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Old 05-13-2011, 08:55 AM
 
1,190 posts, read 2,619,269 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TennStud View Post
Don't want to appear naive but I would like further explanation on this concept of buying a home in University Park or Highland Park is "just the price of admission"..
Obviously, the higher the value of the home,the higher the taxes. I know you know that part. Everyday living stuff is the same no matter where you are in Dallas - gas is gas, food is food, ballet lessons are ballet lessons kind of stuff.

I think what most mean by the "higher price of admission" is the extras - are you comfortable doing a "staycation" when your kid's friends go to the south of France for the summer? Will your kid be happy driving a used Toyota to school when their friends got a new BMW? Are Target clothes okay or does everything have to be "A" label from NorthPark mall? Can you serve the 2-buck-chuck wine without others peering down their nose at you?

Those kinds of things.

That said, with 3 kids who could potentially go to private school, HP/UP might be the right choice for you. My daughter goes to one of the less expensive privates in Dallas, but we still pay $12k/year. If you average that out for the more expensive schools, you could be spending close to $50k per year in school for your kids. Thats about $4k per month you could be putting towards a mortgage (or savings, vacations, etc). if you choose HP/UP.

Good luck!
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Old 05-13-2011, 09:03 AM
 
13,194 posts, read 28,101,157 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TennStud View Post
Don't want to appear naive but I would like further explanation on this concept of buying a home in University Park or Highland Park is "just the price of admission". Especially from those that live in the area. I grew up in a similar environment (albiet another city)...but I don't remember that gas, groceries, clothing utility bills, automobile prices, etc were anymore expensive (I know property taxes will be). Can't I shop at Costco?? Or buy a used car?? Or is the real price of admission something like that movie where all the wives turn into robots?? Can't remember the name.
I grew up there and live nearby. Gas actually IS more expensive as there are only 2-3 gas stations there. But "the price of admission" we are referencing is an awareness of what is considered a "normal" lifestyle. Some examples include:
Popular summer camps for thousands of HPISD kids are Camp Longhorn, Waldemar, Mystic, & Kanakuk. They cost about $2,000-3,000 per week per child for a 3-6 week session. If 2 of your kids wanted to go to Longhorn with their friends, it will cost $12,000 per summer.

The "norm" is for high school girls to buy formal dance dresses at Neiman's. 2-3 dances per year times $300-500 adds up!

Many people do drive older cars, but by and large nearly every car is either a luxury brand (BMW, Lexus, Benz, Range Rover, etc) or a loaded SUV (Yukon, Tahoe, Suburban, etc). It's not a minivan & Honda kind of neighborhood. Most kids get a car at 16- either mom or dad's hand-me-down from the list above or a new one.

Most families have one of the following: an elite country club membership, a lakehouse/ranch, or a second home in Colorado/ NYC/ abroad. Some families have multiples.

There is a tremendous amount of parental pressure to give financially to the schools. HPISD is "property rich" according to the state of Texas and sends 70% of the property tax collections to the state for redistribution. Therefore the district runs on a very tight budget and depends on parents to fund 5%+ of the district's budget each year. It does not end with your property tax bill.

This is just a short list but hopefully gives you an idea. It is a wonderful community that bends over backwards for the schools & kids, but you need to understand your neighbors will be LOADED and you may not be able to "keep up"- and I don't mean match their cars or second homes, I mean accept a dinner invitation to a restaurant you can't afford.

There are many families who scrape by to live in HPISD for the schools, but know that your family will need to be ok with "beating to your own drum" if you can only afford the home and not the lifestyle, too.

It's hard to explain to an 8-y/o why she can't go to summer camp with her 5 best friends.
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Old 05-13-2011, 09:11 AM
 
21 posts, read 45,396 times
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Thanks for your comments. Alot to consider. But don't you face the same issues if your kids go to private school?
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Old 05-13-2011, 09:23 AM
 
Location: Junius Heights
1,245 posts, read 3,420,976 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TennStud View Post
Thanks for your comments. Alot to consider. But don't you face the same issues if your kids go to private school?
Not as much. First of all the families entire social circle is less likely to revolve around the school than it is to revolve around the city you live in. Secondly my own experience in Private school was always that there are a significant number of kids either on financial aid of some sort (provided by the school or a third party) or whose parents are putting most of their income into educating their children. This puts some kind of brakes on the social expectations, or at least provides a large group of kids not living that life.
There will always be a majority of kids living the "Park Cities" kind of life style at a private school, but it isn't 100 percent, the kids know that, and the societal pressure isn't a the Park Cities level. Even if the pressure is high, at the end of the day the kids are going to come home to their neighborhood and things will change. They will have some neighborhood friends who aren't part of the ultra wealthy social life scene. That isn't true in the Park Cities.

