Brookfield, Elm Grove, Sussex and Merton (Milwaukee, Waukesha: buying a home, neighborhoods, buying)

[travelfamily]

Looking to move to the area. My job is in Brookfield. We have 4 kids and need excellent public schools (elementary through high school). We like newer homes (less than 20-25 years old). Sidewalks would be great or be able to walk/bike to nearby park or shopping. Price range is up about $650,000. Can go a bit higher if needed.

I want to keep my commute under 30 mins.

I have been focusing on Brookfield, Elm Grove, Sussex, Merton and possibly Arrowhead school district.

How do the schools in these area's compare? Is one more highly regarded that the others? I have been looking on school digger.com and they all seem to be good schools. I want to know the reputation the locals have of them.

Also, my kids play sports. Soccer, competitive swim teams and gymnastics. What are the good clubs around?

How about community feel? We enjoy being part of a community. sport teams, festivals, parades, etc. Does one of these area's have that more than another?

[admiralsfan24]

Are you looking for a more urban feel? If so Brookfield or Elm Grove would be better. Merton and Sussex are nice but sometimes you feel like you're living in the country.

Brookfield and Arrowhead schools are both excellent so whichever you pick will be fine. Merton's two schools (Primary and Intermediate are right next to each other and there are some very nice homes that are right around the area.)

The Lake Country area (Merton and Sussex) has a swim team, soccer team and gymnastics team.

Lake Country Swim Team :

Lake Country United Soccer Club > Home

Midwest Twisters Gymnastics & Cheerleading of Oak Creek, Franklin & Hartland

And I know there are soccer leagues all over because every time you go by a park there are kids playing soccer.

What kind of sports teams are you looking for to feel like you're a part of the community? Like high school? There are several festivals in each area throughout the summer, I wouldn't say either is better than the other, though I don't usually go to those so someone more familiar may have more information.

[JayGoodman]

Hello!

I'm a Realtor in the Brookfield/Waukesha area. If it would help, we could meet over coffee and talk about the area or even take a tour of the various subdivisions in the area that meet your requirements. Feel free to contact me at [email]jgoodman@shorewest.com[/email] or call me at 262.442.0287

Jay

[karisann]

Arrowhead has the best reputation around here, both academic and sports, but Brookfield schools also have a great reputation.

The advice regarding an urban feel is perfect. Sussex has a very different feel than Brookfield and Elm Grove, which are similar.

[travelfamily]

Thank you everyone, this is all good info. Does anyone have information about Swallow school. It seems it is a K-8. Just wondering how they deal with middle school kids and the elementary kids. Are they all mixed, or is there a separate building for the middle schoolers?
Another question I have is about taxes in these area's, including Hartland, Delefield, Brookfield and Elm Grove. Does one area have lower tax rate?
JayGoodman, I am out of state until July or August so unfortunately right now all my work has to be via computer.

[Snixy]

My husband andI grew up in Oconomowoc, and got a great education there. We would happily send our daughter there if we were to return to WI. That said IF we were moving back we would be looking in Arrowhead school district. It's absolutely excellent. We currently live in the NYC suburbs and couldn't possibly find an public (or many private) schools that would rival Arrowhead. The downside is that the city of Oconomowoc is great for walking while the other towns in Lake Country aren't dense enough to have great neighborhoods for walking to schools/cafes/libraries.

My mother was a principal at North Lake School (another K-8 feeder school for Arrowhead) for many years. They kept the younger kids fairly separate from the 6-8 graders. I'm sure Swallow is similar. You'll also have the luxury of quite modern schools in the Arrowhead/Lake Country area.

We lived in Hartland just prior to moving to the east coast and liked it. You'll do pretty well with a budget of up to $650k and the town has plenty of parks & sidewalks. There is subdivision (the Conservancy, i believe) with large homes/lots and nearly everything is less than 20 years old. The elementary schools are older than some others in the area, but I doubt that has any influence on their quality. Other town names to look for are Chenequa, Colgate, Monches, Stone Bank, or North Lake.

I don't think anything you mentioned even borders on "urban" as a previous poster mentioned. They are all very suburban with Brookfield being somewhat more dense and closer to large retailers/malls.

Apologies for typos, using an iPad.

[admiralsfan24]

Originally Posted by travelfamily

Thank you everyone, this is all good info. Does anyone have information about Swallow school. It seems it is a K-8. Just wondering how they deal with middle school kids and the elementary kids. Are they all mixed, or is there a separate building for the middle schoolers?
Another question I have is about taxes in these area's, including Hartland, Delefield, Brookfield and Elm Grove. Does one area have lower tax rate?
JayGoodman, I am out of state until July or August so unfortunately right now all my work has to be via computer.

The only thing I know about Swallow School is that they were one of the main rivals for my middle school.

It looks like there is an addition to the school that may separate the smaller kids from the bigger kids but if it was that much of a problem I can't imagine they would continue to have the smaller and bigger kids together but the school is all one main building. I'm sure the little kids are on one side and the bigger kids are on the other side. Swallow is a good school either way, as is North Shore, North Lake, Lake Country or any other school you would be wondering about.

Really if you're looking at Lake Country just find the area with the house you like the best and the schools will be fine.

As far as taxes, I don't know much about Elm Grove or Brookfield. My mom had a house in Hartland and paid I think about $3,300 a year in property taxes. House was about 1,250 square feet and sold for about $170,000 iirc.

Sales tax is the standard 5.1%.

I've seen million dollar houses have property taxes of about $15,000 so using that a rough estimate is a $650,000 house would have property tax of about $9,000-$10,000 per year.

[mrl78]

I grew up in Brookfield and my family still lives there. My BIGGEST mistake was buying a home in Milwaukee. Brookfield taxes are cheap compared to surrounding areas (especially Milwaukee). 650K will buy you a nice home in the area, many business owners, physicians, white collared residents in the city. Schools are some of the best in the state. Brookfield Central and Brookfield East are the two high schools there, and well known for soccer . Two main highways that run through the city are Bluemound Avenue and Capitol Drive. I prefer Bluemound because of it's location and freeway access (I-94). Downtown Milwaukee and sports venues are only a 10 min drive, city has a mall (Brookfield Square), and many stores throughout. Colleges and Universities are scattered throughout the area. Milwaukee is the "city of festivals," you won't have a problem there. One problem you will find in your preference list is the sidewalks. Many of the suburbs do not have sidewalks. If boating/lake activities are your thing, Pewaukee Lake and many other great lakes are a short 5-15 min drive west of the city.