Anonymous wrote:Unchanged here in the Richard Montgomery HS cluster

But RMHS may look differently after the boundary change, which may or may not impact your house value.

-RMHS cluster resident

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, school zoning within a school district plays a major role in the decision making for some buyers. Some. But overall, less than you think. Your perceptions are skewed because YOU care and the people you associate with care, but many don't. There is no data showing, for example, that a truly identical houses sitting very close to each other but in different school zones in Montgomery County are worth substantially different. Yes, this may be the case with identical houses situated miles and miles from each other, sure -- but that's the location effect, not the school zone effect.

DCUM tends to forget that not everything is about schools.

If Option 3 were to be approved, you better believe that the property values in Old Farm and North Farm would plummet. I think it would be difficult to even sell a house in those neighborhoods. There is a difference between a school like Einstein vs. Kennedy (and being bused across across the county on top of that).

Only in your mind.

Anonymous wrote:Yes, school zoning within a school district plays a major role in the decision making for some buyers. Some. But overall, less than you think. Your perceptions are skewed because YOU care and the people you associate with care, but many don't. There is no data showing, for example, that a truly identical houses sitting very close to each other but in different school zones in Montgomery County are worth substantially different. Yes, this may be the case with identical houses situated miles and miles from each other, sure -- but that's the location effect, not the school zone effect.

DCUM tends to forget that not everything is about schools.

You can look at king farm as example.

Anonymous wrote:Yes, school zoning within a school district plays a major role in the decision making for some buyers. Some. But overall, less than you think. Your perceptions are skewed because YOU care and the people you associate with care, but many don't. There is no data showing, for example, that a truly identical houses sitting very close to each other but in different school zones in Montgomery County are worth substantially different. Yes, this may be the case with identical houses situated miles and miles from each other, sure -- but that's the location effect, not the school zone effect.

DCUM tends to forget that not everything is about schools.

If Option 3 were to be approved, you better believe that the property values in Old Farm and North Farm would plummet. I think it would be difficult to even sell a house in those neighborhoods. There is a difference between a school like Einstein vs. Kennedy (and being bused across across the county on top of that).

Anonymous wrote:When are any changes supposed to be confirmed and implemented?

Confirmed: March 2026
Implemented: starting August 2027 and in successive school years

When are any changes supposed to be confirmed and implemented?

All 4 options keep us zoned to Einstein (with varying middle school options), so I guess things can only go up for us if this changes…

Anonymous wrote:Yes, school zoning within a school district plays a major role in the decision making for some buyers. Some. But overall, less than you think. Your perceptions are skewed because YOU care and the people you associate with care, but many don't. There is no data showing, for example, that a truly identical houses sitting very close to each other but in different school zones in Montgomery County are worth substantially different. Yes, this may be the case with identical houses situated miles and miles from each other, sure -- but that's the location effect, not the school zone effect.

DCUM tends to forget that not everything is about schools.

+1 I think there is a school effect but it is typically much smaller than folks think. King Farm is a good example because there are lots of similar houses that are zoned for either RM or Gaithersburg HS that are close to each other. You can compare very similar townhouses or SFHs.

Yes, school zoning within a school district plays a major role in the decision making for some buyers. Some. But overall, less than you think. Your perceptions are skewed because YOU care and the people you associate with care, but many don't. There is no data showing, for example, that a truly identical houses sitting very close to each other but in different school zones in Montgomery County are worth substantially different. Yes, this may be the case with identical houses situated miles and miles from each other, sure -- but that's the location effect, not the school zone effect.

DCUM tends to forget that not everything is about schools.

Anonymous wrote:My neighborhood stays at the same ES/MS/HS under all the options. You could focus on those

These aren't the final options. Don't get too confident.

Anonymous wrote:We are Wootton and getting rezoned in Crown. We will take a huge hit.

100%

Anonymous wrote:You might have to wait forever.

lol

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Anonymous wrote:Y'all are overestimating the impact of school zoning.

Nah, similar houses in WJ and Einstein -- A few streets apart. You can see the difference in price.

The difference is the houses not school. Plenty of million dollar houses across the tracks now that have been redone.

I don't have kids in school anymore, but I am in RM cluster. Plenty of million dollars homes here as well, but it's not hard to see that there is a premium for Wootton and then a bit of premium for Churchill over Wootton. Whitman goes for around 10% premium comapred to WJ for similar houses.

I am not familiar with Einstein to comment but I will be shocked to see that there is no difference in prices for WJ and Einstein. Outsized number of buyers buy for schools and it ends up impacting the price.

Prepare to be shocked:
https://www.redfin.com/MD/Kensington/3817-Lawrence-Ave-20895/home/10991934 - zoned for Einstein, sold for $1.13 million
https://www.redfin.com/MD/Garrett-Park/11007-Kenilworth-Ave-20896/home/10501900 - zoned for WJ, sold for $1.13 million

Houses look way different in finish and size. Just a quick look. House size is different as well.

I can find many examples like this to show that there is no premium of Whitman over WJ or Wootton over RM, but I know for fact that there is premium. Some close friends have bought it recently in this area and that was their experience. We saw the same when we were buying.

Previous PP is correct. Schools do make difference because very large number of fmailies are buying for schools. Not the only factor, plays a big part.

When everything else is equal, it's illogical to think that school won't make a difference. In case of chaging boundaries, eeverything else will be equal except schools.

It's impossible to find two identical houses in each zone with similar lots etc. But in Einstein you will be hard pressed to find a house of 4k sq ft ish built after 2000 that is less than $1 million. You see a ton of $2 million homes zoned for WJ, and these are enormous brand new construction homes.

Here is another SFH in Kensington, right near the shops that sold recently zoned for WJ. Sale price $785k. 2k sq ft.
https://redf.in/q1JbH2
Many SFH of this size zoned for Einstein are selling for $700-$800k. Like this one in a less central location. https://redf.in/ecoGbq

The ones that sell for less than this are 1500 sq ft and have one bathroom.

Real estate is very local. There is a lot of demand for houses zoned for Einstein and you will be disappointed if you are looking to save a ton of money buying here.

Posters are talking about the Woodward boundary study like Option 3 is the only option. Option 1, 2, and 3 won’t negatively impact homes currently zoned for WJ, BCC, and Whitman in any measurable sense.

You forget that politicians are reliant on large donors and do not like scandal / political pressure. I’m sure all the donors and UMC parents in BCC, WJ, and Whitman are expressing their displeasure with Option 3 and letting it be known. The last thing Montgomery County needs is to give more reasons for their UMC tax base to flee to VA and to usher in a plan like Option 3 that will erode the property taxes they collect. Add onto that that Option 3 will cost a lot more with bussing, which also has adverse environmental impacts.