Three Reasons to Consider School Districts When Buying a Home
Planning to buy a new home? Making a relocation move to the area? When it comes time to considering the home you will purchase, there is oodles to consider. Buyers often list bedrooms, bathrooms, a main floor study, square footage, safety and price as concerns. But what about schools? The quality of the school district can distinctly impact your home’s value, even if you don’t have or never intend to have children.
Good school districts impact real estate values. Here are 3 suggestions to consider when buying your next home.
1. You’ll pay more to live in a good school district
Grade school to High school ratings have a big impact on home values. Parents know how important a good public school education can be to for the success of their children. School graduation rates, college acceptance rates and scores on standardized testing such as CSAP all play into what makes a school district stand out. Home buyers will frequently place a premium on better performing schools. Even if children are not in your future, good schools equal good home location. And Realtors can attest: real estate is all about location.
2. A good school district might protect you from the real estate market’s ups and downs
Markets can turn quickly. At the moment, we are in an up market, a Seller’s Market. This time last year, it was a buyer’s market. The safe bet in real estate is to select the best location. This way, up or down market, your value is insulated. One of the truest values of location: good schools. Parents consistently prefer top rated public schools to lesser school districts. Sometimes this can be as simple as being across the street. Having a home in the top rated school district can have a major impact on your home’s value. A good example of this would be in Indian Peaks. There is a perceived increase in value for homes west of 95th, which feed into Louisville schools versus those to the east, where the homes fall into Lafayette schools. Of course, both sides of the community are in Boulder Valley Schools – considered some of the best in the state of Colorado.
Even in a down market, an excellent school can be the rising tide that lifts all nearby home prices. There are two recent new construction communities in Denver that come to mind. Each offered great floor plans, new construction, parks, integrated green belts and easy access to major highways. One community offered new state of the art schools including a planned high school. The other fed into pre-existing schools and Montbello High School. Montbello is one of Denver’s less desirable high schools. The values in the two communities could not be more different. Home buyers consistently are willing to pay a much higher premium for better schools and education.
3. Though it may cost more to buy near a good school, it will be good for resale
I know – you haven’t even bought the house and I’m talking about resale. Before you buy is the time to think about what happens when you sell. The best houses are in neighborhoods where you can turn around and sell fast. Houses in neighborhoods will great schools are always in demand.