https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sat, 18 Apr 2026 09:42:46 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/would-you-rather-buy-a-more-expensive-house-or-send-your-lo-to-private-school#post-382706 Tue, 06 Nov 2012 23:12:38 +0000 shopaholic 382706@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We had to face that dilema when house-hunting. We could have bought a much bigger home in a less desirable (well, by school and city standards) for less, but then I would have insisted on private school. Instead, we got a smaller house, but in a city with excellent public schools. As many people stated, the house is a more predictable investment (IMHO) than private school. Heck, my friend's sister went to private school thru to college and they didn't even help her with the mandatory classes needed to get into State University! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/would-you-rather-buy-a-more-expensive-house-or-send-your-lo-to-private-school#post-382636 Tue, 06 Nov 2012 21:45:49 +0000 blackbird 382636@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>public school/better neighborhood/better school </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/would-you-rather-buy-a-more-expensive-house-or-send-your-lo-to-private-school#post-382634 Tue, 06 Nov 2012 21:45:41 +0000 woodentulip 382634@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>This is a bit of a convoluted answer but...<br /> I value public education, in the same way I value safe drinking water. It's why I don't believe in frequent purchase of bottled water--if you want a good system, you have to demand of it and therefore be a user. Become involved. Public.<br /> On a more selfish note-living in a better house, ideally you would see greater equity come out of it. Paying for private schools is money gone....gone to a good education, yes, but gone nonetheless :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/would-you-rather-buy-a-more-expensive-house-or-send-your-lo-to-private-school#post-382628 Tue, 06 Nov 2012 21:40:49 +0000 JaclynHershfeld 382628@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>This is a crazy hard decision! Personally, I would be more apt to move into a more expensive home and send your child to a better public school than spend a bunch of money on a private school. My worry is the expense of private school . . . and then college. . . goodness knows how expensive that will be by the time lo is ready to go! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/would-you-rather-buy-a-more-expensive-house-or-send-your-lo-to-private-school#post-382605 Tue, 06 Nov 2012 21:15:20 +0000 Andrea 382605@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I say buy a more expensive house in a better public school district. I'd like to have the option of sending my kids to public if we cannot afford private. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/would-you-rather-buy-a-more-expensive-house-or-send-your-lo-to-private-school#post-382600 Tue, 06 Nov 2012 21:12:10 +0000 immabeetoo 382600@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>definitely better neighborhood - resale values will be better as well since many people are just looking at school districts to start their hunt (as we did). </p> <p>I had a few friends who swapped between public &amp; private high school (going both ways) because of a better fit - so I'd hate to be in a position where you paid for private school and your kid wanted to swap to public, but it would be a big quality drop. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/would-you-rather-buy-a-more-expensive-house-or-send-your-lo-to-private-school#post-382579 Tue, 06 Nov 2012 20:58:27 +0000 sunny 382579@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@PurplePumps: agreed! better neighborhood and potential for better resale value later on. </p> <p>We chose our neighborhood in part because the schools here are really great. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/would-you-rather-buy-a-more-expensive-house-or-send-your-lo-to-private-school#post-382550 Tue, 06 Nov 2012 20:40:56 +0000 Weagle 382550@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We were just talking about this the other night. I think we'll homeschool for several years. Then, it will make sense with DH's job to either move back to our home state or move to an area near here with some of the best schools in the country. There are some decent private schools around here, but they are very, very, very expensive. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/would-you-rather-buy-a-more-expensive-house-or-send-your-lo-to-private-school#post-382291 Tue, 06 Nov 2012 17:02:04 +0000 loveisstrange 382291@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>The area that we love and want to live in has AWFUL public schools. Like the state stepped in and took control of the school board bad. My DH grew up in that area and attended a private school. </p> <p>The answer for us is easy, private school. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/would-you-rather-buy-a-more-expensive-house-or-send-your-lo-to-private-school#post-382237 Tue, 06 Nov 2012 16:32:53 +0000 spaniellove 382237@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@PurplePumps: You explained why I wouldn't move to a cheaper neighborhood even if I were paying for private school! The house is an investment and we still have think about the environment we're living in. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/would-you-rather-buy-a-more-expensive-house-or-send-your-lo-to-private-school#post-382233 Tue, 06 Nov 2012 16:30:53 +0000 Mrs. High Heels 382233@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Expensive house in a better neighborhood with better public schools! