Request for Madison area info (Sun Prairie, Middleton: condo, buy, school)

[Sunburnpenguin]

We are a young family with two kids; my oldest is a second grader. I want a good place to raise them: safe, baseball and swim lessons, places to eat out. On the other hand, I'd really like to enjoy the beauty of open Wisconsin land and woodsiness. Our price range is about $210,000. Taxes are a concern, also. Some areas we've considered looking are Oregon, Verona, Mt. Horeb (how far from Middleton?), and maybe Waunakee/Sun Prairie area. It appears that Sun Prairie has high taxes. Anyone know if that is true?
If anyone can tell me anything about any of those areas, I would really appreciate it! Links and other suggestions welcome also.

[Sunburnpenguin]

Hmm, no feedback?

[MidwesternBookWorm]

You might get more responses if you start a thread titled with the specific communities that interest you. I checked this one because I'm fairly familiar with Madison itself, but when I saw that you were looking for data on Oregon, Verona, Mt. Horeb, etc, I did not reply, because I'm not as knowledgable about those communities as I am about Madison.

There are several threads that have been started in the past month or so that would contain some useful information for you. Since you mention wanting links, you may want to look at this one in particular: http://www.city-data.com/forum/wisco...adison-wi.html. Again, it's focused more on Madison than on the surrounding communities, but some would be relevant to Dane County as a whole, as well as Madison.

Good luck in your move.

[Sunburnpenguin]

Thank you for responding, that does make sense.

[Chelito23]

Prices and taxes are high ANYWHERE in Dane County, and the tren ANYWHERE in Dane County is urbanization...so I wouldn't buy a wooded lot or lots of open land, expecting it to remain that way for many more years....this is a very desireable county in the state..it is expensive and growing. If you want cheaper, with trees, hills and open space to stay that way for a reasonable amount of time, try areas in adjacent counties, like Iowa County (past Blue Mounds)...it has good access to West Madison, maybe a 30 minute drive at most. Otherwise, you will pay a premium for the soon to be developed land...and trust me, if you see it as desireable, so will others, and it is not financially viable to farm land that has more potential as a subdivision or superstore...especially with escalating taxes.

[hckplyers]

Where are your jobs going to be located? The entire Madison area is loaded with wonderful parks, bike trails, and organized recreation activities. Owning land may not be what you really need, just access to it. All of the out lying areas have pros and cons. Actually Columbia county has lower taxes. More of a commute. So I would say, try to stay as close to the job as possible, the rest will fall into place.

[Sunburnpenguin]

That's good to know. My husband will be working in Sun Prairie. I plan to go to school.

[houseinmadison]

I'm not aware of significant tax savings anywhere in Dane county. I thought a condo would be cheaper but actually I learned that taxes are a percentage of the property value. You pay no matter what so you might as well get something you like.