Transferred to WPAFB, where should we live (Dayton, Beavercreek: low crime, mortgage)

[next_cleo]

I am hoping the answers to the questions posted will help! Thanks in advance for suggestions

-Where you are working?
Wright-Patterson AFB, but I don't know which part we are located in.

-How much you are willing to spend on housing?
I think we can afford upto $500K.

-How long of a commute you're willing to tolerate?
Under 1 hour, preferably lesser than 45 mins.

-If you have kids: Private school or public school?
We don't have kids yet but might soon, public school preferably. The school district will be very important. High academic achievement is very important to us

-What type of neighborhood environment you are looking for: small town feeling? small city excitement? suburbia delight?
Rural, we are looking for something out in the country with a minimum of 5 acres.

-Community amenities important to you?
Good schools with good AP programs, safe and low crime, the usuals.

-Pie or cake?
Pie please with whipped cream

[joe from dayton]

Have you looked at all of the other "transferred to Wright Pat" threads?

[wrightflyer]

I'd focus your search on the northern half of the Miami Valley and places north and northwest of WPAFB. Not sure of the commute times for much of that area since I don't drive in that direction very often, but some closer in areas that are still pretty rural or semi-rural include areas and townships outside Tipp City and Troy. I'm not as familiar with the schools in that area as well, but again, Tipp City has excellent schools, Troy has decent schools, and many of the small communities scattered about up there have some pretty well performing districts.

Here are some places to look into from north to south:
Covington
Pleasant Hill
Casstown
Elizabeth Township
West Milton
Tipp City
Bethel Township (Miami County, not the one in Clark County)

Granted, the last two are slowly becoming more developed, granted that development has slowed even further with the stalled national housing market. Also, I'd find a good realtor with a good knowledge base of the many small towns and school districts in Miami County and surrounding areas. Better yet, if they are or can work with a relocation expert, that would be even better.

Here's a list of how schools performed based on state tests. Some like them, others don't. They give an ok indication of the district. Ohio Department of Education Interactive Local Report Card

On one last note, 500K will easily get you plenty of house and land for most of these areas. It is entirely possible you could not spend that complete amount, and instead possibly have a much smaller mortgage or none at all. It depends on what you find and where. Other than that, this was just a basic run down of communities and I'll leave the details to those who live or travel up there more often than I do.

[next_cleo]

Thanks wrightflyer, we are hoping not to have a small mortgage or none at all so cheaper the better! thanks again for all the info.

[next_cleo]

Thanks wrightflyer, we are hoping to have a small mortgage or none at all so cheaper the better! thanks again for all the info.
Thanks Joe but most other posts target suburbia which we are trying to get away from!

[SDuffy32]

If you want to buy there are several homes available in the Riverside area which is easy access to all areas of the base, Beavercreek, Fairborn, Dayton & Huber. It is also close to several parks including one lake. We live in Valley View and have enjoyed the area.

[next_cleo]

Thanks Sduffy! I will look into it.

[PhillytoCincy]

Down the road, when/if you have kids, you can not go wrong with the Beavercreek school system. Great community as well, very livable.

[Giesela]

5 acres with a moderate older house in average to needs some updating or maintenance condition that is not a tri-level usually starts at about 239,900 list price (Tri-levels seem to be most plentiful in the country and are sometimes 10,000 cheaper, personally I hate them). The closer in the more expensive, the farther out, the price comes down a little.
There isn't a ton of 5+ acre stock though once you get above 250 or especially 279,000 you have some fairly large new nice choices.
West ish - Beavercreek Township (Beavercreek schools?) Green County will probably be a little more.
South/SW
There is probably more stock coming out of Sugercreek Township/Bellbrook (small town/outer suburb) quite beautiful areas down there but....not only are prices on the high end... Taxes are the highest I've seen - I think the taxes down there are an insult.
Further south - Springboro, Lytle, Waynesville may be an option, but those are starting to be a fair commute. Waynesville, Lytle in particular take you through a choke point on 35 where there is a series of lights where traffic backs up. Not metro DC type traffic but irritating none the less. Springboro seems to be the fartherest most base people I know live.
North, as mentioned Tipp City schools.
Vandalia schools? Not mentioned here much but there are some acreages in Vandalia district....
Further north but still under an hour is Troy, seems like a nice area, don't hear much about the schools there.
East down I-70 is Brookville, again don't know much about it but there are acreages out there and its pretty far out there.
Northwest - Englewood and Union - maybe others can chime in.
Then there are a lot of little towns like West Milton, Laura, Arcanum, farm country, the schools are probably good? Again, starting to be a pretty good commute.
Like I said, there are a lot of tri-levels in the country. If you want a ranch, be aware that the ranches here are most often on slabs. There are 2 levels also of course, both old nothing special farmhouses and newer standard 2 levels.
After you pass the 250-280 price range I've seen some pretty nice options - the number of nice choices seems to go up.

[wrightflyer]

^I know what you mean by the glut of tri-levels in the area. It's not just in the country, but in many of the suburban neighborhoods as well. I'd agree that there are some nice options out there over 280K, espcially 300K+. Most of Beavercreek Township is Beaercreek schools, though there are pockets in extreme eastern parts of the township that go to Xenia.
That $200,000 price range would allow you to locate amost anywhere in the area, with maybe the exception of Sugarcreek Township (as Giesela said, it has high property values and taxes). Still, that doesn't mean it isn't entirely impossible.
Vandalia, especially Butler Township (Vandalia Schools?) has some places with acerage, but it is more houses on large lots and probably less farmfields as far as the eye can see.
I don't usually think countryside and farms when I think of Riverside.