worst idea in the world, is that my brother has also been accepted as a freshman for the fall of 2013. Cost is an issue with him being able to go here instead of the small state school he was accepted to, despite my parents income. So I’m considering buying a 3br+ house/condo in the neighborhood of 100-150k (monthly mortgage payments of $612-$897) and renting out the 3rd/4th bedroom, which could conceivably reduce our (mine and my brothers via my parents) monthly housing costs considerably, and even put me in the black if/when I sell. </p>
<p>I know he’ll have to live in the dorms his freshman year so i’d be planning on buying in the late spring.</p>
<p>The problem is, whether I rent or buy, I have no idea what parts of Tuscaloosa are safe, or what’s considered “too far” from campus to be attractive for a student. I tried looking through crime maps, but given a large enough sample size, everything appears to be a high crime area. If someone could give me a rough estimate using major streets as boundaries of where I should or definitely should NOT be looking, it would really be appreciated.</p>