Anonymous wrote:Chevy Chase $925k, renovated >1900 square feet
http://frankly.com/DC8235088

$920k, renovated >1900 sq feet
http://frankly.com/DC8274630

$885k, renovated >1900 square feet
http://frankly.com/DC8334488


Bloomingdale $952k, renovated 1900 square feet
http://frankly.com/DC8258317

$905K, renovated, 1700 sq feet
http://frankly.com/DC8521627

None of your CC examples are walkable to the metro (almost 2 miles). Your BD examples are (less than 1 mile). That is a very important difference, and so not "all other things are roughly equal". Besides school quality, metro proximity is a major factor in home prices.

Chevy Chase $925k, renovated >1900 square feet
http://frankly.com/DC8235088

$920k, renovated >1900 sq feet
http://frankly.com/DC8274630

$885k, renovated >1900 square feet
http://frankly.com/DC8334488


Bloomingdale $952k, renovated 1900 square feet
http://frankly.com/DC8258317

$905K, renovated, 1700 sq feet
http://frankly.com/DC8521627

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:homes going for 1M in Brookland are the exceptions not the norm. areas with better schools like CC homes have generally higher prices. I think schools are very important in home buying decisions for families.

Uh, this is not true. Have you checked out prices in Logan or Shaw lately? Demand is much higher in these areas right now.

Yes, sometimes other factors offset the poor schools. But overall there is a very strong correlation between school quality and home prices. It was very evident when we were househunting. When there are two houses in two neighborhoods with all other things being roughly equal, good schools add a big premium.

But you are not familiar with the DC real estate market. Prices in Logan, Shaw, Bloomingdale, Ledroit Park, Columbia Heights are all as high or higher than those in the leafiest parts of NW with the most sought after schools. For example, I could probably sell my Bloomingdale rowhouse for a little under $1m. I could easily buy a home inbound for a JKLM school for that price, and likely a larger home with a yard too.

Read the bolded part of my post again. You are not contradicting what I said. However, your insinuation that you can get equivalent square footage and quality for less money in upper NW than in Bloomingdale is wrong until you show me comparables that prove it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not talking about house prices. If you're already in your dream school, no need to opine. Just asking those that are playing lottery. How much would you pay to "win" your lottery choice? Again, not asking how much more you would pay to buy into the neighborhood. How much would you pay as a one time fee to win OOB or Top charter spot?

Wow, you are really focused on this question OP! Before I offer my answer, I'd like to know why you're so curious about this?

It started out as a game to see what lengths people were willing to go to get into their dream school. It os now an argument about house prices. I thought it would be fun to break the ice while we await our lottery results. Guess we can never have fun on DCUM.

OP, the thread is fun even with the house prices discussion!

NP then start your own thread. Not many can afford to pay $800k for a house as we are maxed in our $300k rowhouse. I would sacrifice $15k of my savings to guarantee a spot at our #1 charter school. Why does everyone have to high jack? Why not create a spin off thread?

If you get your undies in a twist because people on an anonymous internet forum don't stay exactly on task on the conversation you started, you are setting yourself up for some *very* uncomfortable undies. Your choice, but just so you know... [whispers] you are not in control of this conversation. And it WILL go where people want it to. Acceptance will set you free (or at least set your undies free).

Was that your attempt at comedy? Poor poor soul.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not talking about house prices. If you're already in your dream school, no need to opine. Just asking those that are playing lottery. How much would you pay to "win" your lottery choice? Again, not asking how much more you would pay to buy into the neighborhood. How much would you pay as a one time fee to win OOB or Top charter spot?

Wow, you are really focused on this question OP! Before I offer my answer, I'd like to know why you're so curious about this?

It started out as a game to see what lengths people were willing to go to get into their dream school. It os now an argument about house prices. I thought it would be fun to break the ice while we await our lottery results. Guess we can never have fun on DCUM.

OP, the thread is fun even with the house prices discussion!

