2023 Real Estate Observations (Boston, Burlington: crime rate, construction, college)

[robr2]

Originally Posted by MtPleasantDream

But here is another question: are they necessarily better than non-top students from top school systems?
Getting in a good college is just the beginning of one's adult life, but education in childhood can have a long lasting impact. Being habitually hardworking, learning from peers, handling stress and competition..., are all crucial to success.

Particularly, if one wants to build a career in the STEM field, the math and science education before college is very important.

They most likely are. Those kids all take the same accredited and audited AP courses so the outcome is measurable and can be compared. The difference is that the college recruiters know which districts are disadvantaged so will take those kids over similar kids from top districts.

As I've noted, the top 10-20 kids in a high achieving school district are interchangeable in the college matrix. They can only accept only so many kids with this:

5.0 GPA
first violin/cello/oboe in the school symphony
member of the track team
member of the robotics/debate/chess/math club
Eagle Scout/Gold Award Recipient
speaks conversational Mandarin.

They'd rather have a top 10-20 second tier school kid with:

4.5 GPA
self taught guitar player who teaches other kids to play
member of an athletic team that has cuts
works a part time job
was in scouts but didn't earn the ultimate awards but got something out of it
speaks conversational Italian because they wanted to learn what their grandparents spoke.

Colleges want kids with good stories who can help create a diverse class.

[MtPleasantDream]

Originally Posted by robr2

Colleges want kids with good stories who can help create a diverse class.

Maybe they can be good leaders and influencers in the future, but we still need to import zillions of engineers without good stories but tough training and hard work, who then gentrify towns like Burlington and Billerica.

[simplexsimon]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

Off topic from college admissions by town...


I just got my property tax bill. The mill rate went down to $8.78 per thousand. The fire district tax is another $0.39. My year-over-year property tax bill went down a bit even thought the assessment went up some. Proposition 2 1/2 is a wonderful thing. I presume the oceanfront and gated summer community property had big increases.

My mil rate went down 3.5% but assessment went up 10%.

[BostonMike7]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

Off topic from college admissions by town...


I just got my property tax bill. The mill rate went down to $8.78 per thousand. The fire district tax is another $0.39. My year-over-year property tax bill went down a bit even thought the assessment went up some. Proposition 2 1/2 is a wonderful thing. I presume the oceanfront and gated summer community property had big increases.

my mill rate went up 6%. Assessment up but i don't have a percentage.

[robr2]

Mine in Burlington:

Valuation up 9.3%
Rate down 5.5%
Taxes up 3.3%.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by BostonMike7

my mill rate went up 6%. Assessment up but i don't have a percentage.

How can the mill rate go up 6% with Proposition 2 1/2? Was there an override vote?


My house is assessed at about 70% of market value. My effective mill rate is around $6.90. Vermont requires 100% assessments and has a stiff state school property tax. My mill rate was around $21 and I was due for a huge tax hike. I sold before the bill showed up. As a retiree, Proposition 2 1/2 is a wonderful thing. I know I’ll never get taxes out of my house. We also structured things where Social Security will be a big chunk of our income. It projects to ~ $90k that is exempt from state tax.

[id77]

Originally Posted by MtPleasantDream

Maybe they can be good leaders and influencers in the future, but we still need to import zillions of engineers without good stories but tough training and hard work, who then gentrify towns like Burlington and Billerica.

This is due in no small part to the problem that most of the US colleges (and probably closer to a "nearly all" level, including some of the almighty Ivy Leaguers) do not adequately prepare students for careers in engineering. I've conducted countless interviews to fill engineering positions, and more often than not we end up importing one of those zillions of engineers without good stories after being frustrated with the poor performances of the US-based applicants.

I suspect the problem extends back into primary education and perhaps even beyond education's boundaries as the American applicants usually can stumble through technical and theoretical problems as that's what they were taught, but are severely lacking in the soft skills that are critical to succeeding.

[msRB311]

I'm staring to think there should be a MA real estate forum.

[simplexsimon]

Originally Posted by id77

I suspect the problem extends back into primary education and perhaps even beyond education's boundaries as the American applicants usually can stumble through technical and theoretical problems as that's what they were taught, but are severely lacking in the soft skills that are critical to succeeding.

Interesting that this is the case in engineering. I totally agree with needing soft skills to succeed but in my world in finance, it's the American (well, often white) applicants that have the stronger soft skills and the international applicants that are lacking in it.

[id77]

Originally Posted by simplexsimon

Interesting that this is the case in engineering. I totally agree with needing soft skills to succeed but in my world in finance, it's the American (well, often white) applicants that have the stronger soft skills and the international applicants that are lacking in it.

It is surprising, but it happens. The number of American (and yes, often white) applicants who struggle with critical thinking, problem solving, and the general "what do you do when you don't know the answer to a problem?" type of scenario who struggle to find their way. It's not to say we don't also see it with international applicants, but they're usually more comfortable thinking their way out of an unfamiliar situation.