Better School, Better Payout
Posted by RE-Insider • Categorized as Industry News
Any good parent wants their child to attend the best school possible, but when it comes to finding a home in a top school district, how much more are buyers willing to pay? A recent study performed by Redfin suggests that many parents are willing to shell out even more than you might think. If you’re trying to sell a home and want to get the most for it, you might want to consider “selling” the school first.
Schools have always played an important role in the buying and selling of real estate. More recently though, premiums for homes served by top-ranked schools have been going up, indicating that buyers place remarkable importance on the quality of schools when buying a house.
Redfin reported that on average, buyers will pay about $50 more per square foot for properties served by top-ranked schools than those served by average schools. Even within the same neighborhood, buyers are willing to pay much more for a home served by a top-ranked school than for a similar home served by an average school. Nearly identical homes – only a short distance apart – have been found to sell for significantly different prices, some for as much as $130,000 more.
This comes as no surprise though, considering the numbers which realtor.com recently released from a survey examining how school attendance boundaries influenced buyers in choosing a new home. The report stated that almost 60% of buyers are willing to go over their budget to live by the right school, and 9% of them are willing to go over budget by 11 to 20 percent.
Not accounting for home size, California has seen some of the highest premiums for top-ranked schools. San Jose, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Ventura, and San Diego have seen the highest price premiums in the nation respectively. Some buyers have been reported paying premiums of over $200,000 or more in these areas, for schools which score only slightly higher than others in the same district.
Have you seen these major discrepancies in prices for similar homes served by different schools? What are your thoughts?
Read the full story here… http://www.inman.com/2013/09/25/homes-served-by-top-schools-command-drastically-high-premiums/
