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Old 12-03-2017, 09:41 PM
 
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My wife and I don't know have any kids at the moment. We are currently looking at different houses, and housing costs vary depending on the desirability of the school zone. How much consideration should be given to feeder schools when selecting a home as adults without children?
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Old 12-04-2017, 06:37 AM
 
11,230 posts, read 9,243,847 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by youngprodigy21 View Post
My wife and I don't know have any kids at the moment. We are currently looking at different houses, and housing costs vary depending on the desirability of the school zone. How much consideration should be given to feeder schools when selecting a home as adults without children?
It's going to be about resale. If you are young, as I deduce from "at the moment", you are likely to sell this house and move in the future. At that time, the better the schools your house is zoned to, the larger pool of buyers you will have. It's probably not possible to give any more specific advice without specific knowledge of the neghborhoods you are looking at, your budget, and so on - in other words, either your own personal knowledge of these factors, or that of a real estate agent, or the combination of both.
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Old 12-04-2017, 09:10 AM
 
Location: Texas
5,717 posts, read 18,849,306 times
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Today it means that the area is a desired area due to the schools. Ten years from now, that may not be the case. I wouldn't pay a premium for the schools and not have kids that will be able to take advantage of it. Home values are subject to politics and can be just as screwed up as politics when it comes to future values. Buy what you want and where you want today. I wouldn't put a lot of value on schools since you don't have kids. What are good schools today may be tomorrows gang training centers in less than 5 years. I've seen that happen several times.
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Old 12-04-2017, 04:14 PM
 
Location: Kansas City North
6,810 posts, read 11,472,231 times
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Check out the tax levy for the districts you are considering, that will directly affect your property taxes. If one district has a lot of new construction (and/or vacant land for residential construction) consider that new schools will be needed down the line. That usually means a levy increase. I have no chikdren. My theory is to stay away from districts where a buyer is going to say, “no way will I buy in THAT district.” I don’t have to be in the BEST district. Above average is fine for me.
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Old 12-04-2017, 10:59 PM
 
Location: The Land Mass Between NOLA and Mobile, AL
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Think in terms of five-year plans. We don't have kids (I've got two fully grown steps, but another topic), so we bought what we wanted. The school district is rated about average, which is fine. YMMV, though.
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Old 12-05-2017, 09:40 AM
 
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I disagree that it is "just about resale". There are some fairly wide differences in the sorts of towns that have desirable schools and those that average or below. The sorts of people that move into the areas with desirable schools tend to stay there and develop deeper attachment to the community. That attachment translates into a variety of good qualities that have a positive impact on resident REGARDLESS OF AGE -- those positives include LOWER CRIME, better "neighborhood cohesion" (a fancy way of saying all the things that reflect people taking care of their own homes AS WELL AS holding the municipality accountable for things like sidewalks, road maintenance, rainwater managment, etc), the trend is also for areas with desirable schools to have developments that encourage a range of healthy lifestyles that include WALKABLE retail, nice parks, zoning that discourages drivethru fastfood,etc...

Of course the generalizations above are NOT universal, but I have seen these trends in several different areas in just about every part of the US. If these things are not yet factors in the OP's target area I suspect they will soon impact their housing market. Before I would "sign off" on an area where schools are not desirable I would recommend considering even smaller / older homes at about the same price in area with better schools as the longer term benefits are likely to see such areas continue to pull farther ahead of other areas.
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Old 12-05-2017, 12:48 PM
 
