which house would you rather? small with best school or larger with a good school?

We are moving to get into a better school district and looking to buy a townhouse.
which would you choose:

Town house "A" doesn't have a basement and is smaller but has an elementary school assigned to it that is GORGEOUS and a "10" on great schools.org
eta- this place is a little cheaper as well

Town house "b" has a basement and other amentities like an indoor pool and gym , has good schools- the elementary is a "7" and it feeds into a middle school that is an 8 middle school.

Both townhouses are in the same town, just assigned to different schools within the district.

I should note, we are a family of 5, kids are 7, 4 and 7 months.
TIA!

Message edited 1/29/2016 11:29:59 AM.

Re: which house would you rather? small with best school or larger with a good school?

B

which house would you rather? small with best school or larger with a good school?

B

which house would you rather? small with best school or larger with a good school?

B

Re: which house would you rather? small with best school or larger with a good school?

Do they go to the same high school? If not, are the high schools rated differently?

Personally, if the high schools are equal, I would go with the house with more space. You will need it. I love our basement, all the toys are down there and later it will be their hang out area. TBH, I didn't get too hung up on elementary school ratings. The lesser of the schools you mentioned certainly doesn't have a bad rating.

which house would you rather? small with best school or larger with a good school?

they both go to the same high school which is rated 7.

I have driven by the Townhouse "a" school and it almost looks like a mini high school- gorgeous grounds. just a beautiful place. I would prob like to see what these places look ike on the inside and see what separates the two.

Re: which house would you rather? small with best school or larger with a good school?

To be honest, as long as the schools are both good I'd go for the bigger house. If the other school rated a "2" I would say take the smaller place, but they are so close in rating that I'd much prefer having more space in my home with 3 kids than having a gorgeous school. You're life is in your home so for me, having adequate space is very important.

Re: which house would you rather? small with best school or larger with a good school?

B

Re: which house would you rather? small with best school or larger with a good school?

I say B. Tell us more about A though. Does A have enough bedrooms for everyone? Is there a den? Attic for storage? Garage?

We ended up picking a smaller house in a great SD & we are feeling a little tight around here as a family of 4 even though we have a basement (sort of unfinished for now), attic & garage.

which house would you rather? small with best school or larger with a good school?

Well the first question you need answered is: what makes school A a 10 and what makes school B a 7? Does school A have a service that your child absolutely needs? Do you think your child is unable to prosper in school B?

The rating alone means nothing to me. They are close enough. If it was 10 and 2. Maybe a different story.

Knowing nothing about your family and your child it is tough to say...

If all things equal and your child does not need whatever criteria that raises one school from a 7 to 10, I would choose B.

which house would you rather? small with best school or larger with a good school?

B

Re: which house would you rather? small with best school or larger with a good school?

A.

which house would you rather? small with best school or larger with a good school?

B

which house would you rather? small with best school or larger with a good school?

B, and I would take those ratings with a grain of salt. They pretty much mean nothing since many districts have a HUGE opt out rate.

Maybe if you disclose the districts, you can get opinions on both from people that actually live there. Oh, n/m, I thought they were two different districts. Different schools in the same district with different ratings would really make no difference to me. Some districts house their special education classrooms in certain schools within the district. The lower could be one of those. Those children's test scores are also factored into the overall rating.

Message edited 1/29/2016 12:06:38 PM.

Re: which house would you rather? small with best school or larger with a good school?

Re: which house would you rather? small with best school or larger with a good school?

Re: which house would you rather? small with best school or larger with a good school?

which house would you rather? small with best school or larger with a good school?

B

Re: which house would you rather? small with best school or larger with a good school?

I would probably go with B in this case as it sounds like the space might be tight with house A. If you're not satisfied with either then I'd keep looking...

which house would you rather? small with best school or larger with a good school?

I would go with B. I feel you need more living space.

We live in what is considered a good district. Our elementary though has a great schools rating of 6 while the other two are rated 9. Our school houses the special education for the district so it's a bit skewed.

Message edited 1/29/2016 12:53:46 PM.

Re: which house would you rather? small with best school or larger with a good school?

Re: which house would you rather? small with best school or larger with a good school?

B.

The difference between a "great" and a "greater" school on Long Island is more likely the manifestation of shallow observations about the district than the actual "goodness" of the schools themselves.

There are few actually poor school schools on Long Island.

Message edited 1/29/2016 2:55:18 PM.

which house would you rather? small with best school or larger with a good school?

b

Re: which house would you rather? small with best school or larger with a good school?

..

Message edited 3/6/2016 9:18:26 PM.

which house would you rather? small with best school or larger with a good school?

larger house. I am dying in my tiny house!!!