How to Evaluate School Districts When Buying a New Home

Picking the right school for your children before moving (or after moving) into a new neighborhood is crucial. Considering your children’s education and success in life starts by picking the best school district possible. 

Before you start looking for a home to move in, finding the best school district is a priority as well. It is also important that you know how to evaluate the school you would like to enroll your children in before taking a leap.

How Important Is It to Find a Good School District?

Reports in National Association of Realtors Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, 25% of the results state that the quality of the school is one of the main factors when it comes to buying a home. This means that a good school can increase the property value and may be more in demand than in unfavorable areas. It could also mean that places and areas with good districts will be more in demand in the future. 

Of course, it is important to consider the homes you want to buy in these areas but it you must also be clear on the terms of your budget as well as other important things for your family. Are you willing to compromise in order to enroll your child in a good school? For example, are you willing to live in a small house just so you can avail a better school district? Or are you willing to live far from work just so your child can attend it?

Think also of the type of education, activities and special programs that you would like your child to participate in. After care programs as well as the ideal student to teacher ratio as well as quality of lunch that the school serves is also something you should consider about. All these factors are very helpful so your child or children can thrive in your new neighborhood. 

How to Find a Good School District in Your Area?

So how can you find a good school district in your area? There are a few things that needs to consider when it comes to checking the best schools before buying a property within the area of your choice. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Make a Checklist of the Qualities That Are Important for Your Child’s Education 

Think of the values that matters to your child’s education. As you already know, school is your child’s second home and so you must be clear about your expectations and preferences. Do you know your child’s talents and skills? Do you want a school that caters to such talent? How important is sports to your child? Do you want them to have extracurricular activities? – questions like these can definitely help your search in terms of school. It will also help narrow your searches and perhaps even lead you to the best school district in town. 

2. Online Research Can Make a Big Difference 

These days nothing is impossible online. In fact, you can search for the right school within just a few clicks. This is because most schools nowadays have their own website and all information needed by parents and guardians are available to be viewed. So if you are eager to find a good school district for your child or children, take time and read information on different schools within the area you wish to move into. Familiarize yourself with everything that they have to offer like standardized test scores, rates of students attending higher education, curriculum offered, awards and certifications of the schools, educational attainment of teachers and the likes. Once you are familiar with this, you can then select the best ones that fit your category and standard of education.

3. Your Local Real Estate Agent Can Actually Help

If you are not entirely familiar about searching for schools online, you can also ask your real estate agent in the area that you are looking into. They can provide you with a list of schools and recommended ones that you should check out. Agents who know the area well can point you to the school districts that are top quality and even give you opinions about them. You can then weigh your pros and cons on their recommendations. 

4. Ask Your Inner Circle or Network of Friends

One of the best people to ask about good school districts are your friends and family. They may have the knowledge about a particular school or area where a good one is. You can reach out to these people and ask their advise. Utilizing your social media can also work, for example, ask your friends on Facebook if they can recommend a good school within the area that you wish to purchase a house. If your friends don’t know any school, you can always ask a trusted community group or pages about it, particularly one in the area you want to buy a house in. All in all, asking around won’t hurt, so why not give it a try?

5. Ask Parents Who Have Children in the School System

Researching a good school district is great but first hand experience is always the best. If you know anyone who’s child or children are enrolled there, you can ask them about their experience as a parent in the school. Talking to parents can give you better perspective on what to expect. This way you know if enrolling there is worth it or not.

6. School Visitation Is the Key

If you are really determined to find out if the school is worth enrolling in or not, there’s one last thing to find out – visit it in person. This may sound overboard but finding a good school district is not only good for your children but your house value as well. Having a good school within your neighborhood can definitely increase your resale value in the future. So what you need to do is to see it for yourself. If you have narrowed down your top choices, go ahead and visit them. Say you have top three of the best schools, all you need to do is to schedule a visit and see how kids interact, how a class performs, food at the cafeteria (if you’re particular with what your child eats) or how the school operates in general. This will give you better idea on how things work as well as the feel of the school’s entire culture. 

Final Thought

If your child’s education is as important as finding a home then you must do your homework. Research, call the school and talk to people so you know how things go. With all the readily available information online and offline, you will not miss the chance of finding the best one out there. Good luck!