your opinion on fargo versus moorhead (Grand Forks, West Fargo: sales, real estate, houses)

[tnwannabe]

does anyone live in moorhead, dilworth or glydon and work over in ND? I am asking because the job(s) we were looking at were in fargo, but some of the cheaper houses we could afford were in glyndon( as we have 3 kids and need at least 3 bedrooms). Do the kids go to school there or are they bused to fargo/moorhead schools.

Even though fargo and moorhead are in different states they appear to be interconnected. How does that affect your state income taxes?

Are there any neighborhoods surrounding fargo that you would recommend that I might be over looking for reasonable housing? Of course we are coming to visit and buy our house before we show up with the u-haul, but I was wondering if anyone had suggestions where we should start looking first (and maybe areas not to even consider) so our 2 weeks can be as productive as possible.

[DaninEGF]

Hi

I can answer a few of your questions...as for school district Glyndon is part of the DGF (Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton) school district K-12. Here is their website
Dilworth-Glyndon-Felt School District 2164 - Home

Now in Minnesota it is a state law that each district must provide busing for free whereas in ND many school districts make the parents pay for busing (at least Grand Forks does). Because of more rural nature of the DGF schools they will more often call off school because of bad weather (blowing snow usually) than the city of Fargo would.

Now I live in East Grand Forks MN but work in Grand Forks (both my wife and I) and how it works is there is reciprocity between the two states in terms of income taxes. Income taxes are taken out from the state you LIVE IN not work in. Thus if you live in MN but work in ND, like me, MN income taxes are taken out of your paycheck and each year you fill out a simple form for the ND tax people saying you live in MN so that taxes are not taken out from ND as well. Never had a problem with this.

Now...the tradeoff is MN income taxes are quite a bit higher than ND...but real estate taxes in MN is lower. So factoring in just income taxes and real estate taxes in most situations it is a trade off (at least it is in from Grand Forks to EGF....dont know exactly down there. The key is if you can find a home on the ND side in a smaller community or outside of city of Fargo with lower real estate taxes (when compared to the city). If so then this would definitely be a benefit as ND income tax is lower and you would gain.

Cant help much on housing neighborhoods down there....sorry.

I take it you are from Tennessee. I was born and raised in western Kentucky about 90 miles northwest of Nashville.

good luck

Dan

[therrboomer]

MN tax info (from retirementliving.com):

Sales Taxes (No Moorhead or Clay County extra sales taxes)
State Sales Tax: 6.5% (food, clothing, prescription and non-prescription drugs exempt); Liquor and beer taxed at 9.15%. A few cities and counties also add a sales tax which can be as high as 1.0%.
Gasoline Tax: 20 cents/gallon
Diesel Fuel Tax: 20 cents/gallon
Cigarette Tax: $1.49/pack of 20

Personal Income Taxes
Tax Rate Range: Low - 5.35%; High - 7.85%
Income Brackets: * Lowest - $21,800; Highest - $71,590 (2008)
Number of Brackets: 3
Personal Exemptions: ** Single - $3,300; Married - $6,600; Dependents - $3,300
Standard Deduction: Single - $4,740; Married filing jointly - $9,500
Medical/Dental Deduction: Federal amount
Federal Income Tax Deduction: None
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

For North Dakota info see msg #6 & 7 of "This is kinda odd, don'cha think?"

[tnwannabe]

to DaninEGF-thank you so much for your reply!! It was nice to get the info in plain talk. My husband is looking to stay on the west side of fargo out of the city, he likes the rural life. No, we are from land o lakes, Florida-he a florida native and I am a PA native, florida transplant. The tn part is "techincal nerd". my internet skills are minimal, but I am slowly learning! We are moving from FLorida because of the over run of people, we are both country people and want the less stress country lifestyle for ourselves and our kids. We hope thats what we find in the ND-MN area. We actually looked at the tennesse valley area but found the population there is still growing and will probably be like florida in 10 to 15 years!

[crashoverride]

tnwannabe -

I am in zephyrhills, FL, and am also considering a move to Fargo, for a job. That is, if I get the job...

I should be flying out for the 2nd interview soon.

My GF is the non-techie, I am the geek.

I am the Florida native, she is from Cali.

1 child, 3 horses, 2 ducks, 10 chickens.


Just thought I'd share -

[DaninEGF]

Originally Posted by tnwannabe

to DaninEGF-thank you so much for your reply!! It was nice to get the info in plain talk. My husband is looking to stay on the west side of fargo out of the city, he likes the rural life. No, we are from land o lakes, Florida-he a florida native and I am a PA native, florida transplant. The tn part is "techincal nerd". my internet skills are minimal, but I am slowly learning! We are moving from FLorida because of the over run of people, we are both country people and want the less stress country lifestyle for ourselves and our kids. We hope thats what we find in the ND-MN area. We actually looked at the tennesse valley area but found the population there is still growing and will probably be like florida in 10 to 15 years!

Glad to help some. You mentione rural life and west side of Fargo...have you checked out the Casselton area. I also know there are lots of building of newer homes going on just outside of West Fargo and areas along the Maple River toward Mapleton...but that area still maintains rural living...esp out toward Casselton. Casselton has its own school district and is a small town but close enough to Fargo for a quick drive. In case you havent found the MLS link for Fargo before...here is one

Moderator cut: Realistate add. Please send it in DM.

You can search by city....and get all the current listings.

I dont keep tabs on real estate in the F-M area as such as where I live so dont know any specifc neighborhoods attm that might be overlooked.

Oh...if anyone hasnt mentioned this already...try to get a house with a garage it is most beneficial in the cold months. If you are going to have to have your cars parked outside for long periods of time consider getting a block heater installed as those that do park outside often will plug in their cars at night when it is really cold. Also...remote starters for the car are great no matter what the temperature.
Dan

[tnwannabe]

Originally Posted by crashoverride

tnwannabe -

I am in zephyrhills, FL, and am also considering a move to Fargo, for a job. That is, if I get the job...

I should be flying out for the 2nd interview soon.

My GF is the non-techie, I am the geek.

I am the Florida native, she is from Cali.

1 child, 3 horses, 2 ducks, 10 chickens.


Just thought I'd share -

I hope the quote made it in this reply, not sure if I did this right!!! Z-hills, we go bowling up there at pinchasers alot. Did you go to the underground weather site for fargo? The temperatures are pretty extreme compared to here, my kids can't wait to play in the snow they have never been in it. Are you taking all of the animals with you? We are only taking our new puppy and my daughters inside cat. I am hoping to get some farm animals when we get there. I hope you get the job you want. We have decided to wait until the end of the summer to apply for jobs since we can't move until Sept or Oct. I am in healthcare so jobs are pretty easy where ever I relocate to and my husband is in construction which seems to be pretty good in fargo.

[crashoverride]

Still waiting to hear about the job,

Just the kid and the horses.

Looking at houses, there are some really good deals up there compared to here.

But so far, the only negative I have found is the COLD.

I should know in another week or 2.

[dutchinnd]

In addition to Casselton and Mapleton, you may also want to check out the smaller communities of Harwood and Horace. Both are part of the West Fargo School District--Harwood to the North and Horace to the south.

[wide_ride]

moorhead folks love when you call it East Fargo