NP then start your own thread. Not many can afford to pay $800k for a house as we are maxed in our $300k rowhouse. I would sacrifice $15k of my savings to guarantee a spot at our #1 charter school. Why does everyone have to high jack? Why not create a spin off thread?

If you get your undies in a twist because people on an anonymous internet forum don't stay exactly on task on the conversation you started, you are setting yourself up for some *very* uncomfortable undies. Your choice, but just so you know... [whispers] you are not in control of this conversation. And it WILL go where people want it to. Acceptance will set you free (or at least set your undies free).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One time fee and you're in for life.

I think I'd pay $10,000.

This is implicit in the gap between similar homes in different neighborhoods with differing schools. I'd say the market prices a good neighborhood school at at least $100,000, maybe $150,000. Makes sense when you consider the price of private schools.

Maybe to an extent but there are many exceptions. Brookland does not have school offerings but houses going for $1m. People don't only consider schools when buying in DC.

Show me 5 Brookland houses that have sold for more than $1m.

Go away WOTP. Do you really think you are the only ones in $1m house? Can't you accept that people want to pay $800-$900+ even without a decent school option?

http://frankly.com/DC8505854
http://frankly.com/DC8355523
http://frankly.com/DC8461149
http://frankly.com/DC8254155
http://frankly.com/DC8521801
http://frankly.com/DC8551117 (prob won't sell that high)
http://frankly.com/DC8574602 (just listed, prob will sell)
http://frankly.com/DC8570895 (just listed, prob will sell)
http://frankly.com/DC8549156 (under contract in 8 days)

There are many more in Shaw, Petworth, Bloomingdale, Eckington and many other DC neighbhorhoods that aren't zoned for JKLMM.

Anonymous wrote:One time fee and you're in for life.

I think I'd pay $10,000.

Kids are at our dream charter. Would have paid $50,000. Worth it to be able to stay in the city but in a more affordable part of town that works better for us (neighbors, commute, etc).

Anonymous wrote:Funny you should ask this. I have wondered if at some point a bunch of parents would band together and say we want to start a charter school. We'll each put in $X in as seed money, be founders and be guaranteed to get in. If the sums were large enough and enough parents were involved, you could have a good start on the resources for a charter school. Wouldn't be enough to build a school (unless you were talking very large sums or a lot of people), but would certainly be enough to start up. Of course, if it were a bunch of wealthy Ward 3 families that did this, I'm sure support for charter schools in the city would take a hit.

It's a big and probably incorrect assumption that a school like this would get a charter. Look at the proposal from folks affiliated with Sidwell Friends.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:homes going for 1M in Brookland are the exceptions not the norm. areas with better schools like CC homes have generally higher prices. I think schools are very important in home buying decisions for families.

Uh, this is not true. Have you checked out prices in Logan or Shaw lately? Demand is much higher in these areas right now.

Yes, sometimes other factors offset the poor schools. But overall there is a very strong correlation between school quality and home prices. It was very evident when we were househunting. When there are two houses in two neighborhoods with all other things being roughly equal, good schools add a big premium.

But you are not familiar with the DC real estate market. Prices in Logan, Shaw, Bloomingdale, Ledroit Park, Columbia Heights are all as high or higher than those in the leafiest parts of NW with the most sought after schools. For example, I could probably sell my Bloomingdale rowhouse for a little under $1m. I could easily buy a home inbound for a JKLM school for that price, and likely a larger home with a yard too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One time fee and you're in for life.

I think I'd pay $10,000.

This is implicit in the gap between similar homes in different neighborhoods with differing schools. I'd say the market prices a good neighborhood school at at least $100,000, maybe $150,000. Makes sense when you consider the price of private schools.

Maybe to an extent but there are many exceptions. Brookland does not have school offerings but houses going for $1m. People don't only consider schools when buying in DC.

Show me 5 Brookland houses that have sold for more than $1m.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One time fee and you're in for life.

I think I'd pay $10,000.

