Need Ft.Riley area(Manhattan, JC) Home Builder info (Topeka: for sale, rental)

[iphone5user]

Hello everyone

First let me say that I've spent a whole day using search and couldn't quite find what i'm looking for. I'm currently in Hawaii and moving to Ft.Riley next summer. I'm looking to purchase a house but would prefer to have one built by a quality builder. I'm targeting the Manhattan area but open to JC also. Can i get some recommendations or any advise on building? Good quality builders in the area? Or is it even worth building just buy a house that open on the market? Any help would be thankful.

[AnywhereElse]

Have you ever been to JC or Manhattan? Also, have you checked the realtor sites online to see what sort of properties are available? It has been a few months since I looked but it seems that there were new places on the market. They started building when Fort Riley was increasing and I think they got carried away with it and ended up stuck with a few. I have lived in JC and Manhattan both. I am guessing the number of builders are limited. You could check with the Chamber of Commerce for both Riley and Geary counties and they should be able to give you some direction to take.

[iphone5user]

thanks for your response,

I haven't been to either but since i've been looking online at property for sale. Now i just have to narrow it down to manhattan or JC. JC seem to have better prices but manhattan seems nicer area. still researching, very hard decision to make.

[m1a1mg]

Once you see JC, it won't be a hard choice at all.

[AnywhereElse]

Both JC and Manhattan have good and bad areas. I would not build a home in either place until I had lived there for a couple of years because if you decide to sell, there are usually a lot of places on the market at anyone time because of the military coming and going and the ones who can lower their prices end up selling first. You'll be taking a BIG leap.

[_redbird_]

Manhattan. Just my $.02 worth.

[iphone5user]

thanks for everyone response,

changed my mind from building to buying. Here are some of the factors needed to make a decision

-nice enough 4 bedroom house to rent out once my military duty is complete(ft.riley) 3 years max

-easy access to the base

-nice and decent neighborhoods

-max price range is 200,000

any more recommendations or advice with be more than helpful

[AnywhereElse]

When it comes to easy access, can you be more specific? Have you driven on ice and/or snow? Do you have a distance in mind? If you are looking to spend $200,000 max, a nice and decent neighborhood should not be a problem. Housing is high but I have been watching prices for quite awhile and I know in JC if you are paying above $100,000 you should be in a fairly decent area or what would meet my criteria. Manhattan is a college town and if you like that atmosphere, it is nicer but I never liked that atmosphere even when we lived there and we were younger at that time. My husband grew up in JC and we lived there about 10 years total and we both worked on post. JC has much more racial diversity than Manhattan. I thought the schools were good in JC but also in Manhattan. You have a lot more choices for shopping in Manhattan but a lot of people from both JC and Manhattan travel to Topeka for shopping and entertainment. We liked being closer to the lakes around JC since we enjoyed camping. Both myself and my husband have driven from Manhattan and JC in the winter and JC was SO much easier especially when the snow was blowing and the wind howling. For us, the drive was important because my husband worked 3rd shift on the airfield for one of the contractors. Crime has always been higher in JC but we never had any problems while we lived there and we lived close to the downtown, probably not considered a "best" neighborhood but we always liked it. My only other thought is "Have you ever rented out a house?" We did that when we wanted to transfer to AZ and our house wouldn't sell. We returned three years later to dirt and disappointment - we used a rental agency/realtor that was trying to sell our house, let's say "supposed to be" trying to sell our house. Always be able to make the house payment if the payment for rent does not come in, always. I love the area up there in general.

[m1a1mg]

Manhattan has a unique housing market. It never really suffered the let down that the rest of the country did. I just sold my house in Manhattan in October as my wife and I prepare to move to Florida. It took me 5 days to sell it. 23K more than I paid in 2005, at the height of the market.

I lived in JC my first tour at Riley (92-96), but it was all I could afford. When I came back in 2003, I insisted on Manhattan. The schools are dramatically better. The crime rate is much lower, although Manhattan's crime rate has been going up. If the best thing you can say about JC is that is "isn't as bad as it used to be", then that should be a good evaluation tool. JC has a huge debt problem since they way overbuilt with the return of the 1 ID. My first tour here, most enlisted folks lived in JC. Now many live in Manhattan since it offers so much more. There are a lot of empty houses in JC. If you go there, buy WEST OF 77!!!

Manhattan isn't perfect by any stretch. Taxes are high. Property taxes are the highest in the state and probably going higher to make up for state cuts. It's a college town. So, you get the benefits of good shopping and restaurants with the annoyance of the college kids for 9 months of the year.

If I were buying right now, it would be Manhattan. IF you are a USAA member, try the Mover's Advantage. It worked for me.

[iphone5user]

how far is fort riley from manhattan, I've heard construction is going on, after construction will it reduce commuting time?