Relocating to Madison area (Fitchburg, Sun Prairie: sale, 2009, apartments)

[Charliebear]

Hello- My husband and I currently live in Framingham, MA and are looking to relocate to Madison or surrounding suburb within the next 6 months. We have a 6 month old son and 2 pugs and are planning on having a second child very soon. I am from Beaver Dam originally but moved to MA in 1995. My husband will be looking for a job as HR manager in Madison. I really don't know much about Madison except we used to go there in highschool to go shopping on State St. because our mall was horrible in BD. We are looking for a home in the low $200s and want the best schools. My parents will be living in Sun Prairie in 2009, the closer to there the better but not imperative! Any advice?

[MidwesternBookWorm]

Your price range will limit you somewhat for home-shopping in Madison, as home prices are really outrageous here. You can find something in the low $200s, certainly, but you'll want to do some careful searching of neighborhoods when you're shopping. To be honest, I think your best bet would be to rent when you first get here, and shop for the house to buy when you're actually in a position to drive around and look at the neighborhoods. If your son is six months old now, it wouldn't matter what school area you rent in, as long as you find a spot to buy in the next couple of years.

For schools, my own opinion is that Madison's school district is among the better ones in the area. I have also heard that Verona's schools are good, and that Middleton is good, but I don't have direct experience with either district. Again, it would be a lot easier to do your research on the ground here, talking with other parents and visiting schools and reading the local paper's articles on what's going on in the district.

If you check with the Dane County Humane Society, you can get a list of landlords who accept dogs, and that might be your best bet for a starting point. If you really want to buy right away, you may want to spend some time browsing the "variety of useful links" thread that's stickied at the top of the Madison forum for some info.

[Megan1967]

Good advice, MidwesternBookworm.

Here is the link to the humane societies pet friendly apartments list:

Apartments that Accept Pets | Dane County Humane Society: Helping People Help Animals

The price range you are looking at is boarderline enough that you want to have time to really research your potential home. Of course I may be looking to sell my house (in that price range) next spring..... I still have dreams of warmer climates.

[gold*dust1]

Charliebear, you may want to start networking with realtors and search mls listings now to get yourself familiar with our market. You should be able to find many resales and some newer construction in that range. It is a buyers market and some have been forced to lower their prices.

We are actually considering building on the west side of Sun Prairie which is a hop, skip and jump to Madison. I've heard their schools don't rank the highest which isn't a concern for us as ours are grown. I think with a little home schooling on the side by you as parents, it could work out if you desire to be near your own parents. They have built several new schools and are currently building a Target, with a new Woodmans (super grocery store) expected soon. They also have a good parks system and library.

I would also suggest the east side of Madison in the Elvehjem elementary school district. Good luck!

[arangoa79]

I moved to Madison two years ago with my wife as well (from NYC), we now have a 7 month old girl. We just bought our house last month. As for areas to get a house my wife (originally from Madison) always said that the west side has better schools then the east side, our realtor agreed. You should look in the Fitchburg area which is where we live. It's just 10 minutes from state street and prices are reasonable. Middleton may be out of your price range unless you want a fixer upper, McFarland is also a nice area with good schools that is about 15 minutes from state st. We purchased in the mid 300's in the Fitchburg area but we did see some in the mid 200's that were very nice, though they were Viridian homes. As someone else said, move here rent for a few months and check out the different areas. Good Luck

[gold*dust1]

Originally Posted by arangoa79

I moved to Madison two years ago with my wife as well (from NYC), we now have a 7 month old girl. We just bought our house last month. As for areas to get a house my wife (originally from Madison) always said that the west side has better schools then the east side, our realtor agreed. You should look in the Fitchburg area which is where we live. It's just 10 minutes from state street and prices are reasonable. Middleton may be out of your price range unless you want a fixer upper, McFarland is also a nice area with good schools that is about 15 minutes from state st. We purchased in the mid 300's in the Fitchburg area but we did see some in the mid 200's that were very nice, though they were Viridian homes. As someone else said, move here rent for a few months and check out the different areas. Good Luck

Not necessarily true...several west side schools have problems and are discussed in the media here. Fitchburg of course has its place, but is also very close to the crime ridden area Allied Drive, plus the fact you have to chase serious traffic everyday on Verona Rd, the beltline and don't have immediate interstate access. Fitchburg would also be a little far in staying close to Sun Prairie per posters request. It's Veridian.

[Megan1967]

You're not going to find much if anything in the low 200's on the west side anymore and definitely not in a good neighborhood.

Don't, I mean really don't, but a Veridian home. Search the forum for that name as well as "Don Simon."

Veridian "Madison, WI"
Don Simon "Madison, WI"

[gold*dust1]

Honestly Megan1967, how can you make such a blanket statment about a builder that holds 20 developments in Dane Co. with 10 in Madison alone, plus any lots outside their subdivisions they are asked to build on. Wouldn't it seem that's a lot of people they have provided homes for?

Do a google search and check Better Business to find there is nothing negative on them. Everyone around Madison knows the rumors about them when they were Don Simon and Midland before they merged. This was during a housing boom during the 90's when houses were slapped together. Don't you think a judgement based on 15 years ago is just that an opinion. I don't think any builder out there doesn't have a few blunders under their belt...it depends on the subcontractors they use etc. This is why you hire your own building inspector to find any problems as they occur.

We are considering building with them. Why? They have the market around here and have very nice subdivisions and good locations.

[gold*dust1]

Of course you can find homes in the low 200's on the west side, they are usually called resales. You can also find some newer construction if you find the hot deals where people have been forced to lower their price. I just did a search under the 53719 zip code and found several. They aren't in "bad" neighborhoods either.

[Megan1967]

You take the two worst builders in the County, merge them, and suddenly you have a good builder? I think not. I live in one of those "slapped together" 1997 homes by Don Simon and I can tell you that my neighbors and I weren't pleased with many of the things that came up over the years, nor the response we received from Don Simon at the time. They had a real - "so long sucka" attitude.

I have actively house hunted on the west side in the last year since moving south as I would really like to do may not be an option. What may look good on paper turns out to have definite negatives in reality.

Nothing you can say will change my opinion (based on personal experience) on either of these issues and I'm betting nothing I say will change yours so we should probably leave it at this. It's just good that the op will be aware that there are two schools of thought out there about the topics.

Charliebear, I still strongly agree with both golddust1 and MWBW that renting first is the best option if it is a possiblity for your family. It might seem like a hassel to have to move twice, but a house is a big purchase and one you are likely to have to live with for awhile in today's market.

One other note. From my recent experience people aren't budging much on their prices. They are opting to just hold on to the property rather than sell it at fire sale prices. This is in your (my) price range - the low 200's. There may be more wiggle room if the people have more equity in their houses and more discretionary income they can fall back on, as you would find in the higher price bracket, but in the starter home range things are pretty much frozen.