.

[Three4Cy]

I think you're overestimating the number of people that have all of those luxury items in these neighborhoods. There are a ton of new spec homes in the lower 200's available and people are flocking to them.

Having the two kids in daycare is the real killer in your scenario, especially if they not of school age yet. You're looking at another 1500-2000 a month in free money without it. I know if we had two kids in full time daycare, my wife would not be working.

That being said, there are plenty of good neighborhoods in the suburbs with houses in the 180-250kish range. We've been more than satisfied with ours and there are plenty of kids in the neighborhood and friendly people to hang out with. It was built in 95 and all the major items that were wearing out were replaced before we bought it. I think you need to keep exploring other neighborhoods. The build quality and attention detail is also far superior to the spec homes we were looking at. There are a lot of pockets in these suburbs that you really have to know are there to be able to search them out.

I would not go that far - just because kids are out of daycare, there are still plenty of expenses. They will want to be in various sports/activities that cost money, and the OP stated his kids were going to Catholic school, so there will be the expense of tuition.

 

[4theCYcle]

This is a serious question that I hope will get some serious answers.

How do people actually afford the new houses in Waukee/West Des Moines/etc unless they make a $200k+ as a household. Then have a large SUV, boat, etc? We went to DSM last weekend just to look at houses for fun and all the new one were $380k +

I know the answer is "They make more than you make" or "They have lots of debt" but those aren't really helpful answers. Sometimes it baffles me how many wealthy people there are in Des Moines. We make 2.3x the average Iowa household income (no student loans but 2 kids in daycare) and we feel like we'd have to move to a house under $200k to have any sort of life.

We love the South of Grand/Waveland neighborhoods in DSM but my wife wants that character with a new house. To get a newer house with that character we'd be stuck out in the far-flung suburbs. The area west of Jordan Creek was weird - it seemed very random.

I guess this is all to say that coming from a smaller town we can be involved in lots of community projects and I fear if we lived in a tract house in Waukee/Grimes there really wouldn't be the same type of community feel. Does that make sense?

We do Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring, fundraising for the several local non-profits, wife is in a position of community leadership for a non-profit etc. I fear in a brand new suburb none of that would exist because everyone is wealthy and "from somewhere else".

/word vomit

Just like the old commercial states, "We're in debt up to our eyebrows."

Part of it could be luck on timing of when they bought their house too. I'm glad my wife and I aren't looking right now. I had a house in Altoona, sold it and moved over to the west side with her. We both bought our houses in 11/12' when the market was just starting to barely rebound. She got a tremendous deal on it at the time by doing her research. The assessor letter just came back saying it is worth $300K and that's with an unfinished basement. Lot of these houses selling for $350+ nowadays I wouldn't step foot in. We'd be downgrading in space so our plan is to eventually finish the basement.

I'm sure the end all answer is a compilation of such: they make more, they have more debt, timing of when it all started, and luck.

I like Urbandale and see no reason to move. It's in a cookie-cutter neighborhood (not my favorite part), our neighbors are friendly, but I guess you get out of it what you put in. Plenty of options for charities around DSM, you'd probably find quite a few fairly quickly.

I guess my advice would be to continue on with some research. You started off right by asking your fellow fan base, which is trustworthy in my opinion versus a tavern hok's opinion of the metro. We have friends is Ankeny, Johnston, West Des Moines, Waukee, Beaverdale, South side, etc. and it seems each of pros/cons and quirks they like and dislike.

 

[AgronAlum]

We're in that range right now and for a few more years. It's a joke, but I have no idea what I spent my money or time on before kids. People without kids should be traveling every weekend to hike or play golf because they'll only dream about it once they have kids. For us, if we spend $1,500/month on day (for example) that's $18,000 per year. What salary would a spouse need to make to have not working be worth it?

For someone that might be making $15-20 an hour, that's creeping close enough to after tax income that it might not be worth spending 40 hrs a week away from home. My wife and I had a lot of back and forth about the cost of having a second child. A sibling of mine dropped to part time and hired a nanny because it was cheaper than going to full time daycare in the Cedar Rapids area. FYI - daycare is significantly more expensive in DSM than it is in the Marshalltown area.

