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Science teachers are in tremendous demand here in CT, and all over. But is your husband going to be happy teaching in an inner city school?
A teacher's salary does not go far here in CT. But the benefits are good, so if you have income, too, and you are looking around New Haven and Hartford areas, you should be okay.
If I were in your position, I'd be torn about renting vs buying. Yet I know that when we bought our first house when we moved back East, we made a big mistake because we didn't realize that what we really needed was to be close to the stuff we used daily - schools, stores, playgrounds, community centers, etc. So it pays to rent for a bit, to see where you really want to buy. It's harder when you have children, though.
I guess my biggest piece of advice for you is that it's very, very early in the search process. Most districts aren't looking until March, and many teachers are hired in June, July, even August. So don't be sucked in by Hartford and New Haven offering now - if your husband is willing to teach in an inner city school, go to New Britain, which is not quite as dangerous, and pays the highest of most towns in the Greater Hartford area. But I think he'd be much happier teaching in a suburban district, unless he's on a mission to help inner city kids.
So much cool advice, I don't know where to start. Since I am a bit methodical, I guess it must be at the beginning!
He is in great demand, not just because he is a chemistry teacher, but because he can teach AP Physics, Calculus, SAT/ACT Prep...and so many other things. He was in the nuclear program of the Air Force for 7 years, so he has lots of background in lots of things, and schools like teachers who have experience applying their chosen field. He has done nearly all of his student teaching in an inner-city school (I understand that the inner-city Denver varies a great deal from the inner-city there). Not only is it an inner-city school, but it's a school that actively recruits kids just coming out of jail, or that have been kicked out of other schools. We are also foster parents here to underprivileged teenagers (although since we have children we shy away from the violent youth). My husband is committed to serving those who he feels need it the most. I am so very proud of him. So yes, long story, but he is on a mission of sorts. Anyway, I digress...
He will be starting in July at a teacher orientation program, and then school begins late August We plan on a trip to visit in December, one in February, and one in June to secure housing. He has had other offers, around the nation, we just really like the idea of CT, for multiple reasons. Pretty high on my list is the fact that our oldest got accepted to Yale, and some scholarship funds as well. So exciting for her, and for us, too.
I feel a bit confounded regarding the statements that CT costs so much more than CO. I'm a political economist by degree, so I do understand the economy, but I'm not sure that the CT people quite grasp the economy here in CO (I promise I don't mean to sound rude there, I just couldn't think of a better way to say it. I mean to say that, until you live somewhere there are factors you can't see. That goes both ways, as in I can't see the CT factors either, really). Numbers tell us a lot about a place, but not the whole story. I AM NOT REFERRING TO UTILITIES IN CT AS I AM STILL RESEARCHING THat ASPECT OF HOUSING COST. I am referring to the cost of a home and the property tax. When I looked at, for instance, Simsbury (which I think was told would be fairly pricey) I can get way more house in that neighborhood than where I am now, for the same money. Our property tax is based on 100% of the assessed value, whereas CT is only 70%, then tax for our area is roughly 10.00 for every thousand. I KNOW THAT IT IS HIGHER THERE, BUT NOT BY (what I would call)TONS. BTW, I'm not trying to yell, just emphasize...and COL is done on an average basis, so cost there to here is purely subjective. Also, we do live in a fairly pricey part of town here, water is 200% what it is anywhere else in CO, houses can be more (ours isn't but they can be), and heat/electric is more than the state average (by a lot) because we are considered rural.
The sg footage might be higher here, but quality of construction, built-ins and character, and land to go along with the house simply cannot compare to there.
For instance, our house is nearly 4000 sq ft, 5 bdrms, 5 bthrms, mother-in-law apt in walk-out basement (1 of the beds and baths is down there) but no fireplaces, no built-ins, and it's on .10 of an acre. It assessed for 425,000 last year. Holy crap does it look like (from the internet real estate sites, anyway) that we can get *more* (depending on how one defines more) in Simsbury, and I haven't looked extensively anywhere else yet. I definitely KNOW that I need to be close to the things I need: soccer fields; bookstore; groceries; movie theater. However, having lived in Grand Forks North Dakota for 2 yrs while hubby was stationed there, my close might be different I'm good if I can reach most places within 25 minutes. Happiest within 20. We are 20 minutes from our grocery store now. 30 from the soccer and gymnastics, rock climbing etc. We have lived enough places to know what we need, it's just hard to equate that to a new area, especially over the internet. Because I am methodical (as I already mentioned) I refuse to go to CT with an empty head. Preliminary research is a must for me. So I really appreciate all the input. I know sometimes it pays to rent for a bit (so one can choose an area), unfortunately we are going to have to depend on our roughly 4 weeks of visiting to give us an idea (hence the preliminaries).
