Moving to Bloomington - taxes, real estate, schools (Greenwood, Upland: hardwood floors, sales)

[Uplander]

You can get assessed property values here Welcome to the Monroe County GIS , along with other things.

[hikerbiker]

Uplander: Thanks!

[agioe]

Bloomington has enjoyed a more stable market in comparison to Indy and some of the other larger cities in Indiana. I too am an IU grad and I loved the college in addition to the city in general. I compared the stats between our Indy office and Bloomington office and their homes sell faster and for better values at all price points.

[hikerbiker]

Great to hear, agioe. Does this would include homes in the county as well as in the city of B'ton?

Any comments about non-trad homes (cabins, cottages, farmhouses) as opposed to traditional subdivision houses?

Again, anyone have any info on the quality of the elementary schools?

THANKS!

[domergurl]

YO!!!! RRAH!!!!!! fudge! where is she when we really need her!!!!!

[Uplander]

Here's a site that may help.

Search for Schools

In my opinion MCCSC elementary districts are pretty economically segregated. Your price range for housing may steer you into one school or another.

This link may help as well.

MCCSC Attendance Areas (http://www.mccsc.edu/info/attareas.html - broken link)

[rrah]

Well, Dgurl, I just returned from a wonderful week away. : ) IU and MCCSC both had Spring Break this week.

OP--I too moved from the Chicago area to Bloomington a bit over 8 years ago. It was a great choice for my family. Uplander hit the real estate tax question. Yes, taxes in the county are less expensive than similar or even smaller houses within the city limits. Our taxes are less than 1/2 of what we paid for a home of similar value in the Chicago area.

Questions 2 and 3. Housing prices in Bloomington tend to be some of the most stable in the state. If you're concerned that prices will fall, it's not likely. 3--generally no. For apartments, generally the farther you are from IU, the less likely it will be a student oriented complex. A few places will do short term rentals, but most will require a year lease.

Stepping up on the soapbox now---When it comes to grade schools don't be afraid of those with lower test scores. We too thought our children had to go to one of the schools with higher scores, but after talking to the principal at the school they attended, and later visiting, we found a school with a diverse socio-economic population that accepted all children, was family friendly, and worked with us to insure our kids were being challenged and learning. I don't say the following to brag, but to illustrate a point. Our son was invited to attend the elementary gifted program. We elected to keep him at his home school for a variety of reasons. He certainly didn't fall behind by being at a school that didn't have the top scores in the district. As a high schooler he's now probably in the top 2-3 % of his class and certainly does as well or better than most of the kids that attended the grade schools with higher scores. The same held true for my daughter although she was at that grade school for a shorter time. I firmly believe that what happens at home is as, or sometimes more, important than a school's test scores. Stepping down from the soap box now.

Other questions?

[cbwinslo]

Rrah-agree, agree, agree!

[geomom]

I just saw this thread and was wondering if the OP has already moved, etc.? We lived in Bloomington for 7 years-- LOVED it! I do want to comment on the discussion of schools. Since the OP doesn't have children and seemed to be asking about schools in regard to how they might affect home resale value, I do think that it's VERY valid to be talking about test scores et. that affect potential homebuyers perception -- because the fact is that more homebuyers are going to be looking to be zoned for the "better" school districts. We were very conscious of that when we bought our home-- lived in it for 5 years and then sold it 2 years ago hen we were done with grad school. Our home was zoned for Childs Elementary- which is generally regarded as the "best" elementary school in town. When we were ready to sell our home, we were the lowest priced home in that zoning area-- and we got an acceptable offer from the VERY FIRST people to tour our home! I had a good friend while we lived there who had a very similar home west of 37 (still technically Bloomington- kind of on the way out to the airport) put her house on the market the same time (spring 2008) and finally has an accepted offer now a full 2 years later. I really do think it's smart to think about more than just what YOU want out of a neighborhood, etc.- but also what potential future homebuyers will want (not saying buy a place you don't like- just be aware of things if you're thinking that you might not live there forever) Childs is generally preffered-- Binford Elementary also has a pretty good reputation. All that said-- Brown County is absolutely beautiful (and then you're still cose to Bruster's - which has the very best capuccino and key lime pie ice cream ever!) The housing market there may prove to be very different than that in Bloomington-- which could be great for you looking to buy, but potentially more difficult if you end up trying ot sell down the road. Best of luck! We hope to be able to move back some day!

[hikerbiker]

Another thank you, albeit belatedly, to everyone who provided help prior to our house-hunt. We actually found a rather unique home in three days (Binford Elementary zone), and have been county residents for one and one-half months!

Our final decision was based on both what we wanted and what we believe/hope will hold in the market in the future, which included school perception (just as geomom stated). Interestingly, we looked at homes in and on all sides of B'ton, including one farmhome on the west side which had been on the market for several months in spite of its pristine condition. Now, it's June, and that house is still on the market. School perception/reputation? Could be.

We chose to stay in Monroe County to be closer to downtown Bloomington and (again, as geomom pointed out) because we had concern of resale within Brown County. That being said, we enjoy both counties.

Thoughts upon living here a short time:
1. Folks are (outwardly) very nice, and rather talkative, but no one has gone out of his/her way to make us feel at home. (We don't need for anyone to do so, it's just an observation.)
2. Many trade workers appear to lack motivation to answer their phones, apologize when wrong, show up on time, or complete a job without serious prodding on our part.
3. Prices are ridiculously low compared to Chicago - yippee! - and there are plenty of stores for our needs (but oh, how I miss Whole Foods and Trader Joe's).
4. Restaurant servers have been genuinely kind and friendly. But what I would give for Skyline Chili and Cheesecake Factory!
5. Bloomington dentists and doctors have, at least in our opinion, unusual mandates about scheduling and payments (giving us the impression they experience many more no-show's and no-pay's than, perhaps, a larger city or non-college town).
6. Everyone has cautioned us about how Bloomington "goes to the dogs" when the college "kids" return, which we find amusing since we like the college spirit, and we're pretty sure the increased traffic will be nother like sitting on a Chicago expressway for hours at a time.
7. Much of the city rolls up its sidewalks so early in the evening, just when Chicago would begin to hop. We're still not used to stores closing at 5:00 or 6:00, as opposed to 9:00 or 10:00.

I could go on, but these are just a few of our observations in the past few weeks. In general, though, we're happy to be here and look forward to exploring and, maybe one day, fitting in. Thanks again, everyone!