Moving to Savannah (Richmond Hill, Pooler: house, schools, tax)

[bgnzsavnh]

Originally Posted by Curious1234

Can I get some recommendations for cities if we want to stay to the West or SW of Savannah. I heard schools are fairly good. It seems like the high schools are the ones to worry about.

West Chatham Schools (schools in Chatham County west of I-95:
Bloomingdale Elementary a challenging academic program and a rigorous arts program. Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools
I have one child in Bloomingdale Elementary

Pooler Elementary
Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools

West Chatham Elementary
Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools

West Chatham Middle
Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools

A new K-12 School will open this fall in the Godley Station area



It depends on what your children need. If they are college-bound SCCPPSS offers some grand AP, IB, early college programs.
DD will get her BA in 3 years.

High schools that offer AP- IB are Savannah Arts Academy, Jenkins,and Johnson


A new West Chatham High School is being built in Bloomingdale

New Charter High school will open next year for West Chatham students
(Pooler, Bloomingdale, and Port Wentworth)
http://site.westchathamprepacademy.com/

[Savannah2009]

Originally Posted by Curious1234

We would like at least a 2200sf house with a yard possibly in a community with a pool, playground, etc. Although depending on the setup of the house, maybe even 1900sf. The yard is always difficult, big enough to let a dog run. And we want a safe neighborhood with families and kids.

The public schools are probably most important. I would like to be in a good elementary school that will hopefully feed into a decent middle and high school.

The commute time doesn't matter since I have a travelling job; however, we would like to be close to the necessities (Target, grocery, Home Depot, etc.) instead of having to drive two towns away.

Are there any shopping malls in the area? Also, since there are no professional sports in the area, are there minor league sports or good college sports.

If schools are important, and you don't want to do private, I've always heard that most move to Wilmington to get their kids into May Howard.

[Savannah Home Seller]

Due to extended family circumstances, we just moved to NC, but lived in Pooler, GA.

I just LOVED Pooler and our neighboorhood. I will be honest, there were a lot of places I would have never lived or raised kids, but Pooler and West Chatham are fantastic. If you are still looking, our home has just been drastically reduced. It sounds like where we lived is exactly what you are looking for. Please contact me if you want more information on the area or our listing.

[Poodle2]

Try Pooler homes - lots of new neighborhoods with pools, parks, YMCA

[RBWDharma]

If you are moving from Jersey City then Savannah will be great. If you are moving from Manhattan on the upper east side then don't even do it! Here's a hint.... even a policemen I spoke to yesterday though Obama was right in talking about how the Cambridge police shouldn't have arrested the man for yelling at him. Does that give you a hint?

[L.Sellars]

Hi Miss Curious,
I love it - BLUNT! I think the area to serious consider moving to is POOLER.
Let me tell you why... first, Let me introduce myself - I am a licensed Realtor with Drake Barber Realty of Coastal GA 912)756-8866 / cell 912) 658-7788. (makes sure I have the Real Estate guidelines taken care of) My name is Lisa - nick name is "Lee". My husband and I moved to the Savannah area about six years ago. I am not a true Southerner... okay let's not insult the good people of the South - I'm a tolerated Westerner, damn Yankee mix - who, bless my heart is blunt!

Pooler - Bridgewater subdivision. I do believe this is a safe and what you would consider family, tolerant and open minded subdivision. The homes are 2-6 years old. The subdivision was designed by a South Carolina developer - who designed the lots to maintain the natural beauty of the trees, keeping space between the homes and park-like play areas. Home sites average 1/3 acre. (There's a dog park down the road) There is a community pool and playground. It is walking distance to the newer elementary and middle school. These two schools have a great reputation and the parents I have spoken with are happy. Currently there are a couple of homes listed in Bridgewater that sound like they could meet your criteria - three bedroom plus bonus approx 2000+/- square feet listed at 200-215K

Walking: yes I personally know of people who do live and walk in that neighborhood during those times - no worries (except for the ol' ticker giving out...LOL)

Convenience: Java Joe's coffee shop (one of MY favorite places) is 2 minutes away
Walmart, Home Depot and Sam's Club are just down the street on Pooler Parkway. A second Walmart is planned on being built in 2010 next to the new Lowes (just around the corner!) as well as plans for a large theater (not exactly sure of the plans - there has been changes...) and possible a new grocery store in the same complex area. There are many new restruants popping up all over Pooler - Mexican, Chinese, Steak houses, burgar joints, Japanese, Thai, seafood (still need a good Italian place...). If you want to go to Savannah - you're only about 15-20 minutes away! (two malls, Target, Marshalls, TJ Maxx, Pier One, Barnes & Noble, Starbucks etc.)

Activities for Children: Pooler has a new YMCA facility about five minutes away. There is a Go-Cart, Arcade, Minature Golf facility in Pooler on Hwy 80. In Rincon there is Leap'n Lizard bounce center. Savannah has museums, parks and special events. The museums have a monthly free admission day.

Taxes: ball park idea - Pooler City taxes $300 - $400 /Chatham County $2000 - $2500 annually
Taxes are higher in Savannah.
Homestead Tax Exemption: You can file for the Homestead Tax Exemption and get a discount on your property taxes - in most areas.
Auto - Tags plus an "ad vorlum" tax - The registration/tax is paid annually on your birthday. (Yeah, if you get pulled over on your birthday - don't think the Police Officer is going to be cheerfully singing happy birthday to you... I learned this the hard way. So now its pay the Registration then its shred the gift wrap...not the other way around)
State Income Tax: YES, Georgia wants its money. My Husband is the Tax Specialist (25+ years experience) - any questions I would refer to him for answers.
One more thing: If you have not previously owned a home within the past three years or ever - you would be entitled to the Goverment's New HomeBuyer Tax Incentive. This would give you a tax credit (could be refunded cash in your pocket) up to $8000.00 dollars (or 10% of the home price) for homes purchased prior to December 1, 2009.