Thankfully we are a frugal family, and have no credit debt except our house. We don't finance cars, use cards only for purchases that can be paid off by the end of the month (carry a small balance for the credit rating). He will be making considerably more than the average teacher's salary (thankfully). He was offered there just over two times the average teacher's salary we were offered to stay in CO, and that's from the best rated (and highest paying) school district here (our own). So I feel comfortable with the position he wants to take. I hope it turns out all right but, like anything else, all the great planning in the world does not guarantee that it will turn out as one hopes.
It appears the OP's husband's area of expertise is chemistry. If that's the case, he may wind up teaching in a magnet school in New Haven or Hartford or some AP classes in a high school. That wouldn't be bad. New
Haven, in particular, has some very good magnet schools. It's the rest of the city schools that drag the overall test scores down. I'd be more worried about someone teaching more basic core subjects that everyone has to take. That could put you in a very rough school in either of those two cities.
My husband's offers came from magnet schools, the one we are leaning towards is the Achievement First magnet schools, with our choice of Brooklyn, New Haven, Hartford or Providence. Any thoughts on the Achievement First model particularly? I have heard both praise and disgust for these schools. Charters here are highly ranked. As a matter of fact, our 4 kids attend a k-12 magnet/charter school. We have a "Kindie", a 4th grader, a H.S. Freshman, and a Junior that is graduating with 12 college credits a year early (so really a Senior), in part due to the school's structure. All of them are ranked highly proficient by National Standards. We are proud parents
For instance, our house is nearly 4000 sq ft, 5 bdrms, 5 bthrms, mother-in-law apt in walk-out basement (1 of the beds and baths is down there) but no fireplaces, no built-ins, and it's on .10 of an acre. It assessed for 425,000 last year. Holy crap does it look like (from the internet real estate sites, anyway) that we can get *more* (depending on how one defines more) in Simsbury, and I haven't looked extensively anywhere else yet.
Really? Because every 3,750+ square foot house in Simsbury I see that is currently on the market is selling for at least $100k more than what your home is worth in an affluent section of Denver. That's about a 25% difference for an extra quarter acre or so. You can't just say "oh we're getting .75 acres instead of a few thousand square foot lot", because sure, you might get a bigger lawn (that's kind of the standard in many Northeast suburbs) - but are you ready for the huge cost of lawn care? Are you ready to fork over dough to pay for someone to plow your long driveway? Have you thought about the maintenance fees on a septic tank and/or well?
Re taxes: I looked at comparable homes in Cherry Hills and Simsbury - Cherry Hills homes had taxes at about 5-6k while Simsbury's were at approximately 10k. Either way you slice it, Connecticut's property taxes will be likely 175% what they are in Denver. Statistics and numbers do not lie.
I use CNN Money Cost of Living Calculator pretty often as, while not 100% accurate, it's a pretty good tool when comparing two places - especially when you look at how they gather their information.
If you make 100k in Denver, you need to make $118k in Hartford. Additionally:
Groceries are 19% higher
Housing is 23% higher
Utilities are 31% higher
Transportation is 17% higher
Healthcare is 5% higher
Oh, and Hartford is one of the more affordable metro areas in Connecticut.
Last edited by kidyankee764; 10-17-2012 at 12:35 PM..
I gotta say I think that's a bit paranoid. I know someone who taught in an inner city New Haven school for 3 years, is late 20's, attractive, and female and she never felt at risk of danger!
When the OP says 4,000 s.f. she may mean some of that square footage is in the basement. It is common in other parts of the country to include finished basement space in the total size of a home while here in the northeast we do not do that. Still a 3,000 square foot home in an upscale suburb like Simsbury or Glastonbury would likely be more than $425,000 and the taxes around $9,000. Jay
Really? Because every 3,750+ square foot house in Simsbury I see that is currently on the market is selling for at least $100k more than what your home is worth in an affluent section of Denver. That's about a 25% difference for an extra quarter acre or so. You can't just say "oh we're getting .75 acres instead of a few thousand square foot lot", because sure, you might get a bigger lawn - but are you ready for the huge cost of lawn care? Are you ready to fork over dough to pay for someone to plow your long driveway? Have you thought about the maintenance fees on a septic tank and/or well?