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/would-you-rather-buy-a-more-expensive-house-or-send-your-lo-to-private-school#post-382231 Tue, 06 Nov 2012 16:29:49 +0000 Baby Boy Mom 382231@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I guess it depends how big of an impact the school district would make. If it was going from good to great I would probably move. If it was going from not good to ok I would probably prefer to choose the school. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/would-you-rather-buy-a-more-expensive-house-or-send-your-lo-to-private-school#post-382227 Tue, 06 Nov 2012 16:26:48 +0000 PurplePumps 382227@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>More expensive house. You'd be in a better neighborhood which has got to be a plus all around - safer, better schools, neighborhood children that may be less likely to be a bad influence. The better house can be an investment and the money recovered, the money to private school is gone. (Yes, education for kids could be an investment also, but not the recoverable type like the house would be). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/would-you-rather-buy-a-more-expensive-house-or-send-your-lo-to-private-school#post-382220 Tue, 06 Nov 2012 16:25:07 +0000 spaniellove 382220@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>This is a dilemma we're facing because we've already bought the more expensive house in a good school district. It's literally next door to the best school in the district, too. Only now that we're here we're realizing we may be snobbier than we thought and don't want our future LO going to school there! So on top of our insane property taxes we will probably end up just sucking it up and sending him/her to private school. </p> <p>Knowing that, would I sell the house and move to a cheaper one? Never. Maybe I would consider moving to the one area with an even better school district, but I'm not sure I'd go to the effort because I know there's an obvious divide between the public school and private school kids there. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/would-you-rather-buy-a-more-expensive-house-or-send-your-lo-to-private-school#post-382218 Tue, 06 Nov 2012 16:24:26 +0000 MediaNaranja 382218@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I would rather live in a good school district and send my kids to public school. I agree with what @Foodnerd81 said about having to make a long drive to see friends.</p> <p>I loved having all my school friends in the same neighborhood. I lived within walking distance of my elementary, middle, and high schools, so it made going to sports practice or staying after school to do homework easy, too! </p> <p>It was great having a little more independence when I was an older kid. I always felt bad for the kids who couldn't do stuff because their parents were always driving them around. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/would-you-rather-buy-a-more-expensive-house-or-send-your-lo-to-private-school#post-382181 Tue, 06 Nov 2012 16:13:09 +0000 Mrs. Pen 382181@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Bee: same!!<br /> we don't own a house so I would love to own! The schools here aren't great either, so we're toying with the idea of homeschooling actually. Both DH and I were homeschooled and had relatively good experiences with it (we both went to public colleges though). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/would-you-rather-buy-a-more-expensive-house-or-send-your-lo-to-private-school#post-382171 Tue, 06 Nov 2012 16:10:40 +0000 PrincessBaby 382171@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We are going with expensive house that happens to be in the area of really great, newer public schools. I nor DH went to private school, just really good public schools, and I've always wanted to live somewhere where that's still possible. We're building our dream home in Charleston, SC, and the schools there are really good. I am sorry for your dilemma:( </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/would-you-rather-buy-a-more-expensive-house-or-send-your-lo-to-private-school#post-382157 Tue, 06 Nov 2012 16:08:41 +0000 runsyellowlites 382157@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Private School. Before starting to homeschool DS he was already in private school &amp; I was very adamant about him not going to public school. I wanted a school that I knew had the same worldview and would instill that into the environment that my child was going to be at MOST of the time.</p> <p>DH and I are the same for ourselves though... we wouldn't take a job that promotes ideals or worldviews that we agree with. Ie. I don't agree with drinking (lots of personal experience with alcoholics) so I wouldn't get a job at a bar or even a restaurant b/c I wouldn't be okay with serving alcohol.</p> <p>The why behind the how our teachers &amp; school administrators handle the classroom &amp; each individual child is really important to us, so yea we'd pick private school if home-schooling wasn't an option for us. