Real Estate Or Private School?

[Anonymous]

We do not make enough money to afford a big enough house in a fancy neighborhood AND pay for private school (3 kids). We are starting to house hunt now and have to choose one or the other. Polling DCUM -- Would you rather 1. Pay for a house (in say whitman cluster, or equivalent) and send your kids to public school OR 2. Buy a cheaper house (in say SS or parts of Kensington) to be able to afford private school?

[Anonymous]

Smart kids coming out of Whitman will end up at the same schools as smart kids coming out of any private. If your kid isn't going to be one of the smart kids at Whitman, then they would probably do better coming out of private

[Anonymous]

We're in VA so I don't know the MD equivalents but we chose option 3: But a not quite as expensive house in a mid-level school pyramid that's not a Whitman but not the bottom either. Sent kids to public for elementary and to private starting in middle school.

I was nervous about placing all of our trust in one or the other and I appreciated that we had the ability to switch if needed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Smart kids coming out of Whitman will end up at the same schools as smart kids coming out of any private. If your kid isn't going to be one of the smart kids at Whitman, then they would probably do better coming out of private

OP here - my kids are still younger, so I have no real gauge at this point if they will turn out to be "smart kids"

[Anonymous]

House in a good neighborhood. What your kids really need is a good environment with a good peer group. They can easily get that at Whitman.

[Anonymous]

I also have 3 kids. The cost of private school tuition for 3 kids long term (which it sounds like this will be if your kids are young) is so high that you really need a massive income/assets to support it--it's almost impossible for lifestyle changes to really make a meaningful difference. Unless you're looking at parochial schools or something inexpensive like that, the cost likely far outstrips the cost difference between the two types of houses you're considering. $120k/year tuition is like having a $1.5m mortgage. (except...you'll never see the money again--it's like the mortgage is interest-only and you can't live in the house or ever sell it). I would invest in a house in a good school district that has better chances of increasing in value/helping you build net worth and then reassessing private school down the line. PP's suggestion about splitting the difference in a good one--choose a district that's good enough with a house that works for your family and don't jump into private school just yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I also have 3 kids. The cost of private school tuition for 3 kids long term (which it sounds like this will be if your kids are young) is so high that you really need a massive income/assets to support it--it's almost impossible for lifestyle changes to really make a meaningful difference. Unless you're looking at parochial schools or something inexpensive like that, the cost likely far outstrips the cost difference between the two types of houses you're considering. $120k/year tuition is like having a $1.5m mortgage. (except...you'll never see the money again--it's like the mortgage is interest-only and you can't live in the house or ever sell it). I would invest in a house in a good school district that has better chances of increasing in value/helping you build net worth and then reassessing private school down the line. PP's suggestion about splitting the difference in a good one--choose a district that's good enough with a house that works for your family and don't jump into private school just yet.

I concur and add that I am not sure there is a huge difference in housing costs between the areas you are thinking in MoCo. I am not sure Kensington is so much cheaper than Bethesda to cover the cost of tuition.

[Anonymous]

For me, it'd be the Whitman cluster option for sure. My answer might be different if you only had one child.

[Anonymous]

1. You can probably get the money back when you sell. Private school tuition you won’t ever see again. Plus, it’s really nice to live near your kids’ friends.

[Anonymous]

Also, Whitman is just as good, if not even better, than all of the DC area privates (even "Big 6" schools).

The Woodacres/Pyle/Whitman district would be the ideal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I also have 3 kids. The cost of private school tuition for 3 kids long term (which it sounds like this will be if your kids are young) is so high that you really need a massive income/assets to support it--it's almost impossible for lifestyle changes to really make a meaningful difference. Unless you're looking at parochial schools or something inexpensive like that, the cost likely far outstrips the cost difference between the two types of houses you're considering. $120k/year tuition is like having a $1.5m mortgage. (except...you'll never see the money again--it's like the mortgage is interest-only and you can't live in the house or ever sell it). I would invest in a house in a good school district that has better chances of increasing in value/helping you build net worth and then reassessing private school down the line. PP's suggestion about splitting the difference in a good one--choose a district that's good enough with a house that works for your family and don't jump into private school just yet.

I concur and add that I am not sure there is a huge difference in housing costs between the areas you are thinking in MoCo. I am not sure Kensington is so much cheaper than Bethesda to cover the cost of tuition.

This is a good point. I live in Wheaton and our four bedroom houses were selling for over a million last spring/summer. They are a little cheaper now but are still going for 950K. Whitman houses are more yet, but aren’t $3m for most of them.

[Anonymous]

Cheaper house, public except special needs and pay for college.

[Anonymous]

OP - If you are looking at MoCo and MCPS, there are too many good public school pyramids (well beyond the Pyle/Whitman cluster) to make it worthwhile to sacrifice your own retirement savings and saving for college, even if you do get financial aid. You didn't indicate the ages/grades of your kids, but if there is any chance they will all be in MS/HS at the same time in, say, 5-7 years from now, and they are in one of the more expensive independent schools, you could be looking at $200K of tuition/fees/expenses alone, and that's after-tax. Even a family making $1M a year in taxable income will feel that (feel it, not suffer).

Prices for homes that are zoned for Whitman already have that premium baked in. Whitman is a great school, so it's probably worth it in most cases, but the strongest students at any good MCPS HS are as strong as those in private. It's a different experience, but anyone who is says that the only way to get a great education in this area is private school has blinders on.

[Anonymous]

Not unless you have an SN child who will require something that county schools cannot, or will not provide. First choice should always be house over private if you are in Montgomery County.

[Anonymous]

You kid can go to Watkin's Mill and do well, it is entirely up to the kid on how well they want to do.

What I am getting out of your post is that you don't want your kid to go to a school with a lot of diversity. That's code on DCUM for I want my white kid to go to a white school.