PCSing to Wright-Patt - Rent or Buy? (Columbus, Cincinnati: real estate market, 2014)

[TwilightStruggle]

Hey, I would think you all are getting tired of this by now but you're so helpful to everyone coming in I figured I would try to enlist your help. My wife and I are PCSing to Wright-Patt for a year and a half, and are trying to figure out where to live. We initially figured we would rent, but we've enjoyed home ownership, and we'd rather live in a house than an apartment. Among many others, main priorities are:

1. Safety
2. Cost (would like to keep payments around $1000-$1100/mo, and could buy a house up to $160k)
3. Proximity to Wright-Patt
Other: Would love a place with good running/biking trails, parks, and like a small town feel, not a fan of big cities.

There didn't seem to be a large selection of houses for rent that meet those guidelines, so I was looking into buying. Clearly buying and then selling 18 months from now wouldn't be smart - if we bought we would end up renting it out after we left.

Questions:
- Is Dayton a good place to buy and then rent to others in the future? Would that be a good investment?
- What would be the best area to live, whether renting or buying, given the criteria above? From reading the other posts it looks like Beavercreek is nice and close to base.

We appreciate any help you can give!

[RDriesenUD]

I would look into Kettering or Beavercreek. I love all of the places to run in Kettering. Although, I love to run at a lot of other places around here too. There are probably more houses to rent in the area than anyone thinks. I don't think they get listed online that much. I would try contacting some local Real Estate companies to see what is available. Maybe even ask WPAFB. I know there is at least one house in my neighborhood that has new families who work at WPAFB every year or two.

[wrightflyer]

Agreed. There are rentals out there. You just need to ask the right realtor or the right department within Wright Patt.

As far as if you go the buy/then rent route, I'd pick Beavercreek first. Most renters in Beavercreek are military, PCSing like you and your wife, so they understand the rental process and timeline of military moving. The residents will also (for the most part) be more likely to keep care of the property. Finally, the schools attract military families, so finding people to rent a 3-4 bedroom ranch, small colonial or tri-level is doable. Places off Talowood and Shakertown may have some places. Also, check out Woodhaven, which is lies around Grange Hall, E Patterson, Shakertown and Valley Elementary. There is also the sliver of Beavercreek hemmed between the county line/Riverside, Day-Xenia Road, I-675 and Kemp. Decent homes tucked back there that may fit the bill. Also, parts of old Tara off Sharkertown and Coy. Or many of the neighborhoods south of US35 off Fairfield Road.

Other places I'd look at are Washington Township. Miami Township may be an option too, especially areas close to Mad River and south of Alex-Bell. Older well-kept homes with a mix of families and older residents. May be harder to attract military folks that far south, but you'll find others who may wish to rent in these areas. Bellbrook and adjoining Sugarcreek may offer something, though inventory is tighter and will probably need more work due to age at that price point.

Beavercreek offers, besides its schools, a decent parks system, access to a main line on the coveted state-wide and regional rail trails, has interior routes to follow on side streets if so desired, plenty of shopping (between Fairfield, The Greene and Cornerstone in Sugarcreek/Centerville, that eastern swath of the I-675 corridor is pretty well covered) and good access to quickly (within 1-1.5 hours) reach Cincinnati and Columbus. Quicker if you are going to the suburban parts. Plus, with Beavercreek (or either township), you'll attract federal and military workers who won't pay an income tax for working on-base or living in a city.

[ohio_peasant]

Originally Posted by TwilightStruggle

- Is Dayton a good place to buy and then rent to others in the future? Would that be a good investment?

Regrettably, no. Not even a little bit.

The local real estate market is very affordable. The corollary is that annual appreciation is very low, if not outright negative. By this I mean not annual fluctuations, but cumulative trends over decades. One data point: my house, in rural Greene County, is today worth approximately what it was worth in the mid 1990s - and that's after making the necessary upgrades/repairs.

As others have mentioned, there are plenty of rental options, in Beavercreek and vicinity (further south/east). From the viewpoint of bike-trails, parks and the like, the Dayton region does admirably well. At W-P itself, there isn't much of a bulletin-board (physical or cyber) for real-estate, but again as others have said, inquire with the local real-estate companies. Precisely because the market is so moribund, lots of house-owners who have relocated can't sell their houses, and would be eager to rent them out.

[SWOH]

I would disagree slightly with ohio_peasant.

Dayton has a healthy rental market, the real issue is with buying a house and then selling it in <5 year time frame. You won't recoup your initial investment if you buy and then sell. But for renting, sure, you will be fine. WPAFB ensures a healthy rental market around here.

If you do buy, I'd go with a less expensive house in the Pheasant Ridge area or over in Huber Heights or in the older sections of Beavercreek. The difference in rent will be small between a $120k house and a $160k house, but you'll save yourself $40k in purchase price and potentially lost value with the cheaper option.

For instance, these places would make good low maintenance rentals that would hit your target $1100-$1600/mo:

7628 Beldale Ave, Huber Heights, OH 45424 | MLS #620942 | Zillow
7650 Stancrest Dr, Dayton, OH 45424 | Zillow
8978 Gardengate Dr, Dayton, OH 45424 | MLS #704681 | Zillow
8881 Davidgate Dr, Huber Heights, OH 45424 | MLS #626140 | Zillow
4160 Leafback Pl, Dayton, OH 45424 | MLS #610312 | Zillow
3808 Leatherwood Pl, Dayton, OH 45424 | MLS #701520 | Zillow
2100 Turnbull Rd, Beavercreek, OH 45431 | MLS #623265 | Zillow
3648 Eastern Dr, Beavercreek, OH 45432 | MLS #700889 | Zillow
3587 Mcelrath Pike, Beavercreek, OH 45432 | MLS #612373 | Zillow
3676 Eastern Dr, Beavercreek, OH 45432 | Zillow

Sorry about the sheer number of these, but any of these places would get $1100/mo in rent. Here's some comparables:
3068 Lantz Rd, Dayton, OH 45432 | Zillow
5913 Brandt Pike, Huber Heights, OH 45424 | Zillow (outdated on busy road)
6574 Shull Rd, Huber Heights, OH 45424 | Zillow


Good luck!

[Tarheel8406]

To add onto what ohio_peasant said, here's another data point:
I rented a townhouse in Miami Township during my first three years here. I eventually moved, and my landlord decided to sell the property. He had purchased it for 93k in 2003 and sold it for 74k in 2014. I'm not suggesting that this is true of all properties in the Dayton area, but it's important to know that the housing market here may not be similar to where you're moving from.

[hensleya1]

Here's a third and fourth data points: I know a family who bought a house in the Hearthstone neighborhood, in the southeast part of Dayton proper.

They paid $84,000, I think, in 2004. They still owe 72k, but the house is worth about 53-56k, depending on which day of the week it is. And that's with them remodeling the kitchen. They can't move even if they wanted to, and the number of rented houses is multiplying in that neighborhood. But that's what the housing crash did to the Dayton metro area.

Even in my neighborhood, house values have gone nowhere in a decade. I paid only $2,000 more for my house than what the previous owner paid 12 years ago - and they even went to the trouble of putting new floors, kitchen, and roof on the house.