With homeowners staying longer in their home, and expected buyers planning for longevity, many are coming back to basics – location. Among them, accessibility to transportation, neighborhood walkability and area schools are among the most important. For families, schools are extremely vital factor as they can influence choice of residence/neighborhood to live. If they have young kids, that could be anywhere from six to ten years, depending on preschool/kindergarten or 7th/8th grade is part of or separated junior high.
Previously, with home values rising so quickly, families had more options available to them if they weren’t able to get into their primary choices. However, with the current real estate market, homeowners sometimes aren’t able to move or support multiple mortgages in addition to school costs.
With additional economic concerns on the mindset of many education costs are being considered very carefully. Private schools can become costly, and with cost of living and economic uncertainties on the minds of many families, many key areas with established schools, charter and magnet schools nearby are becoming very desirable. Lincoln Park, a popular Chicago northside neighborhood sees demand stemming from not only accessibility, vicinity to lake and neighborhood amenities, but also from schools located within it’s neighborhood.
Charter schools are public schools that operate with freedom from many of the local and state regulations that apply to traditional public schools. Although the local school district approves the charter school, these public schools are self-managed, thus they sometimes offer some advantages that private schools do, but without the cost, an extremely important factor for many families today.
With growing demand of specific school districts, many home buyers and owners within school districts are seeing stabilization or even small growth as current owners have delayed potential sales. Rental rates have even surged in Class A areas, due to increased demand.
The President proclaimed May 1-7, 2011, as Charters School Week to recognize those institutions and renew the nation’s commitment to its children’s education.
Sherwin is a REALTOR® in the Chicago & Suburban area with @properties. Questions can be forwarded to Sherwin Sucaldito. Originally posted at Realty Evolved
Sherwin L. Sucaldito, REALTOR®, GREEN, ABR, CRPM
@properties
The Institute of Luxury Home Marketing
Green REsource Council, GREEN
Accredited Buyer’s Representative , ABR
Certified Residential Property Manager, CRPM
” Chasing Charters ” by Sherwin Sucaldito is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Photo by Pink Sherbet Photography and published with a CC Attribution License.