Tell me more about Dayton, Xenia, Beavercreek, and Centerville, please! (Fairborn: real estate, houses)

[KathrynAragon]

Oh the tornadoes hit my town in 1996, 2002 and 2017 so there's that. Like I said, I live in Tornado Alley! The one in 1996 was in Fort Hood, TX though. It was very severe. The funnel was huge and on the ground and I am thankful I was home rather than at the PX or Commissary because the cars in those parking lots were just thrown around. Even so, my roof was picked up and put right back down but I remember water coming down the walls (it was two stories). Oh, and my cat was upstairs and screaming its head off but wouldn't come down the stairs (he was OK). I remember that helicopters that were chained into the asphalt were just torn out of the asphalt and destroyed. I don't think anyone was hurt or killed though. I did get my kids into the downstairs bathtub though!

The one in 2017 hit nearby and killed 11 people and destroyed a big part of the town. That evening I remember going out on my back patio in the dark and videoing what was going on for my husband, and I said, "Wow, something is going down somewhere close by." When I moved into this town, the tops of many trees were gone and I have had to pay a slightly higher rate of homeowner's insurance due to high winds as they said euphemistically. Everyone also had new roofs just a few years old.

In 2002 I was in nearby Whitehouse TX when a tornado hit a lumber yard right down the road from me. Lumber landed in my yard so it was pretty close but no one was killed or hurt. Oh, and when I was a kid living in NC of all places, a tornado hit Fayetteville, NC (don't remember the year) and killed one person and I remember we had to go into the hall at school and assume the position (head between our knees, arms over head). My mom said she was calling and calling the dog but every time the dog would come out from behind a tree, it would get pushed back by the wind. All I know is that I got home and our fence was pretty much destroyed but that was it. Oh, and my mom ran outside and got the dog and got down in the basement.

Oh and one time around 2010 or so, I was about an hour away and in a business and we all had to get into a small, windowless, interior room under a stairwell but we were all OK and so was the building.

Also, a few years ago a tornado hit Canton, TX nearby and totally destroyed part of the town and hit cars on the interstate. I think one or two people were killed.

I spend at least a few hours every year in a small windowless interior room! Lordy.

[KathrynAragon]

OK so I got the home inspection back and it looks pretty good. I mean, the house was built in 1950, but the current owners have lived there for over 20 years and have taken very good care of the house. Still, there were a few things that the home inspector did consider dangerous. One was the fireplace - he told me, "Do not light a fire in that fireplace!" No worries. The other was that some electrical sockets are wired backwards if that makes sense. So I am going to negotiate a few things but it's not a deal killer. Roof looks good enough, plumbing looks good enough, no insects found, radon equipment is there till tomorrow when the report comes in but so far, it's workable.

I plan to wait till tomorrow after the radon report comes back to submit any requests I deem necessary.

[Teacher Terry]

It’s really cute Kathryn! I have lived in tornado alley 3 different times. I spent a lot of time in the basement. No matter where you live there’s weather dangers.

[KathrynAragon]

Thank you! I will probably spend some time in my small, windowless, interior room but like you said, there's typically weather drama just about anywhere.

I remembered another tornado I was in, just outside of Atlanta, Georgia. My mom, my baby and I put on our football helmets and got in the basement and it sounded like all hell was breaking loose outside but when we emerged, there was actually very little damage. I mean, like only small and smallish limbs and lots of leaves down. But it sounded awful from inside that basement! But you know what I remember most about that event? That my mom and I got tickled looking at each other in those football helmets. I am sure it was nervous laughter but still, that's what I remember! Us cracking up! It's actually one of my favorite memories.

[KathrynAragon]

Well. The radon inspection came back and it's barely over the limit. BARELY. But it is, so it's back to the drawing board! Never a dull minute.

We don't even require radon inspections or whatever in NE Texas, so this is new territory for me. I mean, I don't want lung cancer though!

Because it's a crawl space rather than a basement, even though it's a good size crawl space, it has to be encapsulated to treat radon. Ugh. That runs the cost up considerably and everything costs more today than historically, anyway.

[cobolt]

Originally Posted by KathrynAragon

Well. The radon inspection came back and it's barely over the limit. BARELY. But it is, so it's back to the drawing board! Never a dull minute.

We don't even require radon inspections or whatever in NE Texas, so this is new territory for me. I mean, I don't want lung cancer though!

Because it's a crawl space rather than a basement, even though it's a good size crawl space, it has to be encapsulated to treat radon. Ugh. That runs the cost up considerably and everything costs more today than historically, anyway.

So what does this mean, KA? That you need to start the house search all over?

[KathrynAragon]

Originally Posted by cobolt

So what does this mean, KA? That you need to start the house search all over?

Not at this point. I am getting bids on mitigation and will do a counter offer. I am still within the 14 days for inspections.

[ohio_peasant]

Xenia Township sustains relatively inferior property value increases, because of the perceived poor quality of the schools. The more urbane-set prefers Beavercreek township or Sugarcreek township, slightly to the west. For one's "forever" home, this might be irrelevant. But with an eye towards resale, one may choose to be wary.

[KathrynAragon]

Originally Posted by ohio_peasant

Xenia Township sustains relatively inferior property value increases, because of the perceived poor quality of the schools. The more urbane-set prefers Beavercreek township or Sugarcreek township, slightly to the west. For one's "forever" home, this might be irrelevant. But with an eye towards resale, one may choose to be wary.

It's pretty irrelevant to me. I plan to live in the house I buy for a very long time. I looked in Beavercreek by the way. I could buy there - for $100,000 more. No thanks. And HOA fees on top of that. In Xenia Township, the elementary school performs very well. It's the high school that is not as great, but it goes partially by reviews and has anyone ever met a teenager happy about their school? LOL

[KathrynAragon]

I think the 2024 test scores just came out and Xenia did fine in those, for the record. Four schools were in Ohio's Best Schools, including one of the schools in the area I am looking in.