WWYD - relocation ?

anonsouthernbell

We are going to be moving in a few months. I have started looking at houses and I have a little "conundrum".... Would you move to a smaller house ( not smaller than what we currently have but smaller for the area) for an excellent school district or a large house for a great/good school district? DS might not even go to public school, but we haven't decided on that for sure... [Poll]

anonsouthernbell

I forgot to hit add so the third choice of other, please explain isn't showing....

mrs. remy

will you be renting or buying? one thing to consider is the demand and resale value of houses in great school districts.

salc21

We moved last summer and my priorities were first schools & neighborhood - and then stuff about the house. I agree that for resale value, people look for the public school systems. That's the only reason why we didn't stay in Annapolis. Also, you said that the house isn't smaller than what you currently have, so if you are doing fine in the same size house, that's a good thing

Cooper81

It really depends on more details.  Are you looking to buy or rent?  Are you there only a couple of years, or is this long term?  If it's long term, I would give up some space for better schools, but then again good vs. great schools can change quickly if your area goes through re-districting, like crofton did a few years ago.

KathrynMD

I would look closely at the immediate neighborhood - we are in a good school district and I'm happy with it and while on paper our neighborhood is family friendly, etc. there are VERY few young families in our neighborhood.  We've been there 4 years adn we know ~3 families with young children.  If I was a SAHM, I'd be SOL on neighborhood friends for DD or adult interaction for me.

anonsouthernbell

Looking to buy, minimum 3 yrs possibly more....huge difference in houses though.  I should have added that the difference in house and land are HUGE.  We can purchase a house for almost 100K less, have a bigger backyard and about 1-2K more sq footage in the house.  The homes that we can afford in the best school district, are older and tbh I don't like them as much, but I do like the fact that their schools are so great.  Ty everyone for chiming in and please keep the opinions coming...

KathrynMD

anonsouthernbell:

Looking to buy, minimum 3 yrs possibly more....huge difference in houses though.  I should have added that the difference in house and land are HUGE.  We can purchase a house for almost 100K less, have a bigger backyard and about 1-2K more sq footage in the house.  The homes that we can afford in the best school district, are older and tbh I don't like them as much, but I do like the fact that their schools are so great.  Ty everyone for chiming in and please keep the opinions coming...

Given this data, I would totally pick the bigger house w/ a yard in a good school district.  Honestly, for very involved parents, like you are, I don't think the difference between good vs. great school outcomes are very significant.  You are providing so much support anyway that you will make up for any minor deficit the school might have.

Cooper81

anonsouthernbell:

Looking to buy, minimum 3 yrs possibly more....huge difference in houses though.  I should have added that the difference in house and land are HUGE.  We can purchase a house for almost 100K less, have a bigger backyard and about 1-2K more sq footage in the house.  The homes that we can afford in the best school district, are older and tbh I don't like them as much, but I do like the fact that their schools are so great.  Ty everyone for chiming in and please keep the opinions coming...

If it's great/good schools I would really have to take a close look on exacatly where the schools differ, is it sports/extra-ciricular activities offer/special academic programs or is it just maybe a small difference in test scores, so maybe the districts are not really all that different.  Besides you can always enroll them in private activities, sports, lessons, etc that might be even better than what the "great" schools can provide if that is where more of the difference lies.  And even in a 5 year span you never know how quickly a school can change.  My HS was always one of the "really good" ones in the area, then with the late 90's boom in home construction it got over crowded and the county did a re-districting and within a few years it became a HS I wouldn't want to send my kids to, so there are some factors that can make a quick change in schools that you might not consider.

salc21

Agree with the previous two posts in regards to the additional information. That is a big difference in not only space, but money too. I think it would definitely depend on what made that school district good/great compared to excellent. And I agree with Cooper, by the time they go to school it may be re-districted. Crofton went through that in the past, and I know there is talk about doing it again (luckily I don't think it will affect our neighborhood school).

Mrs.RockyM

don't forget to look at surrounding schools.  not sure what county you're relocating to, but some in Maryland redistrict yearly.