Moving from Australia to Oaklahoma City (Oklahoma City, Tulsa: credit, relocating, real estate)

[wowelle]

My husband has recently got a good job in OKC (about $350,000 a year). We are planning to move there for around 8 months and see how it goes. We had a daughter in university, a daughter about to go into year 11 (im assuming her junior year) and a 10 year old son.
All want to move with us but we are unsure about oklahoma as we know little to nothing about it. We currently like in Sydney australia in the inner suburbs about a 10min drive from the centre of the city and enjoy exciting social lives. Edmond and Nicholas Hills look nice, how far are they from the centre of the city? Also what are good schools and is it possible to transfer to a good university. Any Ivy leaugue colleges nearby? (she had a very good final score and attends the top university in sydney) We are looking for a 4bedroom+ house in a safe/nice area with good schools.
looking to spend over $1,000,000 on a house
any advice?

[StillwaterTownie]

Edmond is at least 10 or 15 miles from central Oklahoma City. It's not hard to find nice, newer homes there. Some neighborhoods are tucked away in the woods. Nichols Hills, much nicer, overall, would be about half as far.

No Ivy League colleges nearby. But the University of Oklahoma might do.

There's a very nice neighborhood of showy, palatial homes of old oil wealth a short distance north of downtown Oklahoma City you might want to check if any are for sale. Don't know about the schools for that area. Good luck and I hope you find Oklahoma City to your liking.

[tuindecisive]

You might want to consider the University of Tulsa. Not Ivy League, but it's a great education, and it's about 2 hours away from the City.

[eddie gein]

Originally Posted by StillwaterTownie

Edmond is at least 10 or 15 miles from central Oklahoma City. It's not hard to find nice, newer homes there. Some neighborhoods are tucked away in the woods. Nichols Hills, much nicer, overall, would be about half as far.

No Ivy League colleges nearby. But the University of Oklahoma might do.

There's a very nice neighborhood of showy, palatial homes of old oil wealth a short distance north of downtown Oklahoma City you might want to check if any are for sale. Don't know about the schools for that area. Good luck and I hope you find Oklahoma City to your liking.

I don't know that Nichols Hills is any nicer than some of the gated communities in Edmond as far as homes but with that kind of salary you could live in Nichols Hills and send the kids to private school at Casady or Heritage Hall.

Those homes just north of downtown are in an area called Heritage Hills.

[dufekin]

Congratulations! Good luck getting through immigration (unless you're already US citizens). A salary of $350,000 US / year is roughly 10 times the average for an Oklahoman. You didn't say where in OKC your husband will work, but given the salary, I can guess that it's most likely an oil/gas or other energy company. Devon is located downtown, and Chesapeake is near Nichols Hills; several other energy companies are located in the City. I'm not sure how long commutes you find acceptable, but your housing location in the States will determine public schooling options for your children. So we'll discuss education first.

Anyone can apply to almost any of the thousands of colleges and universities anywhere in the United States, and if you can get into the United States (legally or sometimes otherwise), secure admission, and pay tuition (or get adequate scholarships), you can attend. Every state maintains one or more "state" ("public") universities that offer reduced tuition and sometimes full scholarships to "residents" of that state; these institutions generally allow and invite residents of other states to apply and attend, paying higher tuition, but some offer comprehensive financial aid packages to students from other states. Qualifications for residency vary considerably among states. Because university education is often quite expensive, I highly recommend deciding upon a major program of study before applying to universities; otherwise, you often will find that most universities don't offer your major. For most Americans, "Ivy League" schools provide education not much better than solid "state" universities. The Ivy League itself comprises several large private exclusive universities in the northeastern states, at least a thousand miles away from Oklahoma. University of Oklahoma (in Norman) offers several highly prestitious programs (e.g., meteorology) but doesn't rank among the country's highly selective universities (relatively easy admission). Texas does contain several large, highly selective, prestigious (mostly public) universities. Your college student probably should plan to graduate in Sydney before relocating to the States, perhaps for graduate school (if she's inclined to do that).

For high school, you can attend the local public high school; taxes pay the expenses for the operation of such schools, and students pay no tuition. Oklahoma City and its suburbs contain roughly thirty-some public high schools, which vary considerbly in quality. At several schools, many students do not speak English as a first language. Your daughter may qualify for a special school, magnet school, or other public school, but don't count on it. A word of caution: the school year started last week, so it's imperative that you get established now if possible. If your daughter is particularly academically advanced, whether generally or in some specific discipline, then she should try to enroll in advanced placement (AP) classes, the highest level of academic coursework generally available in American high schools. If she scores a "5" (the highest possible score) on the exam in May, then she almost certainly will receive college credit for that class. For a grade of "3" or "4," she may receive college credit. (That means that she won't have to take those classes in college or pay tuition for them; she cannot ace the AP examinations without knowing practically everything that those classes would cover anyway.) If you are considering public high school, then you should shop for housing based on their attendance zones. You may want to inquire which schools produce the greatest number (or proportion) of "5"s (or at least relatively high grades) on AP examinations in disciplines that interest your daughter.

