Landen? (Columbus, Cincinnati, Dayton: for sale, apartment complexes, to rent)

[artist1oh]

Looking for a maintenance free home for sometime in the future. Any thoughts pros/cons about living in the Landen area?

[kjbrill]

I do not perceive homes in the Landen area as being maintenance free. The najority of them were created by large scale developments and sold on the then current outlook live in a development with scads of kids. I consider the majority of the construction middle grade subdivision and certainly not maintenance free.

[SalamanderSmile]

A low quality stick-built vinyl sided, drywalled 1980s "home" will hardly be maintenance free. If you want low maintenance you need to rent.

Look for something small and renovated (i.e. 200 amp electrical panel up to code, updated vented kitchen,bath,hi efficiency furnace, new windows) and brick with almost no yard or driveway where whatever drainage problems may have surfaced have been dealt with, garage would be bonus.

[SWOH]

I'll also have to agree.

If you're looking to move to a maintenance-free place in the suburbs, you'd be hard-pressed to beat a brick ranch, which I don't think there are many of in Landen. Huber homes in particular come to mind, although I'm not sure if Charles Huber did any developments in the Cincinnati area. He built a number of homes around Dayton, as well as many in Columbus though.

Your best bet is probably in West Chester, centered along US 42, and possibly some spots in Sharonville and Springdale. Here's a place that might fit your criteria:

9520 Iris Dr, West Chester, OH 45241 is For Sale - Zillow

Updated brick ranch, postage-stamp yard, maintenance-free patio in back, no trees. Can't get much easier than that.

And here's another on the same street - more trees though which might be troublesome:
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/96...33190481_zpid/

Good luck!

[h Steve]

There is no such thing as a maintenance-free home.

[Misfit Toy]

To the OP - some more info about you and what you like/don't like would help. In Landen, there are neighborhoods with mostly 2-story homes that are soccer mom heaven. Also condos and townhouses to own or rent, also some apartment complexes.

[artist1oh]

I need to clarify: my husband wants to pay a condo/ patio home maintenance fee so someone else takes care of the yard, etc. He also wants a lower house payment, around $200,000. I saw one patio home online in the Landen area but it was sold within 2 weeks before we could look it. He would be happy in an apartment, I'm very happy in my brick ranch home in West Chester so the happy medium for us is a patio home. I really do not want to share a wall with a neighbor. On my must have list is being able to walk for recreation from this new home on sidewalks to a park or town center.(not the best feature of West Chester). I work in Finneytown so no more than a 30 minute drive. Still have one kiddo at home so while schools are not an issue, we need at least 3 bedrooms. We do want to be close to restaurants and stores so I don't want to live in the middle of a farming area.

[SWOH]

^Ah, I see. Thanks for the clarification! Now it makes a lot more sense.

Landen probably would be a good spot, if they have patio homes. It's very walkable in a sense - not to stores necessarily, but there are a lot of nice walking trails and a lake. Good environment there.

Offhand, the first two communities I could think of are way over-budget, those being Harbour Towne at Wetherington (walkable to new Liberty Towne Center) and the new M/I Patio homes in Carriage Hill (development will have a "village" built in). Both would be what I would consider a perfect match, but both are $100,000+ over budget. Then I looked around Mason and saw there are a number of good (not perfect) options there, including a couple communities near the almost un-walkable Deerfield Town Center and at the Kings Island golf course, which would be great for the weeks when the Tennis, Volleyball, etc. tournaments come to town.


I kept looking and saw this place, which might be a better fit:
837 Sunrise Ridge Ct # 3, Hamilton Twp, OH 45039 is For Sale - Zillow

It's pushing that 30-min drive to Finneytown out in Maineville, but it's somewhat on a lake and it's a detached patio home. Downside is virtually no walkability.

Also, there's this place in Glendale (ish) that's right next to a recreation center and some restaurants:
1 Rowley Ct # 10, Glendale, OH 45246 is For Sale - Zillow
Added bonus - it's behind Princeton HS. Overall might be a good choice.
Downside is the walk to Glendale is far.

Also, there's this place in Delhi, which would be convenient for a Finneytown commute because you could do backroads or a reverse commute up 75:
5537 Timber Way Dr, Cincinnati, OH 45238 is For Sale - Zillow

Within spitting distance of Mt. St. Joseph U, but not walkable at all. Heck, that entire university is not walkable at all. Bizarre place.



So your options seem to be either 1) sacrifice walkability, 2) sacrifice price or 3) sacrifice having a detached house. The options are provided meet all 3 criteria the best out of anywhere that I could find.

[SWOH]

One last thought - Walden Ponds in Fairfield Twp.:

6268 Old Mill Ct # 7759, Hamilton, OH 45011 is For Sale - Zillow

If you factor in bikeability, this might be your best choice. You would have full access to the walking trails around Walden Ponds Golf Course, within easy walking distance and an easy bike ride to Bridgewater Falls if you ever desired to do it. Otherwise, a nice forest preserve, the Butler Co. fairgrounds, downtown Hamilton, and even Jungle Jim's would only be a few minutes away. Thinking about it now, if I were you this would probably be my pick, but then again I'm slightly biased toward Hamilton.

Good luck!

[Misfit Toy]

Don't know of any patio homes in Landen, but there are condos and townhouses close to Landen Park.