Moving to Louisville in Dec/Jan (St. Matthews: school districts, live, suburban)

[Msradell]

Originally Posted by Orgetorix

Oh really? I don't consider money paid to put a roof over my head thrown away, and I don't expect to get shelter for nothing. By renting, I avoid paying property taxes, homeowner's insurance, bank interest, and maintenance costs. Not to mention the convenience factor of having all maintenance and upkeep be someone else's responsibility.

Let's consider. Say I rent my 900-sqft. apartment in Crescent Hill for 30 years. At the end of that thirty years I'll have spent $180K with "nothing to show for it" except 30 years of largely hassle-free shelter.

Let's say you luck out and find a 900-sqft. house to buy in Crescent Hill for $120K. You borrow $100K at 5%, 30 year mortgage. At the end of it you'll have invested around:
- $120K in principal
- $93K in interest
- $36K in taxes (1%)
- $5K in insurance (at $25 per month per $100K of value)
- $36K in maintenance costs
- $156K in time spent on maintenance, assuming you make the median income in Louisville so that your time is worth approximately $20 per hour, averaging 5 hours of maintenance per week.

Total: $446,000, and you're left with a paid-off house worth...who knows? Not nearly that much. Maybe as much as you paid for it, maybe more, maybe less. I could rent for 30 years, spend the extra 5 hours a week working and invest the earnings, and come out way ahead. Heck, I could take the difference between my rent payment and your mortgage payment, invest it, and probably still come out ahead if I sit on my butt for those 5 hours.

Note: I REALIZE this does not take inflation into account, but my guess is that while the numbers go up when you factor it in, the proportions stay largely the same.

Am I missing something? Sure, you can say that rent money is "thrown away," but so is money spent on interest, taxes, insurance, and maintenance, and the opportunity-cost money of the time spent on upkeep.

You certainly are missing something. All those costs you mentioned are there whether you are owning the home or renting it, and the taxes would actually be higher because it wouldn't be the principal residence of the older. In addition to that if you're renting the owner is also going to make a profit which would be another cost added onto the total you came up with (10% +/-). Also the taxes and interest you paid would be deductible on your taxes so your total expenditure would be less.

[Orgetorix]

I'm not actually completely down on home ownership. I hope to own a home someday. But I just wanted to make the point that when you put a dollar value on your time, homeownership can be hugely more expensive than it otherwise seems. Is it worth it to a lot of people? Yeah, sure. But is it just as fraught with risks, downsides, and drawbacks as renting? Absolutely.

[tomocox]

Originally Posted by Orgetorix

I'm not actually completely down on home ownership. I hope to own a home someday. But I just wanted to make the point that when you put a dollar value on your time, homeownership can be hugely more expensive than it otherwise seems. Is it worth it to a lot of people? Yeah, sure. But is it just as fraught with risks, downsides, and drawbacks as renting? Absolutely.

This entire post was about a couple coming to live in Highview. My response was that it's not the best place due to schools. Then I advised them to not rent if at all possible due to the costs.

The OP came back with a perfectly good reason to rent in a normal situation, but remember they wrote that their kids are good students in the op. I just advised them to rent as cheaply as their tolerance would allow. Rent is never a good investment, but it may be a reasonable expense.

Housing of any kind is now super-expensive, but with the over-flow of foreclosures, the lack of consumer confidence and interest at the bottom of the historical records, there may never be a better time to buy.

[palejuneday]

I live in NE Jefferson County (Where LaGrange Rd, Westport Rd and Old Henry pretty much all come together) and our family loves it here. No crime, easy access to everything, 30 minute commute to downtown every morning, and a quiter, relaxed setting. There are people who will say NOT to go to the public schools in Louisville, but they are really just biased from some of the lesser schools located in Downtown and West Louisville. I would put my children's elementary school up against any public school in the state and feel pretty confident about its' performance. Plus we had no problems getting our kids into the school of our choice. One entered in through kindergarten and the other transferred from Lowe Elem.

We did something similar to the OP. We moved here and rented for about 6 months. But I will say that 6 months was not long enough for us to discover all the places in Louisville to consider. We are happy with where we are, but in a way I feel we just lucked into it. Take your time and find the right spot. There are many wonderful places to live. And honestly you DO need to take into consideration what your "home" school will be. Because it is harder to go to other schools in your cluster. (assuming this doesn't change). Go to the schools, sit in on classes, talk to teachers and parents. Don't just look at scores on the internet.

