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We currently live in Durham and are thinking of buying a small home/condo in chapel hill in order to put out kids in school there. We would not be selling our house in Durham (I have a garden I won't leave) but would go between. Since our last child is starting Kindergarten, private school is not affordable.
I know this technically violates the rules, but we would be paying CH property taxes.
Does anyone know how often CH school district checks on residences? Is this common or do they only check is they get returned mail, etc.?
Have you considered paying tuition to go to school there instead? Not sure if CH schools allow that, but many public schools do. It would be a little less expensive than buying a property, maintaining it, and paying taxes on it.
You have to live in the district to send your kids there. Owning a condo in CH is not sufficient. You are not the first person to try this.
If you aren't renting the condo, and actually spend time there, pay the utilities and collect the mail in your name, you may get away with it though. But if you've got a high income, a big house in Durham in your name, and a tiny condo in CH, they may still catch you.
"It's only wrong if you get caught" is not a good philosophy, in my personal view. This isn't something you should see if you can get away with. (And for the record, I don't believe you'd be successful in getting away with it, as you and your children would need to keep your "real" residency a secret from everyone around you in order to have any chance of being successful.)
Cruiser, you say your youngest is going into K. I guess you have older kids, too, then. Are they in the Durham public schools and you've been unhappy or have they been in private school and one kid to pay tuition for is one too many? I know folks who've been very happy with Central Park charter in Durham if that's an option for you. I also know many people in Chapel Hill with wonderful gardens if that's an option. We can grow some stuff over here, too!
I don't understand how a small home or condo in Chapel Hill is any more affordable than private school in Durham. Aside from the closing costs, mortgage payments (not to mention down payment), taxes, insurance, maintenance and upkeep of the Chapel Hill home, you'll need to figure in the gas you'll burn driving your kids to school each day, and the opportunity cost associated with the 2hr+ round trip (assume you'd drive back and forth twice each day). Also, I'm assuming you'll want to furnish the home to some extent.
Chapel Hill schools are good, but they're not worth that. Either make the investment in private education or spend the time to be involved in your kids' education, which would more than offset any "deficiencies" in the Durham school system.
Thank you all for your replies. We are still considering all possibilities. We are not high income and cannot afford the monthly cost of private school. We did not get chosen for lottery of the magnet school, so we're off to plan B. My husband lost his job recently so we couldn't afford to move since they don't hand out mortgages to unemployed people anymore. I still work, but it's not enough.
We would have to divest ourselves of money from investments and pay cash for the condo. The only reason to justify it is that we can resell and recoup some of our money. I would consider the taxes, HOA dues, utilities, etc. as investment into the education and say good-bye to it. We're VERY involved in our children's education, but we've hit a wall with DPS. All we are doing is exploring our options.
~Cruise
by the way - it's not 'just a garden', it's THE garden. Oh, and we adore our neighbors.
Don't most private schools offer tuition assistance?
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