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/would-you-rather-buy-a-more-expensive-house-or-send-your-lo-to-private-school#post-382116 Tue, 06 Nov 2012 16:01:24 +0000 Rock n Roll 382116@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Ugh, this is our same problem! I LOVE the neighborhood next to ours and the houses are gorgeous and not very expensive. But we would definitely send our kids to private school because the public schools here are terrible. OR we can move to the suburbs and still get a nice house, but not as nice for more money and send the kids to public school. </p> <p>We'll probably move to the suburbs. My biggest worry is something crazy would happen and we wouldn't be able to afford private school and then we'd have to send the kids to the crappy public school. At least if we're sending them to a good public school, there's a place for them no matter what our financial situation is. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/would-you-rather-buy-a-more-expensive-house-or-send-your-lo-to-private-school#post-382067 Tue, 06 Nov 2012 15:51:00 +0000 littlek 382067@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We actually bought a new house because our current townhouse was in a bad school district. So, we can send him to public schools if we want but we are also looking at private schools if he tests into them. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/would-you-rather-buy-a-more-expensive-house-or-send-your-lo-to-private-school#post-382066 Tue, 06 Nov 2012 15:51:00 +0000 Foodnerd81 382066@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We have talked about it a lot and are very open to both possibilities. But, we won't be buying a house until after we have kids, so we will be considering the schools in the house buying all at the same time, so it won't be about whether or not to pick up and moving for us, it will be where do we move to, you know? We don't have strong feelings on public over private, but would generally prefer public-- in large part because then their friends would probably be in the neighborhood, playing on the same sports teams, etc. I went to private school and all my friends were a car ride with mom away from me, where the public school kids had more walking distance friends.<br /> So, I guess in your case I vote move for a better public school. Unless there is a really great private school that you can afford if you don't move.</p> <p>ETA- I see you would have a long drive to the private school, so that sways me to moving. You don't want to have a long drive every time they have practice, or go to a friend's house, etc. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/would-you-rather-buy-a-more-expensive-house-or-send-your-lo-to-private-school#post-382062 Tue, 06 Nov 2012 15:49:48 +0000 betsyboop 382062@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>This is our dilemma too! We're thinking nicer house. But we're planning on sending our LO to boarding school for high school. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/would-you-rather-buy-a-more-expensive-house-or-send-your-lo-to-private-school#post-382053 Tue, 06 Nov 2012 15:47:33 +0000 mediagirl 382053@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MrsBrewer: good point! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/would-you-rather-buy-a-more-expensive-house-or-send-your-lo-to-private-school#post-382050 Tue, 06 Nov 2012 15:47:20 +0000 Bluebonnet 382050@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>If the private school was close to your house, I'd vote stay in the house/location you love. But, if you're having to drive a ways to get to private school, my vote is to move to a better school district and be closer to LO's school. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/would-you-rather-buy-a-more-expensive-house-or-send-your-lo-to-private-school#post-382045 Tue, 06 Nov 2012 15:46:36 +0000 Arden 382045@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Well, if we weren't planning on homeschooling I would be sending my kids to Montessori, so yes - I would live in a cheaper house if it allowed me to send my children to the best possible school. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/would-you-rather-buy-a-more-expensive-house-or-send-your-lo-to-private-school#post-382040 Tue, 06 Nov 2012 15:45:36 +0000 mrs. bird 382040@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>unless there is a particular private school you love, i'd more somewhere the kids could go to public school. we're looking to buy now &amp; are only considering places where we'd send LOs to the public schools. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/would-you-rather-buy-a-more-expensive-house-or-send-your-lo-to-private-school#post-382039 Tue, 06 Nov 2012 15:45:35 +0000 Mrsbells 382039@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We want a nice school that wears uniform and has good teachers. It doesnt have to be a private school though. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/would-you-rather-buy-a-more-expensive-house-or-send-your-lo-to-private-school#post-382035 Tue, 06 Nov 2012 15:44:59 +0000 MrsBrewer 382035@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mediagirl: With a new house, I'm assuming you would be paying taxes, at least that way your tax money will be going towards your child's schooling also! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/would-you-rather-buy-a-more-expensive-house-or-send-your-lo-to-private-school#post-382031 Tue, 06 Nov 2012 15:44:30 +0000 heffalump 382031@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Well we never planned on sending LO to private school, so that's easy for us. We picked our house because we like the public school that is right down the street. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/would-you-rather-buy-a-more-expensive-house-or-send-your-lo-to-private-school#post-382027 Tue, 06 Nov 2012 15:43:55 +0000 mediagirl 382027@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@autumnlove: more expensive house = better area/neighborhood. Yup. </p>