Best Elementary Schools(private)

[ObamneyI]

If your budget is less than $750k than just come to Plano. We can hook you up with a nice house with great schools and even throw in an affordable tutor to sweeten the deal ... And it's at a safe distance from your family. Your wife may appreciate that.

[bencronin04]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

Agreed. A $1.0M HPISD home with 20% down / 3.75% loan is about $5,200/mo (mortgage + taxes + insurance). That's equivalent to a $25k/yr private school bill + an approx $500k DISD home (think you said you live in Greenway Crest so just took a ballpark average home price in that general Greenway / Devonshire/ Bluffview area).

You also don't have to spend $1M in HPISD if you are a family of three vs a larger family. There are some cute 2200-2400SF range homes around $750-850k range that have sold this year or are currently on the market. In that case, HPISD becomes about $900/mo (almost 50% of a private school tuition bill) less than the DISD + private school scenario.

My thoughts exactly. And if we have another kiddo by chance, there is another $25k/yr saved in HPISD. Plus the return on investment when going to sell is going to be more then likely higher in the HPISD area as opposed to DISD.

Originally Posted by ObamneyI

If your budget is less than $750k than just come to Plano. We can hook you up with a nice house with great schools and even throw in an affordable tutor to sweeten the deal ... And it's at a safe distance from your family. Your wife may appreciate that.

My wife absolutely LOVES having my parents so close. I'm an only child so this is my parents only grand child.....SPOILED. They offer to watch him at least once a week which really helps out my wife. Also, I have nothing against Plano, but we've lived there before and just enjoy the Dallas area more. Thanks for the info though!

[HockDad]

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

Agreed. A $1.0M HPISD home with 20% down / 3.75% loan is about $5,200/mo (mortgage + taxes + insurance). That's equivalent to a $25k/yr private school bill + an approx $500k DISD home (think you said you live in Greenway Crest so just took a ballpark average home price in that general Greenway / Devonshire/ Bluffview area).

Originally Posted by TurtleCreek80

You also don't have to spend $1M in HPISD if you are a family of three vs a larger family. There are some cute 2200-2400SF range homes around $750-850k range that have sold this year or are currently on the market. In that case, HPISD becomes about $900/mo (almost 50% of a private school tuition bill) less than the DISD + private school scenario.

For us, it comes down to how we want to spend our money. We could live in HPISD and send the kids to HP. The kids would be fine, but I worry that my oldest daughter might not be a good fit. We certainly would save 75k per year.

Are there days that I wish I had that extra 75k- absolutely. It probably means that I will never have a second home, luxury car or country club membership. I can live without those "toys." But, if it meant that we could not save for retirement, save for college, etc., I would be in HPISD in a heartbeat. It is a great school district and I would never recommend stretching to send a kid to St. Marks or Hockaday v. going to HPISD.

[Tripolar]

Lucky you! If I were you, I'll move in with them. If they re getting old and you are their only child than in long term they'll benefit from having you there to take care of them. I know that it's not considered normal but can work. It does for our Asian families. You live in a nice house, get a pair of loving baby sitters. However, a complicated decision.

[bencronin04]

Originally Posted by Tripolar

Lucky you! If I were you, I'll move in with them. If they re getting old and you are their only child than in long term they'll benefit from having you there to take care of them. I know that it's not considered normal but can work. It does for our Asian families. You live in a nice house, get a pair of loving baby sitters. However, a complicated decision.

We love each other, but this small degree of separation we currently have....is definitely needed.

On another point, I don't feel comfortable discussing finances with my parents as I feel it is none of my business to know where they are at unless they want to share it with me freely. But, for others that live in the area, would an income of 180K/yr be significant enough for the area? There is still a good chance that will increase within the next 4-5 years(when we would be looking to purchase). I know it may be tight, but according to some calculators I've done online, it looks to be able to afford a house in the 700-800K range at 5% interest.

[HockDad]

Originally Posted by bencronin04

We love each other, but this small degree of separation we currently have....is definitely needed.

