October 2007 Weddings
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Is there anyone...
...who still checks this board that lives in Ohio? Possibly in the Cleveland area?
I have a bunch of boring questions about housing costs, schools, taxes and other fun adult topics.
Thanks!
I have a bunch of boring questions about housing costs, schools, taxes and other fun adult topics.
Thanks!
Re: Is there anyone...
1.Which towns are your favorite / would you like to live in? Why?
2. In those towns, what is the average price range for a decent sized, 4BR house on 1 acre of land? What would the taxes be on that type of property?
3. Which towns would you not live in? Why?
4. Where are taxes the lowest / highest?
5. Which towns have the best school districts?
6. Which are the best schools to work at as a teacher?
...I think that's about it for now. haha. We're not really looking to move for a year or so, but I like to scout out real estate. I just have no idea where to look!
And...how close do you want to live to downtown? (Give me time, not miles.)
I grew up in a town 25 miles from Cleveland, went to Kent State (an hour outside of Cleveland), now work in Cleveland, and recently bought a house in Cleveland. I hope I'm qualified!
I enjoy Columbus because there's a wide variety of stuff to do (theater, ballet, cool art scene, gays, sports, nightlife) for a midwest city. Columbus has a really good vibe. I lived most of my childhood in south-central Ohio so I don't have much info on towns up north.
However I will say that our job market here is not great. I don't know if that's true for the whole country or if it's just us.
2. In those towns, what is the average price range for a decent sized, 4BR house on 1 acre of land?
I would say maybe around $250k for a nice area although with the housing market crashing it might be less. Definitely would be less if you lived in the country.
What would the taxes be on that type of property?
Depending on where you live (city vs. 'burbs) $2,500 - 4,500/yr.
3. Which towns would you not live in? Why?
I wouldn't live in the country (I grew up there and I'm over it). Dayton doen't seem to have much going on besides the airbase. Cincinnati is nice enough but my sister went to UC last year and had reports of stabbings and shooting every other week so that's off-putting. Akron has a reputation for a lot of criminal activity.
So for me that would rule out anything besides Columbus, or Cleveland.
4. Where are taxes the lowest / highest?
Lowest taxes are within Columbus city - but the schools here are not great which is no good if you're planning on having kids. Taxes out in rural areas also tend to be lower.
Highest taxes are probably Upper Arlington, New Albany and Dublin (all districts in and around Columbus but with separate school districts). However school districts there are really good.
5. Which towns have the best school districts?
See highest tax listing above.
6. Which are the best schools to work at as a teacher?
I have no idea on this one. I do have a couple friends working as teachers in the charter schools (part of Columbus city) and they say that experience hasn't been good. They haven't been able to find work as full-time teachers in any of the better school districts.
I think there's a surplus of early childhood educators here though. If T teaches HS I think he'd have an easier time finding a job. Here's a link to the Dept of Ed if you are interested http://www.ode.state.oh.us
I'm in Ohio just east of cleveland in Mentor.
My email is mlambert1012AThotmailDOT com
Email me sometime with questions :-)
1/1 Spotting, 1/3 beta 36,000, 1/5 u/s empty sac measuring 7w (9w5d), 1/6 d&c
You will always be loved & missed our sweet angel.
1. Which towns are your favorite / would you like to live in? Why? The husband and I just bought a house in Lakewood. We LOVE it here. It is right outside of Cleveland on the west side, up by the lake (complete with a gorgeous lakeside park). (Lakewood actually begins at W117 Street, to give you an idea how close it is to Cleveland). Very easy access to downtown Cleveland by highways and local streets as well as the RTA (light rail commuter train runs right through Lakewood). Lakewood is an older suburb though...meaning century homes with large porches and small yards, and you really get to know your neighbors! You won't find a house with an acre of land, but you can walk to the store, a bar, your favorite restaurant, and the library. Our 3 bedroom house with full basement and attic was $150,000. It's from 1918 but has central air and all the original, gorgeous woodwork and wood floors.
2. In those towns, what is the average price range for a decent sized, 4BR house on 1 acre of land? What would the taxes be on that type of property? I think it's a very large range depending on where you want to be. I would expect to see anywhere from $250,000 to 1.5 million for a large house on an acre. You might find the $250,000 houses in places like North Olmsted, Medina, Brunswick, North Ridgeville, or Sagamore Hills/Macedonia. The higher-end homes would be in Chagrin Falls, Hudson, Pepper Pike, Moreland Hills, Aurora. However, I think the 4 bedroom qualifier is what will be your challenge. Many of the homes on the acre of land are older and seem to have 3 bedrooms more often than 4.
3. Which towns would you not live in? Why? Hm. I would stay away from the typical suburbs because there's just no character. No Avon, no Strongsville or Brunswick. But I could answer this better if you gave me a name and I could say yay or nay.
4. Where are taxes the lowest / highest? Taxes are the lowest out of Cuyahoga County, as a rule. Look in Medina County, northern Summit County, eastern Lorain County, or Lake County. The highest taxes in the state are in Cleveland Heights and Shaker Heights. The upside in Shaker Heights is that there are some of the most beautiful homes in the world there on the most beautiful streets, but the taxes don't seem to go to anything. The schools are alright but are not excellent. Cleveland Heights has nice homes in an isolated area, but the schools are horrible. It's a great place for young professionals that don't plan on having kids...a great urban lifestyle, but I would not want to raise kids there.
5. Which towns have the best school districts? Best school districts in the area are Orange, Beachwood, Hudson, Bay Village, Strongsville, Westlake, Medina...there are quite a few "excellent" districts. This website is helpful. http://dnet01.ode.state.oh.us/DistrictRatings/
6. Which are the best schools to work at as a teacher? Uuuuuum...none? It is VERY HARD to get a job teaching in Ohio right now. I have friends that have been searching for 2 years with no luck. The "excellent" school districts would be the best if you could get in.
Busty, thanks for the info on Columbus. We were hoping to stay near Cleveland, but if a job doesn't seem to appear for DH around there we'll definitely take other areas into consideration.
Amy, thanks so much for the detailed info. My family is in Shaker Heights and Chagrin Falls so those are really the only areas that I know. DH would be coming into the school districts with his masters and previous tenure in NY (one of the toughest states curriculum-wise), so we're hoping that will give him a step up above the usual competition. $250-$300 is the perfect range for us, so I'm happy to hear that there are 4-br houses in that category (around here that would get us a shed with no land).
We have some time ahead of us before we move, but I really just want to get a feel for the real estate and job markets early in the game. I'm not too worried about my job since my family has offered me some leads, and with the teaching qualifications in OH being lower than NY (ie. no masters requirement) I'm sure DH won't really have a problem finding a job. My parents are the last (aside from us) to move out there and they're not going for 2.5 years (when my mom's pension kicks in) so if it comes down to a worst case scenario we always have another school year for DH to find something.
Again, thanks so much for all the information!!
mrsderk at gmail dot com
I just went through all this so everything is fresh in my mind!
You won't have any problem finding a 4 bedroom for $300-$400, there just aren't that many with a whole acre of land. Most are around .5 acre.
I hope your DH will be able to find a job quickly. It's really very hard right now...but who knows what it will be like in a year!
ooooh, everyone's back here?! How fun! Ok, I didn't read the actual post, I'll do that now. Mel, you look gorgeous!