School Districts and Property Values

By John Aretos, CEO of Police Mortgage

Better school districts usually equate to higher property taxes. Sometimes this can be used as a marketing aspect when selling a property in a certain area, i.e. people are moving there to raise their kids because of the great school system.

Some neighborhoods with highly desirable school districts have homes in extremely high demand. Properties go on the market and don’t even last a week before multiple offers are made.

This actually can be a sensitive subject sometimes. In Chicago, where Police Mortgage is headquartered, there are a lot of opinions on the public school system.  I have relatives that sent their kids to Catholic school because they didn’t want to put them through the Chicago Public School System. That certainly raises the costs in the household but not necessarily for the place that you live.

School districts don’t seem to have nearly the same impact on home pricing in the suburbs. However, every market is a bit different. Thinking of two of our primary markets, Northwest Indiana isn’t going to have the same dynamics as the Phoenix area, for example.

Obviously, we don’t advise people where to buy when first responders come to us for a police home loan. Some clients will tell us that they are trying to get into a particular high-school district.  In those situations, we feel privileged that we have the opportunity to work with them and then dive into the numbers to see what they can afford. Does the area our clients are looking in have insane property values and insane property taxes due to the school district? That will obviously have to be taken into account when estimating the monthly payment.

Sometimes there needs to be a give and take. Maybe there is a nearby neighborhood with an above-average school district, rather than a highly ranked system, with more affordable home prices. A good area where property taxes don’t impact the monthly payment as severely may be a better option for some clients.

Police Mortgage specializes in conventional mortgages, purchase money transactions, FHA loans, and VA loans. Led by founder and CEO John Aretos, Police Mortgage is known and respected for providing clients with exceptional service, customized terms, quick and easy closings, and low money down options. To learn more about Police Mortgage, go to www.policemortgage.com  or call 312-499-8878.

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