I use CNN Money Cost of Living Calculator pretty often as, while not 100% accurate, it's a pretty good tool when comparing two places - especially when you look at how they gather their information.
If you make 100k in Denver, you need to make $118k in Hartford. Additionally:
Groceries are 19% higher
Housing is 23% higher
Utilities are 31% higher
Transportation is 17% higher
Healthcare is 5% higher
Oh, and Hartford is one of the more affordable metro areas in Connecticut.
Well, I guess it's hard to give every bit of information necessary for each response, because I didn't mention that we aren't concerned about downsizing. I realize that in my initial post (I think it was the first one) I asked about house sizes, but I didn't mean that we weren't willing to downsize, it was merely an observation on home sizes. Also, I was hoping (naively) to stay around 250k but quickly realized after looking online at the suggested towns that that wouldn't be possible, if we wanted to stay in a good area. So we bumped our budget up to 350k or so. Right now we have 3 foster kids, which we won't there, and my grandmother lived in the apartment in the walk-out basement, and she passed away recently. So yes, the home will be smaller, but so will the occupancy.
I know I've said this, but my husband makes 0 right now, and has for 5 years. As a matter of fact, he's been quite expensive because of tuition so the money he will be making is BONUS to us, so to speak. So he makes 0 right now, has the option of 32,000 here or 70,000 there.
I'm not looking at 3600sq ft+ houses in Simsbury, I'm looking at around 2500. But, it will be a bummer to downsize, I'm sure our oldest will miss her private bathroom, as well as all of us missing other things.
I already mentioned that I haven't put a lot of research into utilities, I am waiting for that shock still.
Lawn care? What are teenage boys for? Haha. No, I hadn't thought about lawn care. We are xeriscaped here, (because water cost is fairly high,over 200 per month, and that is w/o any lawn care). So I need to figure that out.
And I *think* that the sit-on snow blower we own here (because the city doesn't maintain that for our neighborhood) will probably suffice, but I could be wrong. I REALLY appreciate all the insight, I am NOT trying to be stubborn, just struggling to compare apples to oranges. What else am I not thinking of?
Here is a fairly comparable house (same # of bdrms, 1/2 bath less, 30 sq ft more, .75 of an acre as opposed to .12 of an acre) in Simsbury. What I DON'T know about this house is how the area of town equates to where we live currently. MLS # L143789 - 7 North Dr, Simsbury CT, 06070 | Homes.com
For an idea of where we live, if you are so inclined, look up Roxborough Park
When the OP says 4,000 s.f. she may mean some of that square footage is in the basement. It is common in other parts of the country to include finished basement space in the total size of a home while here in the northeast we do not do that. Still a 3,000 square foot home in an upscale suburb like Simsbury or Glastonbury would likely be more than $425,000 and the taxes around $9,000. Jay
We totally count basement square footage if it's finished, and just note it as being there is if it's not. I don't want to pay 9,000 in taxes ...hahaha...too bad!
The house you posted (an astonishing 5,000 sf!) would easily be 550-600k in CT. The taxes on that home are extremely low as well - 5k. And that house you posted in Simsbury, taxes are about 11,000 a year. I'm not trying to say you're wrong - I just want you to be ready for the high cost of living when you do come here.
Re your sit-on snow blower - if you do find yourself needing some extra cash, I'll rent it from ya.
The house you posted (an astonishing 5,000 sf!) would easily be 550-600k in CT. The taxes on that home are extremely low as well - 5k. And that house you posted in Simsbury, taxes are about 11,000 a year. I'm not trying to say you're wrong - I just want you to be ready for the high cost of living when you do come here.
Re your sit-on snow blower - if you do find yourself needing some extra cash, I'll rent it from ya.
You can totally rent the blower
I am so sorry, I thought I was comparing somewhat comparable houses. It must have 2500 in the basement that I didn't see. I really do want to comprehend the COL there, and (even though it may not seen like it) I don't mind being wrong. We have felt broke before in the early years of our marriage, we don't want to go there again.
P.S. If there are tons of typos I apologize, this was sent from mobile
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You can't just say "oh we're getting .75 acres instead of a few thousand square foot lot", because sure, you might get a bigger lawn (that's kind of the standard in many Northeast suburbs) - but are you ready for the huge cost of lawn care? Are you ready to fork over dough to pay for someone to plow your long driveway? Have you thought about the maintenance fees on a septic tank and/or well?
...hahaha...too bad!
