Buying a New House

How School Districts Affect Home Value

Depending on the state you live in, school taxes, which all homeowners have to pay, may be  directly related to the value of the home. Homes located within more desirable districts tend to have a higher value than comparable homes in other districts.  Before you put in an offer, let’s take a look at the relationship between school districts and home values and what you need to consider.

School District and Home Values

Better performing school districts are often surrounded by higher valued homes.  There is no way to definitively determine whether the houses are more expensive because of the performance of the school district, or that more affluent families can afford these houses and seek to live in better school districts.  The schools’ performance may be due to families with higher education who encourage high performance from their children. The more money and education a community’s residents have, the higher performing the school district.

Researching Districts

If a great school district is what you’re looking for when considering your next home, make sure to do the research.  Education records for public schools is public record. You can find out the teacher salaries, demographics of the schools, student test scores, rankings, and how many students are receiving free lunch. Schools with a higher teacher to student ratio and with higher percentages of students on free lunch programs tend to perform worse than districts with lower numbers.  

When a district is doing well, home values tend to increase.  More people want to live in these neighborhoods and the demand drives the price of the properties up.  With increased values, taxes increase, and many families can no longer afford to consider purchasing one of these homes.  When you’re searching for a home to buy, make sure you take a look at the school district. Even if you don’t have children, the performance of the schools in the Maryland location, Virginia location, and Washington DC location will affect you as a homeowner.

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Buying a New House

Pros and Cons of Buying a New Home

If you are looking to sell your house fast for cash in Maryland and move, you will need to decide whether you want to buy a new house build or a previously occupied house. Here are some pros and cons:

Arguably the best part of buying a new home is the fact you are starting with a clean slate. No one has put their personal stamp on the home, and it really is a blank canvas for you to paint and enjoy. The home will reflect your personality and taste in no time. If you are buying before it is finished, you also have the opportunity to customize everything.

With a new build there is no waiting around for anyone else to finish dealings (e.g. title and loan issues) with their property so proceedings can move a lot faster. This can be countered however by any building works that take longer than expected.

A con with new builds is resale value. Often times comps haven’t been established so resale value is somewhat unknown.

Most new build are now fitted with new products and finishings. New products especially appliances are safer, last longer, and are more energy efficient.

Most new build properties come with warranties for around 10 years. This is something unique to new builds and really does remove the potential headache that comes with the uncertainty of buying an older property.

The neighborhood is also something you can get more knowledge of in an older property. There is more information available about the standard of the surrounding area. Sometimes with new builds you are not sure on the reputation of the area for years. Schools in the area are often new so it can take time to find out how well they perform also.

The biggest con for new builds is price. New houses cost much more than older ones. Also, closing costs can be substantially higher.

Hopefully this information helps you make the best decision. If you need to sell your house fast for cash, let 8 Day Home Sale help.

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