Montgomery County is the largest rental market in the region and the most administratively awkward one to operate in. Five separate courts hear evictions here, split by municipality rather than by anything you could guess from a map, and an owner who gets that wrong loses a month.
Dayton Proper manages single-family and small multi-family rentals across the county — the city of Dayton and thirteen surrounding communities. Below is what operating here actually involves.
One county, five eviction courts
This is the single most consequential thing to understand about Montgomery County, and it catches owners who hold in more than one community.
Under ORC 1901.02, Montgomery County Municipal Court has jurisdiction across the county except for Centerville, Clayton, Dayton, Englewood, Germantown, Kettering, Miamisburg, Moraine, Oakwood, Union, Vandalia and West Carrollton, and the townships of Butler, German, Harrison, Miami and Washington. Every one of those has its own court.
Practically, that means Kettering files in Kettering, Huber Heights files in the county court’s Eastern Division, Trotwood files in the Western Division, and Miamisburg files in Miamisburg. Filing in the wrong venue does not get transferred — it gets dismissed, and you start over with a new notice.
We keep a full jurisdiction breakdown covering every community in the region.
The housing stock is older than owners budget for
A very large share of Montgomery County’s rental inventory predates 1978, and a great deal of it was built in a narrow post-war window. Two consequences follow that most pro formas miss.
Capital events cluster. In markets like Kettering the furnaces, panels, sewer laterals and galvanized supply lines across an entire subdivision are aging on the same schedule. Owners here rarely lose money to vacancy. They lose it to a $6,000 capital event in a year they had not reserved for one.
Lead-based paint disclosure applies. Federal law requires the EPA pamphlet, disclosure of known lead paint and records, and a signed lease attachment on any property built before 1978. Penalties are federal and per violation. Self-managing owners with older county stock miss this constantly.
The county is really several different markets
Treating Montgomery County as one market produces pricing that is wrong nearly everywhere. The spread between submarkets is wider here than in any surrounding county.
- School-driven, high entry price: Oakwood, Centerville. Long tenancies, strong appreciation, thin cash flow.
- Steady mid-market: Kettering, Miamisburg, Englewood, Clayton, Vandalia.
- Cash-flow markets: Trotwood, West Carrollton, Moraine, parts of the city of Dayton. Higher headline yield, and the realized return depends almost entirely on screening discipline.
- Employment-driven: Riverside و Huber Heights on the Wright-Patterson side, Moraine on the industrial side.
- Small and thin: Germantown, where a pricing mistake costs you a season rather than a fortnight.
County-specific administration
- Montgomery County Auditor sets property valuations, which drive your tax bill. Valuations are appealable, and an inflated valuation on a rental is a permanent drag on returns until someone challenges it.
- Montgomery County Treasurer collects on the county cycle. Owners who also hold in Miami or Warren county need to track more than one calendar.
- Greater Dayton Premier Management administers housing choice vouchers here — inspections, rent reasonableness and recertification. See how vouchers actually work.
Every Montgomery County community we manage in
Dayton · Kettering · Centerville · Oakwood · Riverside · Trotwood · Huber Heights · West Carrollton · Miamisburg · Germantown · Moraine · Vandalia · Englewood · Clayton.
What we charge
Ten percent of monthly rent or $75 per month, whichever is greater. A flat $750 leasing fee, $500 on renewal. No setup fee, no separate rent collection fee. The whole schedule is on one page at what we charge — same numbers everywhere in the county.
Montgomery County questions
Do you manage across the whole county?
Every community listed above, plus the surrounding townships. If your property is somewhere not listed, ask — the list reflects where we actively lease, not a radius on a map.
Which court handles my eviction?
It depends on the municipality, and there are five possibilities. The jurisdiction table covers all of them, or send us the address and we will confirm it.
Is Montgomery County a good place to own rentals?
It is the deepest, most liquid rental market in the region, with genuine range from cash-flow to appreciation plays. The caution is the age of the housing stock — reserve honestly for capital and it is a good county to build in.
I own in more than one county.
Common, and we operate in four. See Greene County و Miami County.
Have a deal in mind? Let’s analyze it now with the Proper Deal CalculatorCap rate, cash on cash and monthly cash flow in about thirty seconds. Free, nothing to sign up for.Analyze a deal ▾Close ▴
Same formulas as the Ingram Rental Calculator app, so the numbers agree: cap rate is NOI over purchase price, and cash on cash is NOI less debt service over total capital required. Management is billed at 10% of rent or $75 a month, whichever is greater — our full fee schedule is here.
Estimates for comparing deals, not for underwriting one. Closing costs and long-term capital reserves are not modeled. For a real number on a real address, ask us for a rental analysis.
Running numbers on the go? Get the Ingram Rental Calculator for iPhone or Android.
Get a free rental analysis
Send us the address and we will tell you what it rents for today, what it would rent for after specific work, and whether you should rent it or sell it. No cost, no obligation, usually back within two business days.
Rather talk? Call 937-999-3890 or email hello@daytonproper.com. Our office is at 729 Salem Ave, Dayton, OH 45406.