This is implicit in the gap between similar homes in different neighborhoods with differing schools. I'd say the market prices a good neighborhood school at at least $100,000, maybe $150,000. Makes sense when you consider the price of private schools.

This.

I don't agree with this analogy. Like said above, paying an extra $100k doesn't mean you paid $100k premium that you're not getting back just for schools. When you sell, you will get that $100k back. The question is how much would you pay out of pocket, not how much would you increase your investment out of pocket.

agreed. and also while our house woudl have been about 150-200 more in a good school district, we bought in a bad district because we couldn't afford that 150-200K. I actually bought a house EOTP AFTER I got into an accpetable charter through 6th grade.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not talking about house prices. If you're already in your dream school, no need to opine. Just asking those that are playing lottery. How much would you pay to "win" your lottery choice? Again, not asking how much more you would pay to buy into the neighborhood. How much would you pay as a one time fee to win OOB or Top charter spot?

Wow, you are really focused on this question OP! Before I offer my answer, I'd like to know why you're so curious about this?

It started out as a game to see what lengths people were willing to go to get into their dream school. It os now an argument about house prices. I thought it would be fun to break the ice while we await our lottery results. Guess we can never have fun on DCUM.

OP, the thread is fun even with the house prices discussion!

NP then start your own thread. Not many can afford to pay $800k for a house as we are maxed in our $300k rowhouse. I would sacrifice $15k of my savings to guarantee a spot at our #1 charter school. Why does everyone have to high jack? Why not create a spin off thread?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not talking about house prices. If you're already in your dream school, no need to opine. Just asking those that are playing lottery. How much would you pay to "win" your lottery choice? Again, not asking how much more you would pay to buy into the neighborhood. How much would you pay as a one time fee to win OOB or Top charter spot?

Wow, you are really focused on this question OP! Before I offer my answer, I'd like to know why you're so curious about this?

It started out as a game to see what lengths people were willing to go to get into their dream school. It os now an argument about house prices. I thought it would be fun to break the ice while we await our lottery results. Guess we can never have fun on DCUM.

Are people not playing by the rules in your head? And it makes you sad? Aw.

Anonymous wrote:Funny you should ask this. I have wondered if at some point a bunch of parents would band together and say we want to start a charter school. We'll each put in $X in as seed money, be founders and be guaranteed to get in. If the sums were large enough and enough parents were involved, you could have a good start on the resources for a charter school. Wouldn't be enough to build a school (unless you were talking very large sums or a lot of people), but would certainly be enough to start up. Of course, if it were a bunch of wealthy Ward 3 families that did this, I'm sure support for charter schools in the city would take a hit.

That's pretty much how private schools got founded. If you look at the private schools in DC, an awful lot of them were founded in the 1950's and 60's -- GDS, Field, Burke, Lab, WIS, St. Patricks's, Lowell, just off the top of my head. DCPS cratered during the desegregation era, losing over 100,000 students, and families with kids either moved out of the city or went private. Those that went private started their own schools because the existing schools couldn't handle the influx.

If you talk to parents of that generation, they feel about privates the way that today's parents feel about charters, that they're community-building and giving families an opportunity to stay in the city. They have no shame about directing public resources to private schools. If you've ever talked to Mary Cheh about education you'll know that she sees no distinction between public and private schools, to her they're all just interest groups jockeying for public resources. She sent her kids to GDS during that era, so it stands to reason.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not talking about house prices. If you're already in your dream school, no need to opine. Just asking those that are playing lottery. How much would you pay to "win" your lottery choice? Again, not asking how much more you would pay to buy into the neighborhood. How much would you pay as a one time fee to win OOB or Top charter spot?

Wow, you are really focused on this question OP! Before I offer my answer, I'd like to know why you're so curious about this?

It started out as a game to see what lengths people were willing to go to get into their dream school. It os now an argument about house prices. I thought it would be fun to break the ice while we await our lottery results. Guess we can never have fun on DCUM.

OP, the thread is fun even with the house prices discussion!