PCSing to WPAFB--where to buy? (Beavercreek, Beaver: school district, live in, moving)

[ohio_peasant]

The complicating factor is that locally, most new-ish 2-story houses tend to be McMansions, and therefore priced quite a bit above the prevailing rate for older, ranch-style houses. One exception is the early-2000s construction in the immediate vicinity of Fairfield Commons Mall, just a couple of miles from Area B. These are smaller 2-story houses, built to be 2-stories because thereby they're more compact, and fit better on the tiny lots.

That raises the issue of the large dog, and the need for a larger back-yard. There are plenty of houses in Beavercreek with sprawling half-acre (or larger) lots. But most are older, and/or ranch-style. There are some 2-story types in the development just east of North Fairfield road, south of Rt. 35; a good acquaintance of mine lives in precisely such a house, and it's worth around $200K. But it was build in the 1970s.

Originally Posted by wrightflyer

I would just be careful, as the local income tax may still apply. It is separate from the state income tax. I am unsure how the local level works with military members who officially reside in a different state.

Care is of course always merited, but my impression was that military-people who retain residency of one state, and who relocate to another state, can not be taxed on income by the latter state, or by any of its constituent jurisdictions. It's something about violating the interstate commerce clause of the Constitution.

As to the hubbub over Riverside's impotent demand to tax civil-service employees on "its" portion of Area B - that's been raging for years, and will almost certainly never be ruled in Riverside's favor.

[wrightflyer]

Originally Posted by ohio_peasant

Care is of course always merited, but my impression was that military-people who retain residency of one state, and who relocate to another state, can not be taxed on income by the latter state, or by any of its constituent jurisdictions. It's something about violating the interstate commerce clause of the Constitution.

As to the hubbub over Riverside's impotent demand to tax civil-service employees on "its" portion of Area B - that's been raging for years, and will almost certainly never be ruled in Riverside's favor.

That's what I figured, but not being a tax lawyer or CPA, I figured I'd give the precautionary statement of "check first."

Also, not sure if public preschool is a mandated item for all districts. It may be optional, so check with districts first to see offerings. Oakwood, I would assume has it. Centerville probably does too. Beavercreek I know does. They also might not all be full-day. Keep that in mind as well.

[tigerlilly31415]

Good information, thank you both.

I will check out the areas you mentioned, but I think we'll definitely expand our search to include 1-story houses. Having a non-postage-stamp-sized yard where we can install a privacy fence would really help with our dog, though he does ok in our current urban yard (our entire lot is <.2 acres) with lots of walks/runs. Biggest thing I think is to find a place in a decent school district that we can re-sell without having to do major upgrades to the house. Looking for ~2000sqft house, so if that eliminates 2-story houses in our budget we can be flexible. We can consider upping our budget as well, but as a starting point $200K-ish is our preference. We will also consider renting if we can't find a good fit, but our large dog and desire for a fenced yard complicates that.

[ohio_peasant]

The other alternative is to look for a smaller/cheaper house, in a second-rate school district. It won't be profitable at resale, but neither will it risk being a substantially loss. Dayton-area real estate appreciates glacially - if at all. It's true that the better districts are stronger markets, but between the higher purchase-price, the much higher property taxes and the more stringent expectation of updates/upgrades, it's not at all clear that from an investment viewpoint - especially over a short-term like 4 years - such a purchase is more profitable. In fact I'd advocate the exact opposite strategy: buy a cheap and rundown place, do minimal maintenance, and dispose of it in 4 years at a small loss. The cumulative cost of housing over those four years - including insurance, taxes, maintenance, real-estate sales commissions, utilities and so forth - are likely to be lower, than those for a nicer house in a nicer neighborhood.

[SWOH]

Originally Posted by tigerlilly31415

Good information, thank you both.

I will check out the areas you mentioned, but I think we'll definitely expand our search to include 1-story houses. Having a non-postage-stamp-sized yard where we can install a privacy fence would really help with our dog, though he does ok in our current urban yard (our entire lot is <.2 acres) with lots of walks/runs. Biggest thing I think is to find a place in a decent school district that we can re-sell without having to do major upgrades to the house. Looking for ~2000sqft house, so if that eliminates 2-story houses in our budget we can be flexible. We can consider upping our budget as well, but as a starting point $200K-ish is our preference. We will also consider renting if we can't find a good fit, but our large dog and desire for a fenced yard complicates that.

Hey, sorry I didn't mention this earlier, but if you are bending your requirements towards more suburban/conservative, I'd go with Carriage Trails by Tipp City/Bethel Schools. The city of Huber Heights takes care of all services, and its main shopping districts are within a 5-minute drive.

Houses there are selling like hotcakes, the community is "suburban walkable", and it is possible to walk to a nice metropark and aquatic center from the development. You'll also get a decent amount of house in your price range with Ryan Homes or Inverness.

Anyways, if you are interested, shoot me a PM. I can go as far as doing a lot-by-lot breakdown on the place if you're up for it.

Good luck!

