Cheney is a college town on the West Plains, about 20 to 25 minutes from downtown Spokane. Before you buy here, look at five things: what kind of block you are on, which school the address feeds into, how homes are priced, your real commute, and what comes with any acreage.
Cheney has older homes near downtown and the Eastern Washington University campus, subdivisions from the 1990s through the 2010s such as Maple Terrace, Sugar Street and Big Sky, duplexes, and acreage on the edges. Near campus, some blocks have many rentals. Drive the street on a weekday evening and on a Saturday, and look at parking. The school year sets the rhythm: move-ins in September and move-outs in June.
Cheney is in the Cheney School District. The district is growing, a new elementary school is under construction in Airway Heights, and elementary boundaries are being redrawn. Do not assume a home goes to the nearest school. Confirm it with the district for the exact address.
Homes in Cheney often take longer to sell than homes in central Spokane. For a buyer, that can mean more room to negotiate on the right house. For a seller, it means the list price has to be right from the first day.
Downtown Spokane is about 20 to 25 minutes by SR-904 or Cheney-Spokane Road. Fairchild’s main gate is roughly 25 to 30 minutes. Those are free-flow estimates, so drive it at the hour you would actually leave. Spokane Transit also runs buses between Cheney and Spokane.
Outside city limits you are usually on a well and a septic system. Both need their own inspections, and your insurance agent should quote wind and wildfire coverage before you are under contract. I wrote a separate checklist for that.
I work here most days, and I am also a mortgage broker. That means I can tell you what a home is likely worth and what its payment would be in the same conversation.
Tell me what you are looking for and I will line up homes, run the payment on each one and answer the questions a listing can’t.