August 30th, 2018

With the upcoming school year rapidly approaching, we are seeing school supplies flood the aisles in almost every store. However, the biggest concern for some parents are where they’re sending their children to school rather than what notepads to send them with. Potential homebuyers in particular are also facing several concerns regarding the neighborhood and school systems that they’re looking into especially if they are parents, or plan to be in the future. As a realtor, one of the biggest things to use to your advantage would be selling homebuyers on the neighborhood and/or school system. There is nothing more important than their family’s safety and children’s education.

Knowing Your Neighbors

The quality of a neighborhood and the school system within go hand and hand with one another. According to The National Association of Realtors, remaining in one neighborhood for several years allows families to build long-lasting relationships within the community, while offering children educational and social continuity. There aren’t many homebuyers who are looking to live in a bad area. The majority of buyers want to live in an area with low crime rates, and decent neighbors; The kind that would bake them a pie when they move in. Lucky for you, today’s technology allows you to stay up to date with crime in your area so that you’re not bringing a homebuyer to a sketchy part of town. Crime Reports, a site that many realtors are already using, allows you to investigate a zip code to see what types of activity are encompassing the area. Basically, you get to see what types of calls are being made into the local police departments. Additionally, Google Map’s Street View allows individuals to take a look at a surrounding area before even recommending it to a homebuyer.

School Systems

School systems play a big part when buying a house, as no parent wants to send their child to a less than average school district. Any parent would want their child to get the best education possible. This is really what could make or break a sale. If a homebuyer has expressed this concern to you in advance, or if you see that one of your clients is a parent, it would be a good idea to utilize different websites to check out the school systems in that area. There are several platforms such as U.S. News that have a ranking of every high school classified by state. At that point, you could bring numbers into play. You could show the homebuyer where that school district would rank out of however many high schools that state houses. Give your potential homebuyers peace of mind knowing that they’re providing their children with the best education possibly.

When taking a big step like buying a home, buyers are trusting you to help them find the perfect spot. Let’s face it, everyone is hoping for good neighbors that become forever friends; Not neighbors that call the cops when their Fourth of July barbecue gets too loud. Also, every parent wants the best for their children, especially when it comes to their education. Give homebuyers what they want and sell them not only on the house, but the location as well.