Another where should I live thread, Please help.

[gentlearts]

Originally Posted by RDriesenUD

For what you want, I would look at Bellbrook, Sugarcreek Township, Oawkwood/West Kettering. Centerville, Kettering, Springboro next.

This is a fabulous area. My grandkids have grown up in Centerville/Bellbrook area. There are wonderful parks and sports programs for the kids, and the schools are fabulous.
However, the property taxes are sky high, so a homeschooler may not wish to pay for a premium school system she doesn't intend to use.

[RDriesenUD]

Originally Posted by gentlearts

This is a fabulous area. My grandkids have grown up in Centerville/Bellbrook area. There are wonderful parks and sports programs for the kids, and the schools are fabulous.
However, the property taxes are sky high, so a homeschooler may not wish to pay for a premium school system she doesn't intend to use.

I would probably recommend a township for that reason. Aren't their taxes lower?

[rebot]

I just sat down after spending the entire day touching up paint and trying to finish all the little things that I said I was going to do around the house but never got around to. We're hoping to get the house on the market within the next few weeks.

After talking to my husband more, he vetoed living in the city. We spent spent a few years in Shanghai and apparently he got his lifetime fill of city living. It looks like we are focusing on suburbia. I'm going through the above lists and found a few houses that look promising, but we have to wait until we get down there to get a feel for the areas.

For a house, I'm hoping to find a reasonable priced one that needs some fixing up. Even a bigger hope is that it is in a neighborhood that has fancier houses around it so we can hopefully get some of the money back when we sell.

I'm going to look at the map a little closer to get a better idea of areas then search through Zillow. I'm sure that I will have more questions when the time nears for a visit.

Thank you all for taking the time to reply. I greatly appreciate the help.

[SWOH]

^Sounds like a good plan, thanks for the update!
The best way to find out what you like is to come down. Should only be about a 3.5 hr drive, so nothing horrible. Pick out a good hotel (we can help out there too) and make a weekend of it haha.


Given what you said, you should be safe to take both Grafton Hill and Wright-Dunbar off your list. I'd still give McPherson Town a shot, just because its location keeps it isolated from the city and I know for a fact there are kids in the area. I have seen what looked like a couple of 8 or 9 year old boys riding bikes through the neighborhood at about 7pm on a weekday. Definitely a family-friendly, safe place that's separated from the hustle and bustle of the city, generally speaking. Worth a look.


Otherwise, if you are considering a renovation, try Miamisburg. Specifically, I was just looking around on Zillow (I have odd hobbies haha) and this place looks like something you might really like:

716 Mound Rd, Miamisburg, OH 45342 is For Sale - Zillow

$300k, 2600 sq. ft. 10 acres, walking distance to town, historic, and in need of a little work.... you could easily recoup $100k+ to put back into the house if you sold off 3-4 acres that have access to the street from the north. Very nice spot.

Also, for a "fancy house" reno, Xenia or West Alexandria might be good bets if you still want the 30-min range (Eaton if you're willing to push it). West Alex is small and Xenia is big, relatively speaking.
Xenia:
98 W 3rd St, Xenia, OH 45385 is For Sale - Zillow
280 E 2nd St, Xenia, OH 45385 is For Sale - Zillow
West Alex:
121-123 S Main St, West Alexandria, OH 45381 is For Sale - Zillow
19 W Dayton St, West Alexandria, OH 45381 is For Sale - Zillow

Tipp City/Troy have a lot of these type of houses too, but the reno work most likely will be done.
Tipp:
26 E Dow St, Tipp City, OH 45371 is For Sale - Zillow (this one needs reno work)
102 N 3rd St, Tipp City, OH 45371 is For Sale - Zillow (I suspect this one does too)
309 W Main St, Tipp City, OH 45371 is For Sale - Zillow
Troy:
424 E Canal St, Troy, OH 45373 is For Sale - Zillow (a steal for the price!)
702 E Franklin St, Troy, OH 45373 is For Sale - Zillow (no reno work needed)
522 S Market St, Troy, OH 45373 is For Sale - Zillow (needs work)

As mentioned earlier, Bellbrook is a good choice, and two houses downtown in particular meet your criteria well (both priced in the $200s):
120 N Main St, Bellbrook, OH 45305 is For Sale - Zillow
62 N Main St, Bellbrook, OH 45305 is For Sale - Zillow

Middletown has a number of these too, as does Franklin, but both have some larger community issues (Middletown more so than Franklin). Lebanon would also be worth a look, but it's pushing the driving range.