You also have the options of parochial (Catholic) school, private religious (generally Protestant, mostly Baptist) schools, home schooling (where you teach your daughter and/or son, perhaps with the aid of private tutors), and perhaps non-religious private schools (although I'm not sure that any exist).

For your 10-year-old, almost anything will do. He wants to do well in mathematics and get into pre-algebra as early as possible; I believe that starts in the 6th grade now, although perhaps that comes from my experience in other states. Parochial schools at this level generally offer considerably superior education to public schools, but exceptional students can succeed in public schools, especially one that feeds into a superior public high school.

Nichols Hills is a very affluent inner suburb; Edmond is a northern outer suburb and home to the University of Central Oklahoma, a second-tier state institution. As I understand, the entire City (including suburbs) contains fewer than one hundred million-dollar residences. You can get a large, almost palatial place for $250,000, and it's possible but not exactly easy to score a "decent" 4-bedroom place in a not-so-nice neighborhood under $100,000. Some on this forum will argue that you should take extreme care to avoid crime, and certain segments of the inner city (particularly the heavily Hispanic neighborhood around Capitol Hill High School and the heavily black neighborhoods near and east of the State Capitol) do include considerable gangster populations. Even if you do choose to live in such a neighborhood (and I don't recommend it for someone of your apparent means), the criminals probably won't do anything serious to you. My advice, especially for your daughter: avoid drugs, and don't associate with gangs. Even the nicest neighborhoods (like Nichols Hills) occasionally experience the scourge of criminal behaviour. Gated communities can offer some additional protection.

If your husband works downtown, I'd recommend Heritage Hills, a neighborhood of large mansions about a mile north of downtown, especially if you can get a superior public high school or choose to use private, parochial, or home schooling.
You can look at houses for sale at REALTOR.com - Real Estate Listings & Homes For Sale

[happytown]

Nichols Hills would be exactly what you are looking for or Hertige hills near midtown. Old houses and mansions. Oklahomas most elite community. Parks with wildlife and trails, shopping and CC. Wonderful history and zero crime.

History...
City of Nichols Hills - History of Nichols Hills Homepage

Stomping grounds for the city of NH...
Visit Western Avenue - Oklahoma City's Unique Shopping, Dining & Entertainment District!

wiki...
Nichols Hills, Oklahoma - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Good luck

[Lvpunk]

Sydney to Oklahoma City... I'm sorry ma'am. You going to be bored out of your mind.

[StillwaterTownie]

Nah, the main reason people get bored in Oklahoma City is because they don't have the money required to gain admittance to all the cool things to do, such as the various events at the Ford Center. I don't think that will be a problem with her family.

[Lvpunk]

First, I'd like to address my typo, I meant to say you're instead of you. Second, all I meant by that is, Sydney is so completely different from Oklahoma in everyway. Syndney is on the ocean, Oklahoma is landlocked, Sydney's climate is coastal, while Oklahoma is continental (kind of). Syndney may be the kind of place where you don't need a car to get around, in Oklahoma you MUST have a car. That kind of thing.

[prayowenmeany]

Congrats on the move to Oklahoma City, as an executive that grew up in NYC, graduated from two IVY League Universities and lived in London, Houston, and Singapore (Also went on a rugby tour through Sydney, Perth and NZ) OKC is fine. With your family in tow its a fine place to live. People mentioned Nichols Hills and Edmond and both are very nice. Nichols Hills is a little more established, older money. If you don't care for that sort of thing, Edmond is great too.

Real Estate in OKC is more reasonable than anything you will find in Sydney and other cities. You could do quite well with anything in the $600K-$1mm range. After a certain point, it becomes a matter of square footage and types of Italian marble you want lining your bathroom floors. I would recommend seeing a range of houses before you commit. I remind you that Real Estate agents are notorious for showing you the most expensive houses as to pad their commissions.

I know that I'm going to offend many people on this message board so I apologize in advance and I can only speak from experience so please forgive me. If you want a first rate quality university level education for your child, I would forgo anything in the state. University of Tulsa and U of OK are fine schools, but they don't come close to an Ivy League education. Not to say that there aren't one or two students at those universities that would do well at an Ivy but the majority would not even be able to pass remedial classes at a top school. The top 25 colleges in the US are EXTREMELY competitive with most of them only accepting 10% of students with SAT's above 1500 and perfect 4.0's. Most people in Oklahoma would not even begin to understand what it takes to succeed at truly an elite level school. One has to remember that less than 1% of high school students matriculate to a top 20 school.

I have interviewed many from many schools in the area including the several mentioned and the quality of student is fine but not elite. With that being said, if your child is truly exceptional, I would recommend that you send your child away to school. Yes its a bit daunting to have your oldest leave the nest but it is also a growing process. From OKC, it is a short flight to either coast. Good luck and Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!