When will we find out...

No, actually I am pretty excited. I'm sort of relieved that we don't have to deal with the insanity that can be California. I am just ready to get the #*@@ out of Mississippi. I can definitely get psyched about TJs (and I've read about a Dorothy Lane Market? Is that nice and/or pricey?)

Oakwood - I've seen a few homes listed there. I love, love, LOVE those homes. How is the area around Oakwood? Is it a really nice area with rough pockets just outside or pretty decent?

Springboro, Kettering, Beavercreek - what are the pros/cons of each?

Has anyone else heard anything???

[houseelf]

Oakwood is very upscale with very good schools. If newer construction is your thing, you won't find it here. Think of old world manor type construction which has been upkept. The school district is small here and you will be on the edge of Dayton proper. If for some wild and wacky reason I would ever move back to Dayton, DH and I agree that it would be to this suburb. The caveat is that we prefer smaller schools to big sprawling districts. You may feel differently.

Kettering (my hometown) is divided into two parts, East Kettering, very moderate middle American houses with perhaps just a smidgeon of working class poor. West Kettering goes from upper middle class to vulgar wealthy. This is a large school district with suprisingly high test scores. Kettering has even higher test scores than Centerville, which is almost all upper middle class families rather than Kettering's more economically diverse families.

Springboro was farm land when I lived in Dayton but now boasts all the new construction. I know nothing about the schools there, but have a few friends living there. This may be a trek.

Belbrook is a nice smaller community with lots of green open spaces, more so than some of the other suburbs. Again, I like the smaller school system here.

Beavercreek is a lot like Kettering. Although I assume it has changed in the last decade since I've lived there. It is close to the base, however. I'm more familiar with some of the other suburbs because of family.
Although I've taken the majority of my vacations over the last seven years to Dayton , but I'm just not that familiar with all of the changes.

Dorothy Lane Market is chic-chic-frou-frou, with prices to match. Also, there is a fantastic independent (non-chain!) bookseller: Books and Company at the Greens and at Town and Country, right next to Trader Joe's.

Let me know what else you need to know. The real estate market is FANTASTIC for buyers right now.

Kelly

Kelly

We found out too! I am so relieved to finally know. He got assigned to Tripler. Does anybody know much about Oahu besides that it is crazy expensive? If you have any suggestions about where to live or schools it would be much appreciated. I researched alot of other places but not this one.

I am happy everyone is finding out!!

My mom's brother and family live on Oahu and I know that private school is a high priority for them. I'm not sure if it is the schools in their area or schools in general.

I think that Ellie used to live in HI but I'm not sure where. You could PM her.

A little real estate snafu. I had contacted an agent a few weeks ago just to get an idea of homes in the area (one of those "you must enter your email address to get access to the listings" deals). I asked her a few questions and have sort of come to the conclusion that I'm not crazy about her.
Enter USAA Movers Advantage program. They will give us $1250 after closing if we use one of their agents. USAA woman called me and told me that their approved real estate company is the one that above woman is with. . .I told her that we had spoken with someone at that agency already but weren't too happy. Guess who calls as "our agent" yesterday?

Is there any sort of way to gracefully get out of using this agent? Oh, and still get the $1250 (which means we have to use their agency).

[houseelf]

Ack....This is such a huge decision. You need to like your agent. The agent recommended by DH's program was not my favorite. I got out of it by stating, "Gee, thanks I think that we're going to rent" and then sought recommendations from members at this site. (I loved our realtor). I hope that you can get out of using the realtor you didn't click with. It is sooo important.

Kelly

[SuzySunshine]

Do they only have one approved company per city? Can you ask for another agency?

[DCJenn]

Call USAA and tell them that you had met w/ that agent and weren't impressed and who else is approved- that agent may just have said, 'oh, I know them, I'll take it'.

I LOVED my USAA agents in DC.

Jenn

I think you can ask for another one. Our packet we just got for that program said that you could change if you wanted to, just call and ask. I hope that works!

[poky]

Hmmm...thanks to my ex, who was army reserves, we're USAA members, and we're shortly going to be moving from Portland to Cleveland. However, we want to rent out our house here (preferably with a property management company), and rent in Cleveland (since we don't plan to settle there, and would rather not deal with maintenence while DH is in school). Is there anything USAA can do to help us with that, or are they strictly helping with the buying and selling or property? Do they have programs to help find movers, property managment, rental properties, etc., or are we on our own for that?

[DCJenn]

Check on their website http://www.usaa.com. I'm not sure about renting stuff.

Can't hurt to give them a call, either.

Jenn