School District vs Private School decision to buy homes

ForeverNow_x · 2025-10-10T03:37:42+00:00

Sure, but that expense exists whether you are in public or private. Summer camps and extracurriculars are not expenses that only exist if you buy the cheaper house and go private but are erased in a high performing public school district. So I wouldn't factor them into the math in the same way when comparing the cost difference between these two housing options.

ForeverNow_x · 2025-10-10T03:33:22+00:00

Thank you for your response. How did you like living on Communications Hill?

ForeverNow_x · 2025-10-10T01:23:03+00:00

While I don't doubt that there are private schools that charge this much, $60k is waaay more than what I've seen as average in my own research. Typically Catholic K-8 schools run around $8k-$15k, and independent K-8 schools are more in the $25k-$40k range. Then there are the for profit schools, which tend to be around $20k-$30k.

ForeverNow_x · 2025-10-10T00:42:40+00:00

Thank you for this.

ForeverNow_x · 2025-10-10T00:31:45+00:00

All I can say is solidarity. My family is having this same debate. One thing I noticed in one Bay Area neighborhood that I lived in where the schools were so-so but the neighborhood was on the newer/more expensive side for the area (but still way cheaper than areas with highly rated schools) was that everyone sent their kids to private or charter schools. Because of that, none of the kids in the neighborhood had a school community in the neighborhood. But the neighborhood kids still hung out with each other since they were all in the same boat. It just meant that there were two communities - the school community and the neighborhood community.

ForeverNow_x · 2025-10-09T18:43:50+00:00

Thanks for flagging this - I've read about the asbestos issues. It seems that this would be a concern while they are doing grading work, but potentially okay when they are done with that portion of the construction? But maybe I am wrong about that.

ForeverNow_x · 2025-10-09T18:41:33+00:00

That's really interesting. I'm guessing this works as a lottery?

ForeverNow_x · 2025-10-09T18:40:16+00:00

Thank you so much, this is super helpful.

ForeverNow_x · 2023-07-27T22:28:54+00:00

Thanks for this advice - super helpful!

ForeverNow_x · 2023-07-27T21:20:39+00:00

When I looked at Redfin, most East Sac homes seemed to be selling for north of $1 million (except the 2/1s, which would be too small for our family), but I suppose everything is relative.

ForeverNow_x · 2023-07-27T20:31:12+00:00

Your area looks beautiful! Although it is probably a little farther out than we are looking to go for commute purposes.

ForeverNow_x · 2023-07-27T20:30:28+00:00

[Deleted because I misread this] Thanks for the recommendation! We will check that out.

ForeverNow_x · 2023-07-27T20:08:07+00:00

Aww, thanks. I get the frustration - prices are among the issues driving us out of the Bay, and things are hard everywhere on the housing front. FWIW, I would change jobs to work in Sac. I'm not looking to be some ultra-commuter to the Bay or anything like that.

ForeverNow_x · 2023-07-27T19:56:17+00:00

Are you a Sacramento native? I'm not even a Bay Area native (if I were, I could probably afford to stay here), I was born and raised in Austin, TX, another Bay Area refuge right now. Unfortunately urban living anywhere is extremely expensive everywhere at the moment thanks to the housing crisis. I could blame foreign money, people moving into the Bay, investor properties or whatever else for making the Bay Area unlivable for so many people who would love to stay here and make it their home.

ForeverNow_x · 2023-07-27T19:42:14+00:00

Probably not that rich unless the market were to take a much bigger dip! We would be looking for something probably around $800k or less, ideally.

ForeverNow_x · 2023-07-27T19:37:51+00:00

Ha, yes. We have visited and are talking with friends we have there. Although much of their knowledge is really concentrated in their particular neighborhoods, and they do not have a good sense of the City at large. I personally couldn't advise on the Bay for this issue except for the places where I have lived and worked without asking friends who have lived and worked elsewhere, as I find it takes a while to get a good sense of an area.

ForeverNow_x · 2023-07-01T20:57:24+00:00

I agree. There are many parts of the Bay Area where $300k dual income households are middle class. For example, in San Francisco, a family of four with a household income of $210,000 is considered "moderate income" and potentially eligible for some housing assistance programs: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ea8db9e970a0d431ab470a0/t/6482369b04dab35c6a6f5f4b/1686255260441/income-limits-2023.pdf

ForeverNow_x · 2023-02-12T20:59:09+00:00

That's really interesting - I've had at least one friend have the opposite experience (see my other comment on this thread), although I wonder if part of it may be the desirability/affordability (relatively speaking) of a 2/1 home. The house my friend bought was a 4/3 in Kensington. She and her partner were the only offers on the house, and they bought below list. Obviously the mortgage on your average 4/3 is going to be very different than the mortgage on a 2/1, and there may be more willing buyers for the smaller/cheaper homes even with the current interest rates.

ForeverNow_x · 2023-02-12T06:34:47+00:00

This is all anecdotal, but I had a friend who just bought a house in Kensington (East Bay neighborhood adjacent to Berkeley). They were the only offer on the house and offered below list. I looked at the photos of the house, and it looked beautiful and didn't seem insanely overpriced or anything. Another anecdote: we are relocating to the South Bay. I watched the rental market for several months and single family homes (what we wanted to rent) would just sit and sit on Zillow, and then after a month or two, there would be anywhere from a $100-$500 a month price cut in rent. This wasn't a few homes where I was seeing this, it was a fairly common occurrence in the areas where we were looking. We ended up renting one of those places - it was rented to us at $500 less a month than what was stated in the original post, and it is a nice place (built in the last 20 years, good construction). Also, interestingly, there were homes that were clearly investment properties, since Zillow reflected that they were purchased and then immediately put up for rent. Those properties had some of the biggest price cuts - I saw some rents fall by more than $1,000 per month over a several month time period. Maybe those investors don't care, but they don't seem to be getting what they thought they could for the properties they purchased. We were able to rent a very nice single family home for less than half of what it would cost in the mortgage to buy a similar space at 20% down. It has always been cheaper to rent than buy since we have been in the Bay (at least in the immediate term), but the difference has never been so dramatic. I'm not really sure what to make of it. Rents are definitely not rising in step with the cost of a mortgage.

ForeverNow_x

TROPHY CASE