Finding Oakwood

During one of our intense, mad dash house hunting trips in Dayton, we met our realtor at a house in Patterson Park. The house was nice and we thought about buying it, but were still a bit hesitant. It fit the criteria for the most part but it did not scream "buy me." Correction: It did not say "Welcome home." Our realtor suggested we check out the bordering neighborhood, Oakwood. She said the schools were excellent, had mostly pre-WWII homes, and was considered Dayton's "old money." We decided to check the area out before committing to purchasing the house on Warrington.

As we drove into the neighborhood, we were first greeted by a pretty sign reading, "Welcome to the City of Oakwood." The houses were beautiful, well-kept, and historic. This was one of the last weekends before snow covered everything and people were out running, walking their dogs, raking leaves, and playing at the park. School banners hung on houses declaring "Oakwood Football," "Oakwood Swimming," and "Oakwood Basketball." There was school pride everywhere. The school buildings were aesthetically pleasing historic buildings and the parks fabulous. One park in particular thoroughly excited the kids: Orchardly Park (dubbed Disneyland by the locals.) The shops bordering the small community were promising. Brian and I were pumped. I saw a kid cleaning out the gutters while his dad supervised. If the atmosphere here encouraged children to contribute to the household chores, then I was in! Even the kids were excited. We drove back to Kentucky and narrowed down our online search to Oakwood houses.

Then came the sticker shock. Houses in Oakwood had not fell as far as the rest of Dayton's housing market. There were still several in our price range, but none of them were 5 or 6 bedrooms. This neighborhood has a majority of $300K and up housing. But, we printed off a list of about 25 houses in our price range (most of them at the top of it) and sent them to our realtor to set up. We then went to do some research on the neighborhood. The taxes are pretty steep here in Oakwood. We pay (take a deep breath!) $300 a month alone in taxes. But we get a lot for the money. The library is first class. The school system (which we are not utilizing at the moment because we homeschool) is superb with the high school ranked 577th in the nation. There is an excellent community center that offers just about everything you could think of from dance classes, a health club, teen center, guitar classes, etiquette classes,etc.(OCC winter/spring) There is a community pool. The streets and sidewalks are plowed. There are 3 different parks in the city and the entire neighborhood borders a huge metro park that offers green spaces with great hiking & sledding. The amenities are too many to list here. Check out this website for a sampling:Welcome to Oakwood.

I asked for help and He answered. Oakwood felt like the perfect place for our family to settle.
Now, we just had to find the perfect house!