[Peter1948]

Originally Posted by palejuneday

I live in NE Jefferson County (Where LaGrange Rd, Westport Rd and Old Henry pretty much all come together) and our family loves it here. No crime, easy access to everything, 30 minute commute to downtown every morning, and a quiter, relaxed setting. There are people who will say NOT to go to the public schools in Louisville, but they are really just biased from some of the lesser schools located in Downtown and West Louisville. I would put my children's elementary school up against any public school in the state and feel pretty confident about its' performance. Plus we had no problems getting our kids into the school of our choice. One entered in through kindergarten and the other transferred from Lowe Elem.

We did something similar to the OP. We moved here and rented for about 6 months. But I will say that 6 months was not long enough for us to discover all the places in Louisville to consider. We are happy with where we are, but in a way I feel we just lucked into it. Take your time and find the right spot. There are many wonderful places to live. And honestly you DO need to take into consideration what your "home" school will be. Because it is harder to go to other schools in your cluster. (assuming this doesn't change). Go to the schools, sit in on classes, talk to teachers and parents. Don't just look at scores on the internet.

Amen. Indeed some of the TOP schools by far in the state are in JCPS (and even some of the top in the country with DuPont Manual consistently being named a top 100-200 high school by US News). Plus, the diversity of the district is unprecedented in a strictly white state like KY.


I suspect when all this redistricting shakes out, it will become even easier to go to your neighborhood school while still getting a little diversity sprinkled in, even in the upscale areas.

[rbryant]

Originally Posted by stx12499

Amen. Indeed some of the TOP schools by far in the state are in JCPS (and even some of the top in the country with DuPont Manual consistently being named a top 100-200 high school by US News). Plus, the diversity of the district is unprecedented in a strictly white state like KY.


I suspect when all this redistricting shakes out, it will become even easier to go to your neighborhood school while still getting a little diversity sprinkled in, even in the upscale areas.

STX, again, I always appreciate your support for the Louisville area. But, let's be honest, JCPS also has some of the worst schools in the state (i.e. Waggener,Iroquois etc). Overall, Jefferson county schools are very average to below average. Just another failed liberal, social engineering project.

[Peter1948]

Originally Posted by rbryant

STX, again, I always appreciate your support for the Louisville area. But, let's be honest, JCPS also has some of the worst schools in the state (i.e. Waggener,Iroquois etc). Overall, Jefferson county schools are very average to below average. Just another failed liberal, social engineering project.

Jcps is one of the best large, diverse, urban school districts in the US. It cannot be compared to districts like Oldham County, which, for its size is about an average suburban school district. So...while Jcps has several failing school...so does every other large urban district. Would you rather your child in say detroit public schools? Atlanta? Because Jcps is consolidated it must be compared to these large cities, in which case it performs fairly well, especially the top magnet high schools.

[tomocox]

Originally Posted by stx12499

Jcps is one of the best large, diverse, urban school districts in the US. It cannot be compared to districts like Oldham County, which, for its size is about an average suburban school district. So...while Jcps has several failing school...so does every other large urban district. Would you rather your child in say detroit public schools? Atlanta? Because Jcps is consolidated it must be compared to these large cities, in which case it performs fairly well, especially the top magnet high schools.

Ok, let me understand. Is what you are effectively saying is that 1000's of kids are "expendible?" Are you excusing Detroit, Atlanta, and JCPS when they should have every advantage? Are you saying failure is an option for these systems?

STX, your liberal approach benefits no one. And I mean no, not even one person. Why do you keep trying to get people to accept such bunk?

[Cattknap]

Originally Posted by tomocox

Ok, let me understand. Is what you are effectively saying is that 1000's of kids are "expendible?" Are you excusing Detroit, Atlanta, and JCPS when they should have every advantage? Are you saying failure is an option for these systems?

STX, your liberal approach benefits no one. And I mean no, not even one person. Why do you keep trying to get people to accept such bunk?

[N. Olikee]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that ST.X has never had a child in JCPS, nor has he ever attended a JCPS school.

I can understand a certain amount of "cheerleading," but not misleading information. DuPont Manual is certainly a good school, however it is a magnet school with its pick-and-choose of the populace. It is probably the best school in KY.

Beyond that single school, Oldham County schools have an advantage, as well as some other school districts, over JCPS. It simply is an armpit of a school district.