Empty nesters relo to Wichita: best areas? (Derby, Hamilton: house, home inspector)

[drjones96]

High Park is a fairly popular place for walking/running as well as other activities. I take my younger kids there to play sometimes.

[holygrail]

with specials and high taxes Wichita is not a cheap place to buy a home. They pack them together so one gutter drips on the next door home roof. Homes are build like garbage with the lowest of every material quality. It is a slash and dash home subdivision place to live. People come only for work not to live because of any quality of life. If no family or work is there I would highly recommend not moving to Wichita. Almost any part of the country has better everything. There is no beauty of land, nothing to do but wait for the next Abortion dr to get shot and it is not cheap to live. It has nothing to offer unless one has a job or family there. The only ones who will post that I am wrong are the ones that are stuck there and are deluding them self that it is a good place to be.

[drjones96]

Dude...I hate to feed the trolls but seriously....You need to go away. Nobody here is interested in what you have to say....especially not the OP.

If you read this thread you would actually know that he is a military man who is being stationed here. He's asking about the finer points of the area. He gives not a rat's arse about your negativity.

[roxfan]

If I'd wanted venom, I'd have visited the Komodo Dragons exhibit at the Sedgwick County Zoo first.

My wife's coming here in mid-January and we'll be checking out different areas. I really wanted to come in and just consider homes that were already built, because I'm in the position myself of trying to sell a home that is 5 years old. Competition with new homes is pretty stiff. However, I came across a builder that I think can give us everything we want - and even some nice touches that we don't need - for a price we can afford. In particular, since we both golf, I'm looking at the possibility of building near the Country Club in Derby.

We'll see. I'm just going to continue to keep my eyes open.

[janelle144]

Just remember to add 6 months or longer when you build. I've never seen anyone who built get in the home at the estimated date. Read about homes that are being built now. You need to be careful about drywall right now. Some are coming over from China and it is horrible, making people sick.

I didn't want a newly built home since I wanted a finished basement and the yard already landscaped. I remember my parents having a house built and it can be a headache with all the things that need to be taken care of. With a built home you know about what you are getting and what changes you want to make. No house is perfect even when you build and ask for certain things.

Ask your wife what kind of kitchen she wants and you need to know what kind of work space you want. For instance, I wanted a garage going right into the kitchen or a mud room. I once carried groceries clear across the house to the kitchen and learned the hard way. I wanted a finished basement with a wet bar so no running the steps to get a drink. Things like that to work in to your lifestyle. Good luck.

[drjones96]

Originally Posted by roxfan

If I'd wanted venom, I'd have visited the Komodo Dragons exhibit at the Sedgwick County Zoo first.

My wife's coming here in mid-January and we'll be checking out different areas. I really wanted to come in and just consider homes that were already built, because I'm in the position myself of trying to sell a home that is 5 years old. Competition with new homes is pretty stiff. However, I came across a builder that I think can give us everything we want - and even some nice touches that we don't need - for a price we can afford. In particular, since we both golf, I'm looking at the possibility of building near the Country Club in Derby.

We'll see. I'm just going to continue to keep my eyes open.

It's definitely a nice area. We looked in that general area initially. There is a new addition north of Patriot Ave directly accross from the country club that we saw quite a few homes we liked.

We ended up in Park Hill though. We have young kids and wanted to be close to an elementary school.

[drjones96]

Originally Posted by janelle144

Just remember to add 6 months or longer when you build. I've never seen anyone who built get in the home at the estimated date. Read about homes that are being built now. You need to be careful about drywall right now. Some are coming over from China and it is horrible, making people sick.

I didn't want a newly built home since I wanted a finished basement and the yard already landscaped. I remember my parents having a house built and it can be a headache with all the things that need to be taken care of. With a built home you know about what you are getting and what changes you want to make. No house is perfect even when you build and ask for certain things.

Ask your wife what kind of kitchen she wants and you need to know what kind of work space you want. For instance, I wanted a garage going right into the kitchen or a mud room. I once carried groceries clear across the house to the kitchen and learned the hard way. I wanted a finished basement with a wet bar so no running the steps to get a drink. Things like that to work in to your lifestyle. Good luck.

^Two good points here.

Most builders here that I've seen use good old USG Sheerock brand drywall. It's not the Chinese stuff. Just let them know up front that if they used Chinese drywall that you will sue their pants off.

There is a huge difference in cost of existing vs building and that comes in the form of your labor and time to have sod brought in, put up a fence, do landscaping, and also any number of things that you want done inside the house.

To sod an average sized lot around here will cost something on the order of $1500 for the sod alone and probably another $1500 in labor. My builder wanted $3500 to sod our yard. I opted to do it myself after the sale and did it for $1500.

I had a couple of local landscapers give me an estimate on landscaping. One shot me an estimate for about $4000....and I laughed....a lot. I ended up doing it myself for about $500. It may not be as nice as what they had in mind but it looks great to me. Lesson learned: Lanscaping stones are heavy.

Finished vs Unfinished basement: They sure are nice to have. And if you can get an existing home with it already done for about the same money as a New build that doesn't have it.....knowing what I know now.....I would take the existing home.

My problem was at the time we had to decide what to do there were practically no preexisting homes available in the neighborhood we were looking at (at least none that fit our criteria anyway...price was a major factor). It was very frustrating. We ended up paying more for less.

[wwaynemcg]

Roxfan - Couple points to consider, unless you've already settled in: There are a couple locations southeast of Wichita you may be interested in. Rose Hill (where I live), Mulvane, and Douglas. These are a few miles further out but I can be at the base in about 10-15 minutes from Rose Hill. The schools are a bit smaller (and better in my view) than the Derby H.S. There is a golf course (Hidden Lakes I think) just east of Rock about 2 miles on 63rd. Some older homes straight south of there that are nice. Also, you will find a home 5-10 yrs old a greater value than new. All the extras have been installed, and you will save about 10% on price. I was the HOA pres. of my subdivision in Rose Hill; have a house for sale right next to me for $200K that I think is a very good value. Greenway/creek behind, large lot, 3-car, about 2800 s.f., two-story with full-finished basement; built in 1998 I believe (check Cedar Crest Rd in Rose Hill Realtor.com listings). Not sure about your price range though. Good luck from a former military man that resettled in Kansas by choice...rather than the rat race of N. VA where I was raised.

[roxfan]

Good points, thanks. I think we should have at least looked at Rose Hill, but we didn't. We debated a bit on what to do, but we ultimately decided to build, and to do it in Derby. We kept it at around $175K. Yeah, we have specials, which prices it like a $200K home without, but we're getting things we wanted, like wood floors in the living room. We didn't need a huge place; this will be 2250 sf finished. We also didn't need a big lot. The builders broke ground on it a couple of weeks ago, and they tell us we should be in by the end of June, weather permitting. (Come on, tax credit.)

We're also breathing a big sigh of relief because we close on the sale of our home in New Mexico next Monday, and we came out pretty well, considering the economy. So after about 5 months, my wife and I can live together again.

[drjones96]

I'm glad for you man. Coming from someone who had to live away from the fam for a few months it sure is good to have them all under one roof.

What part of down are you living in?