Other Options: For property value and convenience - I think Pooler is a great city. If the local highschool is part of the equation (In your case, it does not seem to be the concern at this time) - I would highly suggest considering Effingham County. South Effingham COunty - is a hop, skip and jump away from the Pooler area... you would have the relatively convenience as you would have in Pooler and the more popular highschool. The other option that would give you the more popular school systems (highschool as well as elementary and middle schools) would be the Richmond Hill area. Richmond Hill is located in Bryan County on the other side of Savannah. In general the pricing has typically been a bit higher and more buggy (being mostly surrounded by water) - it is beautiful and quaint.

Personally, I am sold on Pooler. After an extensive nation-wide search - Pooler Georgia was the place that my husband and I believed would have the highest real estate price appreciation in a 15-20 year time frame. It is the city my husband and I made our decision to move to. It has a progressive minded City Chamber thinking of progress and future growth. It thought about the growth before it expanded - so the infasturcture has been working well with the expansion/growth. There are alot of new comers (new ideas and open minds) that are making Pooler their home. CHatham COunty is working to entice business growth and job opportunity. The Savannah Port is the second largest port on the East Coast. I believe that the property values will increase in the Savannah area - and particularly in Pooler!

Depending on where you are from - what you are used to... moving to the south may be a culture shock in some ways. OVer all the place does grow on you and you will learn to say y'all like you've been doing it your whole life (I still can't stomach the sweet tea!) again - I would suggest you seriously consider moving to the Pooler area!

I'd love to welcome you to the south! If there are any other questions you have or would like more information on available homes, please contact me!
oh - let me be blunt.... I'd like the opportunity to be your Realtor!

Lisa "Lee" Sellars

[cbz]

Hi - I'm not from GA but am also looking at a possible relocation from Oregon. I'm looking at Richmond Hill area - it supposedly has one of the better public school programs in the area and on great schools. com the high school was ranked 9 out of 10 based on test scores at other factors. I'm also looking in Pooler as well. My husband is going out with a realtor this week so if I learn more about these and other areas - I'll let you know - good luck!

[arrgy]

I teach in savannah and can give some perspective. First of all savannah is a small inner city school district that is trying to get better. We do have one of the best high schools in the state at Savannah Arts and a really good charter school. Our district is one where if you live on one side of chatham county (say tybee island) and you want to send your kid to mercer middle in garden city about 30 miles away you can do it for free. This is costing the district millions. The district is divided into three areas, the islands, the southside and western chatham county. Two years ago, we had problems in a couple of our high schools and middle schools and parents who cared, pulled their kids out of those schools and placed them in the better schools, the result was overcrowding in the schools and under crowding in others. We have a middle school with 350 kids in it, and a capacity of 800. We had elementary schools about a mile apart, it was a mess. The district has consolidated the schools, so that most kids will go to their neighboorhood school (at least for elementary) SO what this means the biggest change is on the islands.

IF you live on the islands, your children will go to the island schools (which are our best) no one else from the county will go there, it will be like its own little district. The elementary schools which are now K-5 will become K-8 and the middle school will turn into a high school. So if you live on the islands you got good schools. The rest of the county gets a little shaken up but not too badly.

For the other counties, Bryan and Effingham, people are flooding into the area and those schools are becoming overcrowded quickly. A friend of mine left savannah for s.effingham h.s. and said that the kids were the same, its just a lot less space. Savannah turns over 500 personnel each year, most of them go to the other counties. The quality of teaching hasn't changed, thus the quality of education really hasn't either. Unless they start easing their overcrowding soon they are going to have some problems.

Another option that locals really dont talk about is Beaufort County, S.C. Having lived up north, people jump states and bridges all the time, here they don't. If you live in GA and you want to move to S.C. they look at you funny. Beaufort county saw its population boom and now things have stabilized. Houses are more plentiful and the area is newer than Savannah. THe schools are on par or even better than Effingham and Bryan and more importantly the state dept. of education is better, believe it or not. Teachers in GA are fed up for a lot of reasons. They have built a brand new elementary school and 2 others and the middle school are halfway finished. A new H.S. is planned for the future. Those schools are more technology driven than the ones in GA. Commuting to downtown in my opinion is easier from S.C. than from a housing development in Pooler or Richmond Hill, since we average 5 accidents a month on each I-95 and I-16/516.

Savannah has a LOT of potental, that is going to waste. We don't attract major companies like we should, we have great infastructure but underutilize it, we have great people but can't seem to find them. The historic area is beautiful and once you do your day tour your like, eh...what else is there. You look at what places like Providence, Baltimore, Austin, have done and you can see the possibilities here in savannah, problem is people are reluctant to change. Heck, we JUST got recycling and they were talking about that 15 years ago!

[cbz]

Hi - I've been looking at GreatSchools - Public and Private School Ratings, Reviews and Parent Community and Schooldigger.com -- Search and compare elementary, middle, and high schools. to check out all the schools in the Savannah area. We are also considering a move from Portland Oregon. The best schools seem to be in the Richmond Hills area and also the South Effingham Schools - although I have two in 4th grade I do have a son entering 9th grade - so high schools are extremely important to me. The schools on the island (Marsh Point elementary and Howard) also seem to be strong academic achieving schools. I have no first hand knowledge - just based on reading test scores of schools, student teacher ratios, spending per student and parent reviews of schools. good luck!

[tigafan]

Hesse elementary in Savannah is awesome. All Wilmington Island schools are good. Richmond Hill is ok, not great. I would never, ever send my kids out in Methingham, oh, I mean Effingham. Ewwww.