Possible move to Dayton area.... Questions... (Huber Heights, Beavercreek: real estate, apartments, mortgages)

[dmsak]

My husband has a potential job opportunity near Dayton. I believe he said the area was Brookville. I always like to be prepared... Just in case.... so I'm wondering if you can help with some questions.

-Where you are working? Near Brookville
-How much you are willing to spend on housing? $350k
-How long of a commute you're willing to tolerate? Preferably 30 minutes or less
-If you have kids: Private school or public school? Public

Good schools are very important to us. Our kids will be entering 2nd and 6th grade in the fall. I'm not sure if Ohio grades their schools, but if so, we'd be looking at "A" rated schools.

We like living in a community with neighbors and kids near by so my kids can get out and meet new people and have friends to hang with. We don't necessarily need the hustle and bustle of a city, but we pretty much like the standard suburbia feel. Rural is not what we are looking for.

Our kids are heavily into sports as well. We'd like to be near an area that has an excellent travel baseball program and a top notch soccer program.

Any suggested neighborhoods or cities would be helpful in helping to narrow our search.

Thanks!

[joe from dayton]

You can afford to live anywhere in the Miami Valley with that budget.


Oakwood has the best public school system in the area, but you will be pushing it on the 30 minute commute.


Tipp City is the first thing that springs to mind. Vandalia rates fairly high as well. Brookville is probably a solid B.


Other than Oakwood, I don't know if you will have the suburbia feel as much as the small town feel.

[RDriesenUD]

Yeah, I would have to think about this more, but I would probably recommend Tipp City as well. You should be able to find a good baseball team anywhere you go. There are a lot around here. At least in South Dayton. Not sure about the north.

[wrightflyer]

If it is Brookville (vs. Beavercreek or Bellbrook, two other B-leading suburbs), then I would look in Brookville itself. If not there, perhaps Tipp City, though the current construction on I-70 between I-75 and OH-49 is a bear at times. They are widening the highway, so it should be better when complete. I wouldn't discount Northmont (the suburbs of Englwood, Union and Clayton) either. In fact, I think Northmont still performs better than Vandalia.

The state recently revamped its grading system. Many schools that were originally listed as Excellent (or Excellent with Distinction) have been bumped to the B category. The only district in the area coming close to a solid A would be Oakwood, and they even aren't straight A's.

So, the point is, schools in the overall A-B range are going to be good/excellent/well-positioned. There are some key parameters in the breakdown of the overall grade that are probably more indicative of how well the district (and individual schools) prepare their students for technical school/college. Performance Index would be one. Graduation rate another. Overall grades can be dragged down by minor NCLB indicators from a small group in the whole student body not performing as well as the overall representation. Thus, why Centerville and Beavercreek have B grades. Personally, I think the current setup overly favors small, well-performing or small, well-performing, rural districts versus larger, still well-performing districts.

[RDriesenUD]

Yeah, the larger schools have more of a chance of being "brought down". No matter how good you are, when you have a lot of students, some are going to do bad. There is almost nothing you can do about it.

[SWOH]

Standard suburbia + A rated schools... For a $350k budget. Easy to do around here, the question will be how long of a commute are you willing to do?

Brookville itself has quite good schools and has suburban areas on the outskirts of town in all directions. However, you'd be at the top of the area's market at your price point. Here's a house to consider there:
Zillow: Real Estate, Apartments, Mortgages & Home Values
But resale might be a worry, most people with that budget go for more land out there.

So that makes me think Northmont would be your best option. Schools are great and there's a number of communities within your price range. Some examples:
Zillow: Real Estate, Apartments, Mortgages & Home Values
Zillow: Real Estate, Apartments, Mortgages & Home Values

Vandalia schools are also good and it is also traditional suburbia, closer to shopping and downtown than Northmont, options there:
Zillow: Real Estate, Apartments, Mortgages & Home Values
Zillow: Real Estate, Apartments, Mortgages & Home Values
Zillow: Real Estate, Apartments, Mortgages & Home Values

There are tons of options within Vandalia, but the above represent some of my favorite subdivisions in the city (Foxfire, Meeker Creek, and the ones by V-B HS just to name a few...)


Tipp city would be another good option, along with Troy, but you're pushing the range. Others detailed those well, so I'll suggest Carriage Trails instead.
It's a brand new development just off I-70 between 201 and 202 in the Tipp City area with Bethel Schools and Huber Heights city services. Here's some info:
carriage-trails.com
And some houses:
Zillow: Real Estate, Apartments, Mortgages & Home Values
Zillow: Real Estate, Apartments, Mortgages & Home Values

Also the builders there are Ryan and Inverness, and they have been building fast! It's southwest Ohio's fastest growing development.


Otherwise if you are looking for traditional suburban, I would not suggest Oakwood just because it is typical 1920s/1930s suburban, not 1990s suburban. Places like Beavercreek, Centerville, and Bellbrook will push your commute way past the 30 minute mark.

[dmsak]

Thank you all for the great information about schools and neighborhoods. We'll look into all the areas you mentioned! I appreciate all the insight and guidance!!!

[SWOH]

Of course, happy to help out, please let us know if you have any other questions/feedback, etc.

It's always good to know where you end up (or roughly end up) just to make sure our recommendations are on target.