Middletown:
117 Euclid St, Middletown, OH 45044 is For Sale - Zillow (nice neighborhood)
129 S Main St, Middletown, OH 45044 is For Sale - Zillow (nice neighborhood)
3200 Milton Rd, Middletown, OH 45042 is For Sale - Zillow (nice - directly to east very nice houses on 2+ acre lots)
Franklin:
209 E 2nd St, Franklin, OH 45005 is For Sale - Zillow
400 E 2nd St, Franklin, OH 45005 is For Sale - Zillow
Lebanon:
206 W Silver St, Lebanon, OH 45036 is For Sale - Zillow
115 Maple Ave, Lebanon, OH 45036 is For Sale - Zillow (not this house, but this neighborhood would be a good one to watch)


Sorry to throw a lot your way, but this should be an all-encompassing look all of the historic suburban houses within a relative 30-minute commute of Moraine that are not in Oakwood/Kettering (where I'm assuming you know the market well).

Good luck!

[Dayton Sux]

...Right now we live in the land of matching McMansions. Row after row of the same houses. I would like to get away from that and find a home and community with
some character...

You are coming to the right area. You can have the big suburban house on some brand new subdivision, or you can have character, and there are numerous places with plenty of character here.

One of the best things about the Dayton metro area are the variety of older suburban areas...country towns that have become suburbs....plus large lot. and mini-farm development, plus walkable older suburbs built in the 1950s and 1960s, but now with nice mature landscaping and big trees (I am thinking of Kettering and Centerville).

I have to agree that Spring Valley and Bellbrook/Sugarcreek Township, as well as Waynesville, are nice areas for large lot (a few acres) living, plus they are centered around charming older villages. Great places, all of them.

I personally really like Germantown. Totally charming small town, set in a pretty valley, with very well-kept properties ( I think another poster here also recommended it). I would also give Miamisburg and Franklin a look. The older parts of these suburbs are really old canal/farm towns with some nice old houses (tho they have a blue-collar rep).

Heres a photo gallery of Germantown:
Germantown Photos by Jeff59c | Photobucket


Some pix of Miamisburg
Miamisburg II Photos by Jeff59c | Photobucket

Some pix of Bellbrook
Bellbrook Photos by Jeff59c | Photobucket



The Mackninaw District in Franklin has some big old Victorian houses...here is a pix of a smaller one in the same area:
600*Lake Ave,*Franklin,*OH*45005*-*Coldwell Banker Heritage Realtors


If you want to live closer in in an older suburban area, that is VERY close to Moraine, there is the Southern Hills part of Kettering. Here is a thread on it from another forum...scroll past the historical stuff at the start and take a look at the modern-day pix of this charming little corner of Kettering (it backs up onto Hills & Dales Park)

The Road To Sprawl I: Interurban Suburbia... Carrmonte & Berkley Heights


So, welcome to the area. You will like it!

[cjmeck]

I think you really should make a weekend trip and drive down. The suburbs that are close to Moraine will be Kettering, Oakwood, Centerville (Washington Township), Bellbrook (Sugarcreek Twship), Miamisburg, and West Carrollton. Springboro and Beavercreek are a bit further out but nice as well. They are all pretty equal in being close to kids activities, shopping, ect. And there are many homes on half acre plus lots so no need to be on top of your neighbor. Prices will vary though. For instance, you'll pay more in Centerville, Oakwood and Bellbrook for the schools. Even though you'll be homeschooling, please check out greatschools.org Learning about the schools (and students) will shed some light on the areas as well. You have a great budget, I don't think you'll need to max it out for a great house in a nice area. There are plenty of nice areas north of Dayton too but for commuting purposes, probably easier to stick to the southern suburbs. Best wishes!

[SWOH]

^Good advice Dayton Sux and cjmeck, but I am going to put a little pushback on the greatschools.com advice.


The third grader who is upset they received a detention from their teacher or the sophomore who is upset they are going to Juvy for the second time can just as easily write in and rate schools as parents and teachers to greatschools.com. So I'd take what they have shown with a grain of salt. Here's a link to their methodology, which left me with a lot of questions and probably will leave anyone else reading with the same too. Whole lot of subjectivity and mystery behind what goes into these ratings:

The GreatSchools Rating | GreatSchools


Additionally, I could go into my rant about why school ratings should not exist and why they are irrelevant and causing more harm than good, but I'll spare the rhetoric. To put it simply, I think the OP is one who does not need to worry about school ratings, but even if they did have to consider them I'd still say go with the official State of Ohio ratings, if anything, over the BS greatschools.com, USNWR, the Business Journals, etc. churns out.

[cjmeck]

Originally Posted by OHKID

^Good advice Dayton Sux and cjmeck, but I am going to put a little pushback on the greatschools.com advice.

I agree, I hate that test scores determine the "grade" the school receives. What I personally find useful on the website is the student/demographic numbers. Its helpful to understand the type of families that make up a feeder school from a neighborhood. And whether we like how Greatschools scores schools or not, people look at those scores and the schools in the area ultimately determine real estate value.

[SWOH]

^True. I have to agree that the site is a great resource for demographic info about districts.