The challenge of buying for schools

[Anonymous]

Has anyone else run into the following problem? We are currently house hunting and better schools are a top priority as we have young elementary kids and are currently very dissatisfied with our school options.

So we're mostly searching based on school boundaries. The problem is that we don't like the houses IB for these schools. It's not a price thing because we can well afford a good chunk of the homes within boundary. It's just we don't like what's there. And the issue isn't stuff like not big enough, or we want updated kitchens/baths. We are fine with a fixer-upper and have a pretty small family so flexible on space. It's more like the houses in boundary are ugly, if they are renovated their renovations are ugly, they have no charm.

I think part of the problem is that we are targeting some suburbs that have good housing stock situated around the historical town center of the suburb, and those homes feed into the least well-regarded school in the suburb, because it has the most economic diversity. And then the schools that people seem to like better are further out, with less economic diversity but also newer housing stock, which in this case means a lot of hideous homes built in the 80s and 90s, as well as massive new builds with some questionable design choices (charmless and, honestly, more house than we want).

We'd love a smaller older home closer to the town center, but then struggle to find anyone with good things to say about the schools (even among current families who would be motivated to praise). And since we're moving for schools as a primary motivator, this is a problem.

I feel like we're going to wind up in a home I really don't love just to get access to a school pyramid we're happy with, and then we'll just move as soon as the kids are done with high school so we can live in a house we actually like.

Does anyone else have this problem? Why is it so hard to find a house we love that is within a boundary for a school we love too?

[Anonymous]

It's the #1 most complained about challenge on this fourm when it comes to house hunting in the area

[Anonymous]

A lot of the older homes in better schools were modified on the cheap for the prior owners to stay put. Neighborhood over house.

If you don't have that mindset, the neighborhood might not be for you.

[Anonymous]

Posters obsess way, way too much about schools.

[Anonymous]

What is so ugly about the houses? Step back from your own biases and consider what you can make of one. And I don't believe for a second you can't find at least one that you would like.

[Anonymous]

Can you post an example of a house you do like?

[Anonymous]

Why do you need to love your house?

[Anonymous]

Tell me you are looking at homes that fall within Fall Church City school boundaries without telling me you are looking at houses that fall between Falls Church City school’s boundaries

[Anonymous]

YES. We bought a charming house in a cute neighborhood, in a very good school cluster, with the shortest commuting distance to spouse’s work, in a suburb town we like and a metro station close by.

All these reasons, taken together, weighed more than buying a fugly house further out in a car-dependent neighborhood to get into THE BEST school clusters.

I hope you can find a balance, OP.

[Anonymous]

There's usually some compromises that are needed, when buying a home.

IMHO, the neighborhood is more important than the house itself.

If you need both the perfect neighborhood and the perfect house, then could you not buy a house, tear it down, and build your perfect house?

When you see the houses that you consider hideous, it's likely that the family living there made some compromises, in order to live in that neighborhood. (It's not that they just have bad taste in design.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do you need to love your house?

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Posters obsess way, way too much about schools.

+1

[Anonymous]

This is why private schools exist.

[Anonymous]

Sounds to me like OP has been looking for a house in AU Park.

[Anonymous]

We bought a 1920s bungalow in what some would consider a less than desirable school district. We have been super happy with the schools and our children are thriving academically. Our school test scores are lower due to a greater proportion of non English speaking students. It doesn't mean that the education my children are getting is subpar. As an added bonus, we are in an area where most of what we need is walkable.