Originally Posted by bencronin04

On another point, I don't feel comfortable discussing finances with my parents as I feel it is none of my business to know where they are at unless they want to share it with me freely. But, for others that live in the area, would an income of 180K/yr be significant enough for the area? There is still a good chance that will increase within the next 4-5 years(when we would be looking to purchase). I know it may be tight, but according to some calculators I've done online, it looks to be able to afford a house in the 700-800K range at 5% interest.

Based on my experience, an income of 180k will put you on the low end of the scales. I know that someone will blast us with stats that show that 180k is probably above the average income (look at D magazine), but I don't believe those stats, or actually, I think that they are skewed.

I lived on a very average street. When I left, the cheapest home was in the 800k range (not including two tear downs) and the most expensive was 1.5 million or so. On my street were numerous executives of fortune 500 companies, lawyers, and doctors. There was also a couple across the street that probably had limited income, but they had family money. There was also several retired couples that also probably had low incomes, but significant assets. There were two retired couples that had been there for 50 years. Their houses were tear-downs, and they might live on 30k per year.

If you look at the first grade parents at the local school, I would guess the average income is well over 180k (your peers and excluding retired couples, students at SMU, and family money). That being said, that is a high income and you should be proud. Plus, it is going up. I would not hesitate to move there based on that income.

[bencronin04]

Originally Posted by HockDad

Based on my experience, an income of 180k will put you on the low end of the scales. I know that someone will blast us with stats that show that 180k is probably above the average income (look at D magazine), but I don't believe those stats, or actually, I think that they are skewed.

I lived on a very average street. When I left, the cheapest home was in the 800k range (not including two tear downs) and the most expensive was 1.5 million or so. On my street were numerous executives of fortune 500 companies, lawyers, and doctors. There was also a couple across the street that probably had limited income, but they had family money. There was also several retired couples that also probably had low incomes, but significant assets. There were two retired couples that had been there for 50 years. Their houses were tear-downs, and they might live on 30k per year.

If you look at the first grade parents at the local school, I would guess the average income is well over 180k (your peers and excluding retired couples, students at SMU, and family money). That being said, that is a high income and you should be proud. Plus, it is going up. I would not hesitate to move there based on that income.

Thats for the info. I was just researching and found this, "According to a 2007 estimate,[6] the median income for a household in the city was $151,418, and the median income for a family was $200,000+"
I know these are probably halfway scewed with SMU students that put their primary residence in UP with 0 income. I don't mind being on the lower end for awhile. Hopefully by the time we are ready, it will be over 200, but we'll see. The biggest thing holding me back now from that figure is my age,

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by bencronin04

Thats for the info. I was just researching and found this, "According to a 2007 estimate,[6] the median income for a household in the city was $151,418, and the median income for a family was $200,000+"
I know these are probably halfway scewed with SMU students that put their primary residence in UP with 0 income. I don't mind being on the lower end for awhile. Hopefully by the time we are ready, it will be over 200, but we'll see. The biggest thing holding me back now from that figure is my age,

$180k is great if you can purchase in the $750k range (may be a SFA or a 2000SF range home) and aren't suffering from credit card debt or high student loan payments. Interest rates are under 4% now for jumbo, though they will probably cross 4% later this year, don't think they'll hit 5% again for some time. With $180k income, you'd have approx 35% of your take-home pay going towards PITI. If you can't make a nice life & still save / invest with the over $6k/mo you'd have leftover every month....you're have a spending problem, not an income problem

Plus, you're young. There are some 20-something's who buy in HPISD and have super high incomes, but most of the 20-something's IMO are buying their homes out of their trust funds or dad is putting enough down to make the mortgage payment reasonable on their income (like my friends' in-laws who put down $1M on their $1.4M home so their mortgage wouldn't be jumbo and would be "doable"). The 30-40-something's have the much higher incomes. We continue to look at homes that hedge fund managers are selling now that they're moving on to their $3-4M homes (which they are buying with cash!)