Do Your Homework, Then Visit the Principal

Mary Ellen Slayter:

For families with children, the quality of local schools is often a key factor in deciding which house to buy.

Buyers trying to determine if the schools in a neighborhood will meet their needs can find plenty of data on the Internet about standardized tests, but they shouldn't neglect the value of visits to the schools and old-fashioned word of mouth, real estate agents and education experts say.

If you're working with an agent, don't expect him to judge the schools for you.

"When my clients begin to ask questions about the quality of the school system, I try to be careful with labeling schools as 'good' or 'bad' that could be construed as code words to discourage certain groups of people from buying a home in a particular neighborhood, which is a violation of the Fair Housing Act," said Thomas Minetree, a real estate agent in Weichert's Gainesville office.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at April 8, 2008 1:33 AM
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