Again that isn't to bash the Park Cities, for those that can afford it, and want that kind of social scene it is a great place, and the schools are fantastic, but it is a somewhat insular community with a set of societal expectations.
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Old 05-13-2011, 09:24 AM
 
Location: Simmering in DFW
6,952 posts, read 22,602,257 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TennStud View Post
Thanks for your comments. Alot to consider. But don't you face the same issues if your kids go to private school?
I have three friends with daughters at Hockaday and my next door neighbor's 2 girls both go to Ursuline. None share the high lifestyle and all kids have tons of similar friends.
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Old 05-13-2011, 09:26 AM
 
1,190 posts, read 2,619,269 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TennStud View Post
Thanks for your comments. Alot to consider. But don't you face the same issues if your kids go to private school?
Yes. I think there are social / financial challenges in every situation or solution. I do agree with what the other posters above me said, too. In a private school, I think there might be a larger mix which adds less social pressure, but I think it is still there to some degree.
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Old 05-13-2011, 09:31 AM
 
Location: Junius Heights
1,245 posts, read 3,420,976 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80 View Post
the district runs on a very tight budget and depends on parents to fund 5%+ of the district's budget each year. It does not end with your property tax bill.
Frankly I'm surprised the figure is that low. Sounds like they must make pretty effective use of their money. Granted they don't have many of the challenges of larger districts, but still. When I lived in Bartlesville Oklahoma for four years, they had to get more than this from parental donations.
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Old 05-13-2011, 09:49 AM
 
13,194 posts, read 28,101,157 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Macbeth2003 View Post
Frankly I'm surprised the figure is that low. Sounds like they must make pretty effective use of their money. Granted they don't have many of the challenges of larger districts, but still. When I lived in Bartlesville Oklahoma for four years, they had to get more than this from parental donations.
The "Mad for Plaid" main fundraiser for the operating budget raises $2.5-3M each year.

Then there's the $350 mandatory ACE fee for every student athlete.

Then there are all the ad-hoc fundraisers- PTA's, Early Childhood PTA's, fundraisers for Belles, Band, Lads & Lassies, Cheerleaders, room mother support for teachers.

Then there's the volunteer man hours- parents serve & cashier at all 7 cafeterias every single day. They serve & cashier at every single high shook sporting event.

I'm sure I'm forgetting other things, but that's a good list!
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Old 05-13-2011, 09:51 AM
 
Location: la hacienda
2,256 posts, read 9,728,395 times
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Besides great schools, you will get a walkable community with excellent city services - HP & UP have their own police and fire departments. There are many parks and UP has a great pool.

I have heard about 20% of Park Cities kids go to the private schools you are talking about as well as most of Preston Hollow. These are people that can afford high dollar houses as well as sending their kids to private schools, so you will run into the privaleged elite there as well.
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Old 05-13-2011, 09:52 AM
 
Location: Dallas
114 posts, read 220,591 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jennifw View Post
Yes. I think there are social / financial challenges in every situation or solution. I do agree with what the other posters above me said, too. In a private school, I think there might be a larger mix which adds less social pressure, but I think it is still there to some degree.

Yes, this. We have lived in various socio-economic circles, and the pressures vary mostly as a function of how homeogenous the area is. If everyone has a high income, the pressures are higher. We sent our daughter to a very expensive Montessori school. Some people chose the school because it was the most expensive, and therefore must be the One. Others, like us, saw the educatinoal value as above other choices. They scrimped and saved to send their kid there. While there were big donors there (kids art pieces went for thousands of dollars at the fund raising art auction) not everyone had that kind of money. It makes a difference. We have been in public schools where everyone, except a very small percentage, had oodles of money, or at least spent like they did. The pressures were much greater there, and my older daughters, and I didn't like it. My husband was able to shrug it all off.

It just depends on how sensitive you are. Or if your kids excel at sports, they won't feel the pressure as much, because they will have their status and identity based on this.
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