 

[JP4CY]

Anyone here live in Polk City? It is still small but really growing. Just wondering if you think it will always have that smaller town feel? I've been interested in it just due to proximity to the lake, TCI, smaller school district. Close enough to Ankeny for any big box store needs. Close enough to downtown DSM if you work there or head there for dinner/entertainment.

I guess my question also applies to Adel? Seems like their growth was too much too quick? How about Van Meter?

Your Adel question. I think the tax abatement gave that town lets just say some interesting growing pains.

 

[AgronAlum]

Ankeny has St. Lukes, a new Catholic school that just opened last year.

I know it's non denominational but they also have Ankeny Christian Academy too.

 

[AgronAlum]

Your Adel question. I think the tax abatement gave that town lets just say some interesting growing pains.

Resale on those tax abated new builds has to be absolutely atrocious when you can get the exact same house brand new with no/reduced taxes. Adel has had that rebate for quite a few years now. I've got a good buddy that's in the process of buying out there right now.

 

[4theCYcle]

Caution about small towns- We moved to a town of less 4,000 in 1990- We are not from town, we will never be from town. Everyone from town is related- You can be talking to a "townie: one on one if another townie joins the conversation they will literally turn from you and talk to the other person. I have deemed it the townie quotient. 2 townies will exceed the quotient- All of our friends are from somewhere else. FYI

And when you move away from townie and ever go back to townie, nothing changes lol. I do not miss that small town gossip.

 

[AgronAlum]

I would not go that far - just because kids are out of daycare, there are still plenty of expenses. They will want to be in various sports/activities that cost money, and the OP stated his kids were going to Catholic school, so there will be the expense of tuition.

True. I guess in my situation my older son just does all his activities through the parks and rec right now. It's 25-30 bucks a sport. I'm sure that will increase dramatically over the years but hopefully, so does our family income.

 

[AgronAlum]

I realized something.

My parents live in a big dense city and have a lake home. My in-laws have an acreage. Both sets of parents are moving into townhouses in the next year. So, as a family we're losing free and unlimited access to a lake home, a place to stay in a big city, and an acreage.

I think part of my anxiety with looking at neighborhoods is because we had every option available to us through our parents. We could enjoy the city, the lake, and go four-wheeling anytime we wanted to. We were so lucky. Once they sell all their land we'll have nothing left except to a suburban home on a cul-de-sac. I'm sad all of those options are going away and I don't want to feel trapped.

Maybe you'll get lucky. My parents tried the townhouse thing and hated it so they flipped it and moved outside of town. My dad went nuts not having anything to take care of or space to breathe.

 

[dmclone]

I realized something.

My parents live in a big dense city and have a lake home. My in-laws have an acreage. Both sets of parents are moving into townhouses in the next year. So, as a family we're losing free and unlimited access to a lake home, a place to stay in a big city, and an acreage.

I think part of my anxiety with looking at neighborhoods is because we had every option available to us through our parents. We could enjoy the city, the lake, and go four-wheeling anytime we wanted to. We were so lucky. Once they sell all their land we'll have nothing left except to a suburban home on a cul-de-sac. I'm sad all of those options are going away and I don't want to feel trapped.

Sounds like it's time for you to buy an RV. I heard Cutty's has some open spots.

 

[JP4CY]

Again on the neighborhood thing, and it seems like we go through this every year - I live in Ankeny in the prairie trail area. I live across the street from a park. My kids have been spending probably 3-5 hours a day outside at that park since it got nice. If I go out to eat, it's probably somewhere at the prairie trail district. I honestly don't do much outside of a 500 yard area from my house. I go downtown about as much as I did when I lived in Ames. You just have to find an area that works for you, and stereotyping entire cities seems a little bizarre.

Outer Limits is more than 500 yards from PT brah.

 

[BigTurk]

My wife and I want to move to Des Moines - either the city itself or a close-in suburb. She is a teacher and can work just about anywhere and I work in a niche industry without a lot of job openings. We have two kids not yet in school. I am not opposed to a career change. We're both in our mid-30s.

