Another Survey Highlights the Importance of Schools in the Home Buying Process

• Half of Americans with children say that the quality of the school district is important when shopping for a home, compared with only about 10 percent of those without kids.
• More than one-quarter of home buyers who have kids delayed a real estate purchase because of child-care expenses.
• Regardless of whether they have children, 87 percent of all home buyers employed the services of a real estate professional.

Survey results released earlier this summer showed that nearly 80 percent of recent home buyers sacrificed some amenities to purchase a property in their desired school district, and now another poll echoes the importance of education in the real estate decision-making process.

The National Association of  REALTORS®’ 2018 Moving With Kids Report found that 50 percent of home buyers with children under the age of 18 said that the quality of the school district was important when shopping for a home, compared with just 11 percent of those without kids. Similarly, 45 percent of families prioritized convenience to schools when purchasing a home, while only 6 percent of childless buyers did the same.

Perhaps because of school schedules, buyers with children showed more urgency than those without when selling their current home. More than one-quarter of families said that they were in a rush to unload their home, compared with 14 percent of homeowners without children.

Both buyers with and without children prefer detached, single-family residences, but the former group predictably wants more room than the latter — four bedrooms and 2,100 square feet of living space. In fact, the need for more space was the biggest reason that families said they sold their homes, cited by 24 percent of those surveyed.

Click here to read more