Best area of Dayton for a $40,000 house and Dayton growth prospects for 5 years coming (Springfield: crime)

[journeyfarms]

I have seen what looks like great buys on homes in Dayton. Now I know 3rd street is a bad neighborhood, but some of the properties I saw looked like they were in OK areas. Blue collar, working regular people type areas. Since I am not from Dayton what areas would everyone recommend for that kind of money? Also I see over the years Dayton has really shrunk in size like 80,000 people. Is this killing the area or are there any growth prospects at all for Dayton

[JYonder]

You need to be really, really careful before you buy downtown or nearby. There are some really trendy, hip, hot areas like the Oregon District and then there are NOT so hot areas. $40K is probably not going to buy you the kind of area you are looking for. I would suggest finding a local Realtor who specializes in selling downtown versus the suburbs and see if you can find your jewel in the rough - reasonably priced home you described but in a decent, safe area. You might also consider contacting the Dayton Police Department community relations department and see about getting crime data by zip code, neighborhood, etc. In terms of growth, the city of Dayton has experienced some major plant closings recently, esp. in the auto industry. The good news is that there are a number of civic groups and coalitions in the city who are working very hard to bring in new/alterative industries and provide retraining to displaced workers. You may want to Google some of these groups to get a feel for their work and success rates. I know there is a lot of growth going on around Wright-Patterson AFB right now but that's more in the Huber Heights/Riverside/Fairborn/Beavercreek area, not in Dayton proper, where you've got your eye on property. Good luck on your hunt!

[djphrenzy]

I'd say you're looking at spending $75,000 on a reasonable 1950s ranch in a tolerable neighborhood. One of my friend's has one of these houses off Darst Ave in Dayton.

His neighborhood isn't nice by suburban standards, but it's tolerable.

$40,000 will not buy you a decent neighborhood unless you get really, really lucky.

[tgasper]

My first question would be where does the $40k price tag come from? In other words, where are you living now? It might be that what buys $40k in your "neck of the woods" is a lot different than what you can get here for the same price. Or is that just what you can afford to buy based on your salary & credit history?

For example, my best friend moved back to Dayton from north of LA about 5 years ago. They bought twice as much house with 4x as much yard for half as much. Or, $40k in a historic district such as Oregon or South Park or St Anne's Hill will be more than a "fixer upper" but it might be a much more decent home for the same amount in Belmont.

Finding a realtor who knows the City of Dayton market is not easy in this town. Because Dayton Public Schools aren't good, many realtors won't even show homes in Dayton (outside of a few pockets) because they don't want to have to overcome the objections. It's EASIER for them to show houses elsewhere. As a result, we have a lot of unhappy homebuyers living in Kettering or other areas who would have loved to have bought in a more urban setting, but were never given the option to see houses there.

And for the record, there are many WPAFB personnel who live downtown, and in surrounding historic districts because it's a quick and easy commute either out Springfield Street or SR 35 to reach the base. We have many in South Park, and I know a couple who recently relocated from DC who bougth in Grafton Hills.

[lived here forever]

There are many houses in East Dayton for that price. And we are not as bad as people make out. Sure, we have our problems, but what neighborhood doesn't. Here, neighbors CARE. We are a very diverse neighborhood, and a lot of the houses have fairly good sized yards. As for schools, we have a Montesorri school in the neighborhood, or there are always parochial schools or private schools. We are close to groceries, restaurants, big chain stores, and downtown. We even have neighborhood stores. We are only 10 minutes from the base.
Travel off of E. Third into the neighborhoods, and you'll find quite a few nice houses with caring neighbors.

[otters21]

Belmont , Linden Hts., and Eastmont on the east side are still pretty decent areas.

[MissMotleys]

I live in Belmont. Most of the houses on my block are going for $70-$75k. I was lucky 4yrs ago to get mine for $61k because it needed work. I looked a lot in this area and you can get something for $45-$55 but there will be drawbacks. Example I found one on Hodapp that was $50K BUT it was 4 stories had no yard and that street is insane to park on. There was also one on Patterson that eventually sold for like $48k but you were right next to the car wash.

I like Belmont. Our neighborhood is quiet, mostly older people or younger couples. Not too many kids. And as said above, people care. When we were without power for a week during Ike everyone took care of each other.

If you want crime data & demographics you can find them free here:
Melissa DATA: Free Lookups

[ethicalcarsalesman]

I have seen decent 2 bedroom houses listed in Belmont in that price range.