School Situation and FIRE

[NoMoWork]

Happy Friday to all.  My wife and I have been planning for a 2030 FIRE date, but recent "disappointment" at work has me thinking about moving this up significantly.  My parents happen to own a small amount of acreage / farmland that they are not using and will eventually be passed on to us.  I was never really considering this as a place to build a homestead, etc. due to following reason... it's in the middle of NOWHERE with horrible schools (per online rating systems).  Our kids are quite young and so this won't be a problem for a few years, but certainly a major issue as they get older.  I was wondering if any of you have had a similar situation and what did you do?  "Free" land with a place to build a house in crappy location with horrible schools?  How did you ensure you weren't impacting your kids' education?  Home schooling?  Stay strong at work to get to the ideal location with great schools?  Thanks!

[SoBurntImCharred]

More importantly, is rural life something that you desire for your family, or is this simply an option to eject out of your current work situation at maximum speed? If it's the latter and rural life doesn't have strong appeal outside of the perceived low buy-in, I'd spend some time examining the root causes of your discontent and look for easier solutions than moving. If you truly value rural life for your family, homeschooling is likely to be a viable alternative.

[TheFrenchCat]

Agreed that I'd be cautious about moving rural if you aren't in love with the idea.  Plus there are other costs, like increased gas and auto costs, that may eat up the savings of free land. 

We're in a slightly similar situation, except we had to buy a plot of land.  We decided to move to the same street as a lot of my husband's family in a pretty rural area.  The local school is terrible, so we're sending our daughter to the local Catholic school and others in the family have homeschooled, although more for religious reasons.  I don't think I could handle homeschooling, but that's me.   But being close to so much family that we get along splendidly with is worth it for us.  Otherwise, we'd have bought a cheap house in the good school district.  I wouldn't have moved somewhere rural without people around, and we live on a lake so when it's warm we have quite a few neighbors.

[terran]

Are schools the only reason this location is crappy? If not, then don't build a house there even if you can figure out a solution to the school thing. Building is expensive, so make sure you want to live someplace before doing it.

[AMandM]

Homeschooling is definitely an option. On a practical level, nowadays there are tons and tons of resources easily available for pretty much any approach to homeschooling, vastly more than ~20 years ago when we started. The time spent together makes for strong family bonds, both among the kids and between parents and kids.

Speaking as a homeschooler, the middle of nowhere can be a plus and a minus for homeschooling. Rural life offers opportunities that are much less accessible to (sub)urbanites: agriculture, animal husbandry, large-scale building/craft projects, homesteading skills, etc.  On the minus side, other opportunities may be non-existent or may require lots of driving: libraries, music lessons, homeschool co-ops, sports (formal teams or general activities like swimming or skating), community theater, mentors for various interests.

So don't rule rural life out on educational grounds, but as others have said, I'd still only choose it if I wanted the benefits of rural life.

[Metalcat]

Is this land where you want to live?

I mean, building a house really isn't cheap, I just helped my mom price it out. It can be even more expensive out in the middle of nowhere.

If the point is to lower your housing costs, there are a ton of LCOL places you could move to. I don't see how some free land dramatically changes your ability to retire.

So really, is that building on that land has always been a dream, or is the fact that the land is free giving you tunnel vision?

As for the school, it depends on why it's poorly rated. I don't know how your systems work or what the basis of the ratings are. Figure out if it's the kind of place where a bright kid with a supportive family and adequate home supports would thrive. If so, it may be a non issue. If it's the kind of place where the kids feel unsafe and the gym teacher also sells meth, then yeah, maybe don't send your kid there.

Overall, none of your post at this point is sounding like "dream building", it's all sounding very reactive.
I can't tell if a rural homestead on this family land is a lifelong dream, or if maybe you could just benefit from a vacation and a new job. Its impossible to tell.

[partgypsy]

As others said don't just think of your kids, but you and your spouse. Are there amenities (libraries, museums, restaurants, restaurants etc) not in that area that would impact your quality of life? Would you have a neighborhood, community of like minded people or would you feel isolated?

[tipster350]

I don't think it's a good idea to box yourself in at this point in life. If you build a house and hate it there, you'll be in a difficult position. It would be better to wait it out a little longer to build the stash and give yourself more choices for the long term.

[calimom]

A "free" lot in the middle of nowhere doesn't sound all that appealing. My kids' education is very important to me, and I've always felt that it's best left in the hands of well trained professionals, with me filling in the things I know about and have can successfully relate to them.

You likely have a lot of other options before making such a rash move. You're  disappointed at work  - is it your particular job? Industry? What other courses of action can you take? Switching jobs or careers? What about your spouse; are they working now, or can they pick up the slack for a bit?

What if you make such a bold move and end up hating that and have no opportunities for work or social/cultural outlets? What then?

