Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Massachusetts
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 12-16-2013, 11:55 AM
 
74 posts, read 131,259 times
Reputation: 21

Advertisements

Pretty sure that if we move to the Boston area- we'll end up in the Concord/Acton area. Can folks point me to some good preschools? I work part time from home and I need to be able to send my little guy at least 3 mornings per week. He will be 3 in October (so if the cutoff date is in Sept, then he would miss the cutoff). I've looked at Concord Children's Center and it seems to fit our needs fairly well. It seems quite pricey- but that could also be sticker shock going from NC to MA Thanks!!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 12-16-2013, 07:02 PM
 
30 posts, read 68,954 times
Reputation: 68
We pay 3K$/month for 2 kids in Belmont.

As far as this being expensive or not, I think it depends on perspective. Pissing away 7 figures of your wealth for an old house built before the Titanic sank in Concord, like many people do for reasons way beyond my comprehension, this is what is outrageously expensive to me.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-17-2013, 08:23 AM
 
74 posts, read 131,259 times
Reputation: 21
Wow- tell me how you really feel about Concord. We will likely be in West Concord or Acton. Houses there seem to be more "reasonably" priced.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-17-2013, 09:00 AM
 
30 posts, read 68,954 times
Reputation: 68
Quote:
Originally Posted by sfkane View Post
Wow- tell me how you really feel about Concord. We will likely be in West Concord or Acton. Houses there seem to be more "reasonably" priced.
Living in Acton requires that you pay around 10K$ a year in property tax (excluding your cars!)

Acton is double the tax rate of Natick, Burlington, Woburn, Whaltham, etc. Lets assume 5K$/year in difference. Over 20 years: 20x5K = 100000$. Add compounded interest and you have the money to cover your children's college education. I know that boomers that paid their house a nickel 30 years ago and now act like big shot because they happen to have bought in these "sought after town" are clueless about the reality of our generation, but take it from someone who lost 120K$ on my house in CT 2 years ago. Real estate is a ponzi scheme, and we are late to the game.

Ironically, taxes will go up faster in these high tax town then others, or the services will go down faster, whatever the least painfull choice they make. Because of the burden of unfunded pension liabilities and the reality of the parasitical nature of the unions, its a mathematical certainty.

Finally, don't overdo it when it comes to school district. Remember that a bachelor nowadays in worthless. You need a graduate degree in most field now, and where you do your BSc matters as much as your first pair of underwear. Also, cies are getting tired of these "well-groomed-Ivy-leaguers" that volunteered in their teens years just to polish their pedigree to get into a top school. Personnally, I want to hire a kid that worked at McDonald as a kid, not the one who pandered to Ivy league scout and was prepped for years by a private SAT coach. And more hiring managers are thinking this way now.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-17-2013, 09:05 AM
 
Location: Needham, MA
8,539 posts, read 13,961,275 times
Reputation: 7921
Quote:
Originally Posted by sfkane View Post
Wow- tell me how you really feel about Concord. We will likely be in West Concord or Acton. Houses there seem to be more "reasonably" priced.
DL doesn't believe in spending that much money on a house. In this post from about 10 months ago (see link below) which DL described as his "last post" because he doesn't do "the forum thing" again this post was from 10 months ago , DL gives us his reasoning.

//www.city-data.com/forum/28102073-post20.html

To summarize . . . he once stretched to buy a house in CT, was relocated, and had to sell the house for $120K less than what he paid. He lost all of his equity in the house and had to short sell. So, DL is very understandably averse to the idea of spending a lot of money on a house and Concord is expensive. I think had any of us had the same experience we'd probably have the same viewpoint.

Everyone is certainly entitled to their opinion and their own beliefs and I'm not going to say if I think DL is right or wrong because there's just no need to inject my own beliefs/opinions into the conversation. I just wanted you to understand why DL reacted so negatively to the idea that anyone would buy a house in Concord.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-17-2013, 09:06 AM
 
Location: 42°22'55.2"N 71°24'46.8"W
4,848 posts, read 11,779,762 times
Reputation: 2962
Quote:
Originally Posted by DL0299 View Post
Living in Acton requires that you pay around 10K$ a year in property tax (excluding your cars!)

