Education as crucial as location for buyers

Published 9:00 pm Saturday, October 25, 2003

Q We are preparing to buy our first house. We have two young children who will be in school soon, and we know it’s important to buy a home in a good school district, especially after watching the news about the school strike in Marysville. What is the best way to find a good neighborhood with a good school district? – B.H., Everett

A Everyone has heard the old cliche about the three most important factors in real estate: “Location, location and location.” One of the reasons for that is because the location of the home determines which schools your children will attend, and most parents want to get their children into the best schools possible.

Homes located in the top school districts are highly desirable. The demand for these homes causes them to appreciate faster and hold their value better than similar homes in less desirable school districts.

There are a number of ways to evaluate school districts. Here are a couple of suggestions.

If you haven’t yet narrowed your home search to a specific school district or school, check out the test scores for each school to see how they stack up against one another.

This used to be a very time-consuming process, but now you can now easily search and compare school test scores on the Internet at http://reportcard.ospi.k12.wa.us.

This new Washington State School Report Card Internet site set up by the Office of the Superintendent’s of Public Instruction is a fantastic resource. It provides Washington Assessment of Student Learning, or WASL, test scores for every school in the state, with a tool to easily compare test scores of different schools. It also provides teacher and demographic information about each school.

This is a major improvement over the online information that was available even last year.

My compliments to the state for putting together such a useful resource for parents and home buyers.

In addition to crunching the numbers, it’s a good idea to go look at the schools yourself. Talk to the teachers and ask to sit in on their classes. Get a feel for how the school operates on a daily basis. Check out the textbooks used. Some may be outdated, some may contain political viewpoints you disagree with, and some may be just plain inadequate.

Ask about the philosophy of the principal and teachers. What are their policies regarding homework and discipline in the classroom? Some schools believe in giving students lots of homework, while others give almost no homework at all.

Most importantly, talk to parents who are sending their children to the school you’re interested in. Teachers and principals may try to paint a rosy picture, but parents who have direct involvement in the school through their children are more likely to give you the real story, warts and all.

Finally, contact local PTSA members in the neighborhoods in which you are shopping for a home.

Mail your real estate questions to Steve Tytler, The Herald, P.O. Box 930, Everett, WA 98206. Fax questions to Tytler at 425-339-3435, or e-mail him at economy@heraldnet.com.