[maisymouser]

A "free" lot in the middle of nowhere doesn't sound all that appealing. My kids' education is very important to me, and I've always felt that it's best left in the hands of well trained professionals, with me filling in the things I know about and have can successfully relate to them.

You likely have a lot of other options before making such a rash move. You're  disappointed at work  - is it your particular job? Industry? What other courses of action can you take? Switching jobs or careers? What about your spouse; are they working now, or can they pick up the slack for a bit?

What if you make such a bold move and end up hating that and have no opportunities for work or social/cultural outlets? What then?

Agree with all of what has been said so far. When I look at your situation, I see it equally risky that you build/invest in that property then dislike it for the long-term and end up making another big move somewhere. I only moved once as a kid (I was a 10-year-old) and switching schools was REALLY hard for me and threw me into a 2-year-depression. Based on my own personal experience I feel strongly that wherever we end up sending our 2yo to school will be where we need to stay until he's graduated from high school.

[ericrugiero]

Like others have said, does your family want to live in this area?  If not, don't waste your time.  If so, you can certainly figure out a way to get your kids a good education. 

Homeschooling is a great option if you can find the kind of local support you need.  There are many homeschool communities that provide support for the parents and friends for the kids.  Many of the homeschooling communities are Christian based but you can find some that aren't.  Investigate the area you could be moving to and see what's available.  We love the Classical Conversations group (there are many groups nationwide) but it won't be a good fit if you aren't Christians. 

Private schools are an option if there are any in the area. 

A mediocre public school can still provide a good education if the parents are engaged and supportive. 

[waltworks]

There are a ton of dying ag towns in the midwest where you can essentially have land/houses for free. No need to limit yourself to this particular land.

That said, there is no way in hell I would do it unless you/your spouse/your kids love isolation. Might be good to go live in one of these types of places for a year to see, if you can work remote or something.

-W

[SimpleCycle]

Definitely think about what kind of lifestyle you want for you and your family, and how this potential move fits into that.  Do you want to live on a homestead in the middle of nowhere?  What kind of social and leisure activities do you want available for your kids and for you and your spouse?

We've been homeschooling this year due to the pandemic, and I think it's a viable option, but it is difficult socially.  And we spend A LOT of time together as a family, which is good for us, but it really depends on your temperament.

[9patch]

Hi! I ended up moving due to school district, right before our son started kindergarden. The price per square foot doubled, so we more than half sized our house. But we're super happy in our new neighborhood, and our son is 11 now. I would just try to imagine your child's whole schooling experience. Do you see them belonging to school teams? How about your own lifestyle? Do you enjoy being in a nicer city, with access to concerts, museums, etc? Do you prefer the homesteading lifestyle? I know it's hard to see into the future, but just try to picture your perfect life, and what type of place you would live in.

[ambimammular]

You can always drive to the nearest large city for your museum/concert experiences. We live an hour from Indy and get as much culture as needed, while living in a tiny town with low housing costs and 5 minute commutes to everywhere in town. More important for having pre-school-aged children is a lovely and active children's area in your library. Ours had activities M-F for all different age cohorts. The librarians knew every child and parent by name.

That said. I would never build unless that was your dream/retirement location. You'd never recoup the cost if you sell.

Ericrugiero was right. Parental involvment is more a more powerful predictor of outcomes than school districts.  https://www.educationnext.org/how-family-background-influences-student-achievement/

[Metalcat]

I wonder if OP is going to return and discuss this any further. I'm really curious.

[funobtainium]

A "free" lot in the middle of nowhere doesn't sound all that appealing. My kids' education is very important to me, and I've always felt that it's best left in the hands of well trained professionals, with me filling in the things I know about and have can successfully relate to them.

You likely have a lot of other options before making such a rash move. You're  disappointed at work  - is it your particular job? Industry? What other courses of action can you take? Switching jobs or careers? What about your spouse; are they working now, or can they pick up the slack for a bit?

What if you make such a bold move and end up hating that and have no opportunities for work or social/cultural outlets? What then?

Agree with all of what has been said so far. When I look at your situation, I see it equally risky that you build/invest in that property then dislike it for the long-term and end up making another big move somewhere. I only moved once as a kid (I was a 10-year-old) and switching schools was REALLY hard for me and threw me into a 2-year-depression. Based on my own personal experience I feel strongly that wherever we end up sending our 2yo to school will be where we need to stay until he's graduated from high school.

On the other hand, I moved a lot as a kid and I loved it -- three different schools in 5th grade. I liked making new friends and at any rate, my hobbies were reading and decorating/moving furniture around, so I really didn't mind. (I went to interior design school later.)

[NoMoWork]

Thanks all for the feedback.  It's been a week since my post and I have come back to reality.  We did do a pros/cons exercise, which helped us conclude that while the land option is tempting there are just too many unknowns at this point to lock down a location (in line with a lot of your comments!).  So many thanks to you all for helping me through the five stages of grief.  I am networking a bit and testing the market to find another opportunity... Back to focusing on 2030!