Location: Raleigh
13,661 posts, read 12,341,234 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TrapperL View Post
Today it means that the area is a desired area due to the schools. Ten years from now, that may not be the case. I wouldn't pay a premium for the schools and not have kids that will be able to take advantage of it. Home values are subject to politics and can be just as screwed up as politics when it comes to future values. Buy what you want and where you want today. I wouldn't put a lot of value on schools since you don't have kids. What are good schools today may be tomorrows gang training centers in less than 5 years. I've seen that happen several times.
Some of that depends on how much growth is in the area, and on what level are the schools managed (county or township, etc)
Quote:
Originally Posted by chet everett View Post
I disagree that it is "just about resale". There are some fairly wide differences in the sorts of towns that have desirable schools and those that average or below. The sorts of people that move into the areas with desirable schools tend to stay there and develop deeper attachment to the community. That attachment translates into a variety of good qualities that have a positive impact on resident REGARDLESS OF AGE -- those positives include LOWER CRIME, better "neighborhood cohesion" (a fancy way of saying all the things that reflect people taking care of their own homes AS WELL AS holding the municipality accountable for things like sidewalks, road maintenance, rainwater managment, etc), the trend is also for areas with desirable schools to have developments that encourage a range of healthy lifestyles that include WALKABLE retail, nice parks, zoning that discourages drivethru fastfood,etc...

Of course the generalizations above are NOT universal, but I have seen these trends in several different areas in just about every part of the US. If these things are not yet factors in the OP's target area I suspect they will soon impact their housing market. Before I would "sign off" on an area where schools are not desirable I would recommend considering even smaller / older homes at about the same price in area with better schools as the longer term benefits are likely to see such areas continue to pull farther ahead of other areas.
Chet, I don't disagree with you, but it really depends on the market. A Waukegan, IL compared to a Libertyville, IL or Cicero compared to Oak Park supports your argument.

However, in other parts of the country, there are more things that factor into it. Wake County, NC is a good example. The area is growing rapidly, they can hardly build schools fast enough, and the entire county is one district. While areas close to the major corporate employment centers have higher performing schools, and better property values, a teacher makes the same amount of money teaching in the county whether or not she's in the nicest neighborhoods or a ghetto. Often, the lower performing schools are more the result of a less highly educated population base. They are perfectly stable, safe, neighborhoods where folks look out for each other, but the fact is that when the neighborhood is CPA, Corporate Executive, Software Developer, Dentist, you have a higher emphasis on academics and more potential than a neighborhood of Police Officer, State Employee, Small Business Owner, HVAC contractor.

Furthermore, you need to consider if you're in an area of growth as opposed to a more "mature" market. If the area at large is growing, then its worth considering that things are likely to change by the time you have kids anyway, as the area will have to grow and build schools to accommodate the influx.

Also, there's a difference between borrowing trouble and buying in an area with bad schools, and buying in an area with schools that are "less good" but still avoid problems of rampant poverty, crime, and truly lack resources. My wife and I recently bought in the Raleigh area. We couldn't afford to buy in the area we wanted, where we had been renting. But, we bought a nice home in a very stable neighborhood, 12 minutes from DT Raleigh, in a neighborhood that doesn't have highly rated schools. If we found out we were expecting today, it would be 2024 before our kid would be going to school, and I highly doubt our school assignments will be the same then as they are now. A lot can happen in that time period.
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Old 12-05-2017, 01:41 PM
 
28,455 posts, read 85,157,040 times
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I have experience well beyond the Chicago metro. The trends I have seen go back decades, and are often more pronounced in areas experiencing rapid growth -- the "boom" areas on the out skirts of places like the greater Washington DC area or greater Dallas region have not seen as much price stability / appreciation as the most desirable established areas in those same metro regions. Even for folks shopping for the sorts of housing that is targeting those without kids, like townhomes and condos, one would almost certainly does better on resale in the areas with desirable schools and established neighborhoods, It very likely makes sense to consider getting a smaller older home (or townhouse / condo) in such an area and then considering a "move up" home in the same area over getting a larger newer home and then trying to buy into a more desirable school attendance area... For folks who "never plan to sell" the total equation has to be weighed with all taxes and such - it is rare (but not unheard of...) for some pricey / low crime / walkable areas to lack any desirable schools, but such areas are not really numerous enough to make up any "rule of thumb".