We're obviously not going to move without jobs lined up but I am afraid if we wait that long we'll never have the chance before our kids get established in school in our current town.

Does anyone have advice for us? Have you made a similar move?

We are hopeful we'll be able to work something out soon.

I did the same thing twice. My wife and I moved from Dubuque to Des Moines (Western Des Moines. Not West Des Moines but the West side of Des Moines). After our first was born we moved back to Dubuque, but decided the careers weren't there so we moved to Ankeny. Now we have two kids and it was a stressful move at first but things are good now. I can give you some info and such if interested. Let me know.

 

[discydisc]

We actually looked at some houses in PT recently - I wouldn't mind living there except the price.

Have you looked at Bondurant?

 

[Three4Cy]

Have you looked at Bondurant?

If the OP is serious in stating his kids are going to Catholic school, Bondurant means a lot of driving your kids to get them to school and school-related activities.

 

[Gunnerclone]

I can already tell OP is a WDM guy. That’s my pick for where he ends up. Welcome to the family.

 

[NickTheGreat]

I could see the pricing thing. I mean, everyone I've talked to (myself included) in Johnston area's house went up 15% - 20% in the last two years

 

[BigTurk]

This is a serious question that I hope will get some serious answers.

How do people actually afford the new houses in Waukee/West Des Moines/etc unless they make a $200k+ as a household. Then have a large SUV, boat, etc? We went to DSM last weekend just to look at houses for fun and all the new one were $380k +

I know the answer is "They make more than you make" or "They have lots of debt" but those aren't really helpful answers. Sometimes it baffles me how many wealthy people there are in Des Moines. We make 2.3x the average Iowa household income (no student loans but 2 kids in daycare) and we feel like we'd have to move to a house under $200k to have any sort of life.

We love the South of Grand/Waveland neighborhoods in DSM but my wife wants that character with a new house. To get a newer house with that character we'd be stuck out in the far-flung suburbs. The area west of Jordan Creek was weird - it seemed very random.

I guess this is all to say that coming from a smaller town we can be involved in lots of community projects and I fear if we lived in a tract house in Waukee/Grimes there really wouldn't be the same type of community feel. Does that make sense?

We do Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring, fundraising for the several local non-profits, wife is in a position of community leadership for a non-profit etc. I fear in a brand new suburb none of that would exist because everyone is wealthy and "from somewhere else".

/word vomit

When we moved back to the Des Moines area in 2015 we had a terrible time finding affordable housing in the Des Moines metro. Things in the price range we wanted were completely junk. Nicer homes were way out of our price range or in nieghborhoods we didn't want. That's the reason we expanded our search and jumped at the first house we found in a burb. It was affordable and next door to a school. Not the type of house we wanted but we had to make concessions. Renting wasn't an option either because the rentals I found were twice the monthly payment of a purchase.

 

[BringBackJohnny]

+1 vote for Beaverdale Waveland Park area. Pleasing to the eye, nice trees, good organized neighborhood activities, and affordable.

 

[capitalcityguy]

Again on the neighborhood thing, and it seems like we go through this every year - I live in Ankeny in the prairie trail area. I live across the street from a park. My kids have been spending probably 3-5 hours a day outside at that park since it got nice. If I go out to eat, it's probably somewhere at the prairie trail district. I honestly don't do much outside of a 500 yard area from my house. I go downtown about as much as I did when I lived in Ames. You just have to find an area that works for you, and stereotyping entire cities seems a little bizarre.

If I moved to Ankeny, PT would probably be one of the few neighborhoods I'd consider. You pay a premium because this is generally the type of neighborhood most say they want to live in, but unfortunately most developments are done in a more suburban style, so supply is not there to meet demand....and thus housing is more expensive here.

 

[mustangcy]

I've got 7 years until I'm an empty nester (living in SE Iowa small town) and Bondurant seems like the place I'll seriously look into if we decide to move back up to central Iowa. A stones throw from Ankeny and quick shot to Ames, a lot of good lot sizes and you can get a a very nice house for 300K.