[tigerlilly31415]

Thanks for all the info everyone...just checking back in. I think we're focusing our search in Beavercreek for now (and raising our budget a bit), due to proximity to the base and more houses listed that we seem to like. Looks like we may not get the nice old growth trees we like, but this isn't a forever home, so oh well. Might also look in Centerville if we can't find what we want, but we'll see.

A quick check on greatschools shows that Shaw, Fairbrook, and Parkwood are all pretty good elementary schools. Valley and Main seem to be rated a bit lower. Anyone know anything about Trebein? Or have anything negative to day about any of these? Also, in Centerville, is there any particular difference between Centerville Primary Village North and Centerville Primary Village South?

One last question, since google has not been much help on this...what's the deal with Beavercreek Township? Do they go to Beavercreek schools, or do they have their own disctrict? Similarly, what's the deal with Washington Township? I keep seeing that location come up, but then sometimes Centerville schools are listed for houses with that address...do they share?

[tigerlilly31415]

Originally Posted by SWOH

Hey, sorry I didn't mention this earlier, but if you are bending your requirements towards more suburban/conservative, I'd go with Carriage Trails by Tipp City/Bethel Schools. The city of Huber Heights takes care of all services, and its main shopping districts are within a 5-minute drive.

Do you have an address for one of those developments I can stick into googlemaps? I suspect those might be a bit far from base for our taste, but will definitely take a look at where they are.

[dxdtdemon]

Originally Posted by tigerlilly31415

Thanks for all the info everyone...just checking back in. I think we're focusing our search in Beavercreek for now (and raising our budget a bit), due to proximity to the base and more houses listed that we seem to like. Looks like we may not get the nice old growth trees we like, but this isn't a forever home, so oh well. Might also look in Centerville if we can't find what we want, but we'll see.

A quick check on greatschools shows that Shaw, Fairbrook, and Parkwood are all pretty good elementary schools. Valley and Main seem to be rated a bit lower. Anyone know anything about Trebein? Or have anything negative to day about any of these? Also, in Centerville, is there any particular difference between Centerville Primary Village North and Centerville Primary Village South?

One last question, since google has not been much help on this...what's the deal with Beavercreek Township? Do they go to Beavercreek schools, or do they have their own disctrict? Similarly, what's the deal with Washington Township? I keep seeing that location come up, but then sometimes Centerville schools are listed for houses with that address...do they share?

People who live in Beavercreek Township go to Beavercreek schools for the most part, as the township and school district boundaries are slightly different, and people in Washington Township go to Centerville Schools for the most part. The rapid population increase in Beavercreek Township led the to the creation of Trebein Elementary a few years ago. As far as the Beavercreek elementary schools go, they shouldn't be that much different from each other, except that Parkwood gets a number of children bussed in from Riverside. I don't know too much about the ones in Centerville, so I'll let someone else comment on them.

[wrightflyer]

^Parkwood is decent, but yes, it has a few neighborhoods in corners of Kettering and Riverside that attend the district. I wouldn't exactly call it busing. They are officially apart of the schools and I believe use the same bus routes/fleet as Beavercreek in general.

I'd say the elementary schools are pretty level across the board. Your order was a little different from what I'd typically see. Usually it is (1-6): Valley, Fairbrook, Trebein, Shaw, Main, Parkwood. But as I said, it really is roughly the same. Not sure of the middle school boundaries now, as they shifted when Ferguson was converted to a 9th grade only building and Coy opened at the Trebein Elementary / Coy Middle Campus. In general, Main, Shaw, Trebein go to Coy and Valley, Fairbrook and Parkwood go to Ankeney Middle. Both middle schools are fine, though Coy is in a brand new building. It shares common areas (library, gym, kitchen) with the elementary school. It is a nice large campus.

Ankeney and Coy are both also about the same. They feed into the general Ferguson Hall 9th grade building on the high school campus. So students can take advanced classes without having to bus to the high school. High school is a 10-12 building.

I'd look at parts of Tara as they have a lot of mature parts to the neighborhood with large trees. Tara sits SE of N. Fairfield and Shakertown. It covers a range of housing types, budgets and ages.

[SWOH]

Originally Posted by tigerlilly31415

Do you have an address for one of those developments I can stick into googlemaps? I suspect those might be a bit far from base for our taste, but will definitely take a look at where they are.

Sure! Here's some info:

New Homes for sale at Carriage Trails Luxury Single Family Homes in Tipp City, OH
Carriage Trails - New Homes for Sale - Dayton, OH - Inverness Homes USA
Carriage Trails | Neighborhoods and Nature | Dayton, OH


And a few houses on the market now:

6043 Blackford Way, Tipp City, OH 45371 | MLS #700526 | Zillow
2125 Blazing Star Dr, Tipp City, OH 45371 | MLS #705774 | Zillow
5071 Meadowview St, Tipp City, OH 45371 | MLS #625375 | Zillow
2637 Sunset Maple Dr, Tipp City, OH 45371 | MLS #705852 | Zillow


Hop this helps, good luck!