Can't afford private - taking out $800k mortgage - anyone else?

[Anonymous]

3 kids. $280k salary. Planning to move for great public schools, but the houses all cost a fortune. When I look at the projected monthly cost of an $800k mortgage, it seems trivial compared to the price I would otherwise pay to send my kids to private. Anyone else take on a whopping mortgage to strike a balance with the public/private school dilemma?

[Anonymous]

an 800k mortgage on 270k a year isn't that unbalanced IMO.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, we've done the whoppng mortgage and we've done private. The mortgage probably wins out as a better financial deal in the end. Now if you really prefer private school and are willing to make the sacrifices to make it work, then great. But moving to the best public school district you can afford is usually the better move. This is especially true if you've got a couple of kids to educate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, we've done the whoppng mortgage and we've done private. The mortgage probably wins out as a better financial deal in the end. Now if you really prefer private school and are willing to make the sacrifices to make it work, then great. But moving to the best public school district you can afford is usually the better move. This is especially true if you've got a couple of kids to educate.[/quote]

Agreed. 2/3 of my kids are in public so we still have private tuition but moving to the best district we could afford is still a better move than 3 privates. That said you have to realize/possibly plan for the fact that even the best districts don't fit all children's needs. Just do the best you can and figure things out as you go.

[Anonymous]

Has anyone done the opposite (moved to a cheaper neighborhood with the intent of going private)? Any regrets?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone done the opposite (moved to a cheaper neighborhood with the intent of going private)? Any regrets?

We did this. Moved close to work into a neighborhood with unacceptable schools. Applied to private school and an immersion language charter. Got lucky and got into both. We chose the charter school more for the language which we really really wanted - if any private schools had offered the language, we would have chosen it but none did. DH and I both attended private schools from K-12 and beyond.

Very happy with our decision. DS is fluent in the language and our house in the sketchy neighborhood has double in value since we bought it due to gentrification. We live downtown within walking distance to work.

But the catch was that we were willing to pay for private school if DC had not got into a charter so we needed a little luck too. But that yr, the charter was moving and expanding so...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone done the opposite (moved to a cheaper neighborhood with the intent of going private)? Any regrets?

We did this. Moved close to work into a neighborhood with unacceptable schools. Applied to private school and an immersion language charter. Got lucky and got into both. We chose the charter school more for the language which we really really wanted - if any private schools had offered the language, we would have chosen it but none did. DH and I both attended private schools from K-12 and beyond.

Very happy with our decision. DS is fluent in the language and our house in the sketchy neighborhood has double in value since we bought it due to gentrification. We live downtown within walking distance to work.

But the catch was that we were willing to pay for private school if DC had not got into a charter so we needed a little luck too. But that yr, the charter was moving and expanding so...

Thanks pp...we are contemplating an area with iffy schools. The neighborhood and homes are nice and a fraction of the cost of areas with top schools, but signifiant appreciation is doubtful.

[Anonymous]

We did this. Took out a big (to us) mortgage to get into a good school district. We figured that with one kid it about broke even, and if we have a second, then we will come out ahead. We also are homebodies and I think having a nicer place has been great so far. We just moved a couple of months ago.

[Anonymous]

We bought an inexpensive house in PG because we knew that we would send DC to private.

[Anonymous]

An expensive piece of real estate is a place to live but also a better investment in a good school district than in a bad one.

So we went public in a good district.

[Anonymous]

We did the cheap-house-private school thing. Financially, it's definitely a worse deal. But other factors made it worth it for us. No regrets.

[Anonymous]

I'm debating this with DH now....the homes in pyramids he's interested in need a lot of work and would cause us to be house poor. I'm not sure I can stomach it though and am leaning towards cheaper/nicer home and using private school

[Anonymous]

Cheap starter home bought before kids in poor school district
Planning to stay here and pay for private (for 3 kids with sibling discounts $36k) independent not parochial until when the oldest is somewhere between 6th and 8th and move for public high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone done the opposite (moved to a cheaper neighborhood with the intent of going private)? Any regrets?

My only regret is snarky comments about people about where I live but I am learning not to care

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm debating this with DH now....the homes in pyramids he's interested in need a lot of work and would cause us to be house poor. I'm not sure I can stomach it though and am leaning towards cheaper/nicer home and using private school

oxymoron?