Acton is double the tax rate of Natick, Burlington, Woburn, Whaltham, etc. Lets assume 5K$/year in difference. Over 20 years: 20x5K = 100000$. Add compounded interest and you have the money to cover your children's college education. I know that boomers that paid their house a nickel 30 years ago and now act like big shot because they happen to have bought in these "sought after town" are clueless about the reality of our generation, but take it from someone who lost 120K$ on my house in CT 2 years ago. Real estate is a ponzi scheme, and we are late to the game.
But if I lived in Woburn I'd have to spend $20k x 9 + $30k x 4 = $300k on private school. Make that $600k for 2 kids. You get what you pay for, so stop trolling.

sfkane: I would pick Acton out of those 2 towns - better family atmosphere and less pretentious.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-17-2013, 10:33 AM
 
30 posts, read 68,954 times
Reputation: 68
Wow, this is why this forum is red by the same 2-3 people who feel they can "police" opinions contrary to their own. If it does not fit the "to-the-moon" realtor narrative, its removed ro called trolling. Pity.

1st, we never stretched to buy a house in CT. We put 60k down, which is a lot, and could afford payments, and then some. But when monetary policy is directed to subsidize home buying for any Joes without a penny to their name, people like me get hurt.

As to the claim that parents sending their kids to the Woburn public schools are selling their education short and failing them, all I can say is that i'd rather have my kids hanging out with them then with yours, thats for sure.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-17-2013, 11:01 AM
 
Location: Needham, MA
8,539 posts, read 13,961,275 times
Reputation: 7921
Quote:
Originally Posted by DL0299 View Post
Wow, this is why this forum is red by the same 2-3 people who feel they can "police" opinions contrary to their own. If it does not fit the "to-the-moon" realtor narrative, its removed ro called trolling. Pity.

1st, we never stretched to buy a house in CT. We put 60k down, which is a lot, and could afford payments, and then some.
Sorry about that. I should have said you spent more on the house than you originally planned. I apologize for not choosing my words more carefully.

As for your other assertions... I'm really not sure what you're talking about. I know in my last post I said you were entitled to your viewpoint but perhaps you're not referring to me.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-17-2013, 11:05 AM
 
Location: Massachusetts & Hilton Head, SC
9,966 posts, read 15,570,327 times
Reputation: 8623
Simmer down. The OP asked a question about a specific town. It's none of our business where her family wants to live or how much they can afford.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-17-2013, 11:12 AM
 
Location: 42°22'55.2"N 71°24'46.8"W
4,848 posts, read 11,779,762 times
Reputation: 2962
Quote:
Originally Posted by DL0299 View Post
Wow, this is why this forum is red by the same 2-3 people who feel they can "police" opinions contrary to their own. If it does not fit the "to-the-moon" realtor narrative, its removed ro called trolling. Pity.

1st, we never stretched to buy a house in CT. We put 60k down, which is a lot, and could afford payments, and then some. But when monetary policy is directed to subsidize home buying for any Joes without a penny to their name, people like me get hurt.

As to the claim that parents sending their kids to the Woburn public schools are selling their education short and failing them, all I can say is that i'd rather have my kids hanging out with them then with yours, thats for sure.
We were just warning the original poster about your background. The regular posters here know that your opinions sometimes fall on the extreme side of the spectrum.

I agree putting down $60k is not small dollars, but it's actually not that much compared to the average in the area sfkane is looking at. Over the past 3 months the AVERAGE down payment on a house in Concord is 26.2%, or about $200k. I'd be very surprised if $60k would even get you into anything other than a condo in Concord.

sfkane was specifically looking at Acton or West Concord which tells me he/she has some money to spend. The act of selling your kids education short is all relative. If you had $700k to spend on a house then YES, everyone will agree that you are selling your kids education short if you move to Woburn instead of Acton. If you only had $300k to spend on a house then maybe all you can afford is Woburn - nothing wrong with that.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:



Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Massachusetts

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 05:26 AM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top