I would not recommend necessarily finding "the best" school district / attendance area, as I agree that those can change but it is very rare for a desirable area to fall far. The converse is also true -- the least desirable school districts rarely climb more than a notch or two out of the cellar, even with magnet schools / charter schools the performance gaps are hard to fill.

Of course the overall quality of life has to be a consideration too and if living close to work means that everyone in the family has better balance that certainly is factor that would suggest ruling out more desirable communities that result in longer commutes. There are certainly some areas where multiple desirable hubs, each with varying degrees of walkable retail and such, are laid out in concentric circles / along major diagonals. In those areas it may very well be an option to pick a town that "checks the most boxes" while avoiding the sorts of downsides that often go with the towns having the less desirable schools...
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Old 12-05-2017, 03:26 PM
 
Location: Raleigh
13,661 posts, read 12,341,234 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chet everett View Post
I have experience well beyond the Chicago metro. The trends I have seen go back decades, and are often more pronounced in areas experiencing rapid growth -- the "boom" areas on the out skirts of places like the greater Washington DC area or greater Dallas region have not seen as much price stability / appreciation as the most desirable established areas in those same metro regions. Even for folks shopping for the sorts of housing that is targeting those without kids, like townhomes and condos, one would almost certainly does better on resale in the areas with desirable schools and established neighborhoods, It very likely makes sense to consider getting a smaller older home (or townhouse / condo) in such an area and then considering a "move up" home in the same area over getting a larger newer home and then trying to buy into a more desirable school attendance area... For folks who "never plan to sell" the total equation has to be weighed with all taxes and such - it is rare (but not unheard of...) for some pricey / low crime / walkable areas to lack any desirable schools, but such areas are not really numerous enough to make up any "rule of thumb".

I would not recommend necessarily finding "the best" school district / attendance area, as I agree that those can change but it is very rare for a desirable area to fall far. The converse is also true -- the least desirable school districts rarely climb more than a notch or two out of the cellar, even with magnet schools / charter schools the performance gaps are hard to fill.

Of course the overall quality of life has to be a consideration too and if living close to work means that everyone in the family has better balance that certainly is factor that would suggest ruling out more desirable communities that result in longer commutes. There are certainly some areas where multiple desirable hubs, each with varying degrees of walkable retail and such, are laid out in concentric circles / along major diagonals. In those areas it may very well be an option to pick a town that "checks the most boxes" while avoiding the sorts of downsides that often go with the towns having the less desirable schools...
Good Points...

But there are a lot of people out there that will settle for nothing but the best schools, and if that means someone has a brutal commute or they live in a cracker box, so be it. That I don't get, unless its the bare minimum in the area to avoid really troubled schools.

I think Context invariably needs to be considered. At some point, one must consider diminishing returns, and if buying in a nicer neighborhood will get you what you want, and if the schools are that much better, how much does it improve your QOL. That's different for everyone.

I've been in very nice, expensive neighborhoods where I think, "I get it, this is nice, I want to live here." I actually lived as a renter in some of those neighborhoods for awhile, and wanted in the worst way to buy what I knew would be a real project, but every single home that came up that was affordable was snapped up by cash offers from flippers.

I've been in expensive neighborhoods where I think "you gotta be s**** me. Why would you pay that for ugly, 30-40 year old sprawl, except for the school district."
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Old 12-05-2017, 05:19 PM
 
Location: Home is Where You Park It
23,856 posts, read 13,686,526 times
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Another point to consider is that taxpayers who are able and willing to support decent schools are more likely to also support decent fire departments, decent police departments, decent libraries, decent parks... All of which also affect your personal quality of life as well as your resale value.

There may be exceptions, but it's hard for me to imagine that I would enjoy living in the kind of neighborhood that has crappy schools, a crappy fire department, a crappy police department, etc., etc.

Notice I say "decent", not "top-rated".
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