PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN LISTINGS?. . . DO IT!. . . IT WILL RESULT IN MORE SHOWINGS AND PERHAPS A CONTRACT!

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PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN LISTINGS?. . . DO IT!. . . IT WILL RESULT IN MORE SHOWINGS AND PERHAPS A CONTRACT!

PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN LISTINGS - DO IT! IT WILL RESULT IN MORE SHOWINGS AND PERHAPS A CONTRACT!

SCHOOL INFORMATION IN LISTINGS IS OPTIONAL.

HOWEVER, IF YOU WANT TO SELL THE HOME YOU JUST LISTED. . . . .

Take a few minutes and put the information in the listing. Many home buyers and agents search by:

"HIGH SCHOOL"
"MIDDLE SCHOOL"
"ELEMENTARY SCHOOL"

I can remember a time when, in Northern Virginia, you couldn't upload a property listing in the MLS without the public school information included. That was before our present MLS system, so perhaps some listing agents didn't realize that this information has alwasy been an important data field.

It's important. Schools

Buyers are smart. They have access to public school test scores and ranking. All they need to know is "which school"?

Clearly, the listing information should be verified with the school board, but having the High, Middle and Elementary Schools in the listing report is at least a start.

Afraid of the risk?? Make a note for buyers to verify the information.

Want to sell the property?? Include the schools in the listing report. Your new listing will be returned in many more searche results by agents and buyers.

Courtesy, Lenn Harley, Broker, Homefinders.com, 800-711-7988.

This article inspired by Robert Earl.

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Posted by Lenn Harley, Real Estate Broker, Virginia & Maryland on 05/12/2010 08:21 AM

Comments (145)

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145 Comments on PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN LISTINGS?. . . DO IT!. . . IT WILL RESULT IN MORE SHOWINGS AND PERHAPS A CONTRACT!

MAY

2010

Lenn, this is a great idea. So many buyers want specific school districts or want to know this information so they can check up on the schools before really looking at a home.

Lenn, I agree. Not only do buyers want certain school districts but many times I've had them tell me they want a certain elementary school as well. Also many agents don't include this info in my area, so when possible I include it! Be a step up on the competition - good for my sellers!

Lenn....that information is still included in our MLS information......we have several elementary and middle schools and some are more popular that others because of the administration in those particular schools....the curricula are the same throughout.

Lenn; Funny you mention this. As you know; DC is a town of lawyers who think they run everything.

All I ever hear is "You can't talk about schools". "You can't mention schools". Someone put schools on a list with churches, crime stats and how many "Pick your ethnicity" live in the neighborhood.

So we are all afraid to mention this....

As a former home buyer with two young boys, this was information I would have appreciated in the listings we looked at.

June. The school stats are on the Internet these days. All buyers need to know is, in which school district is the house located??

Mike. HA! That is routine here for some highly ranked elementary public schools.

Barbara. In my area, the curricula are the same, but the school test scores and rankings vary widely. Buyers want to know.

Of course, they have to be prepared to the premium for homes in the higher ranked areas.

@James: I wouldn't put information about churches and I certainly wouldn't mention ethnics groups in ads but schools? That's still a required field in our MLS.

Luckily our local school district has a search by address which returns schools zoned for that address which makes it easy to be accurate.

In the Austin MLS school listings are required fields and in my home area (Eanes School District) schools are one of the primary reasons people move here. Actually schools are one of the primary factors for each of the areas where I concentrate my efforts!

Lenn, I agree and I attempt to include keywords like West Essex School District, etc. in my blogs. However, in many towns, including Livingston where my office is located, they have told us NOT to ever include school information or tell a potential buyer which school they will attend should they buy in a particular school district. Livingston BOE retains the right to relocate a child to a different school in Livingston, even if they buy a home in one school district, the child may have to attend another. Based upon school enrollment and assuming other factors of which they did not reveal.

Even growing up in Belleville, living DIRECTLY across the street from one of the grammar schools that I attended, everyone on the street attended, a new family bought the house next door from us and those two children didn't go to the school DIRECTLY across the street but rather were sent by Belleville BOE to a school 2 1/2 blocks away!

I don't agree with it but in towns with more than one grammar school, I refrain from telling potential buyers which school their child will attend but rather direct them to the BOE.

James. I disagree completely. All we're doing when listing the schools in a listing is giving a location fact. The buyer or buyer's agent can verifiy the info.

What we can't do is "steer" because of schools, demographics, house of worship, etc.

I publish school ranking on web site because it's fact obtained from the various county or state Internet sites.

I know agent claim that "they can't". They are usually just lazy and don't want to bother, so the cope-out is "we can't".

HOWEVER, broker policy and procedures may instruct agents in their company about what they can and can't do. That's a different matter.

Tanya. Indeed. We have a number of buyers who search by schools.

Julia. Some of our counties have a "search by address". Many do not.

Russell. BINGO!

Gina. I understand that completely and would simply tell buyers the facts about that policy as we knowit. We had court ordered bussing in some areas here for years and the families never knew which school the children would attend. That's not usually the case.

Hi Lenn, we add the schools in our listings...But, I must say there are not that many in my area :) population of 3,000.... so it is no hardship adding schools to listings or blogs.

Rebecca. I live in a town of about 1000, but our schools are county wide and folks still ask, which school for . . . . .

I try to contribute this information in all my listings although not required. The more information a buyer has, the better the results!

Thank you Lenn .. I always LISTEN to what you have to say! In our MLS they have changed it to the school district instead of local school but I can blog about it and get more key words in! Thx pippa

The school system here in our county was one of the top rated systems not too long ago. You can bet I always enter that information in my listings!

I can't imagine not listing the schools. Even for buyers who don't have children in schools, they know that it is an important consideration when they need to sell their home in the future.

Lenn - an important thing to do in my mind. I always mention the schools when talking about a local commiunity, subdivision, etc. Ther boundairs can vary quite a bit and folks whould always investigate. I also share several school research sites if people are interested so they can get more information if they wish.

Jeff

I guess we do not have it in our MLS. All systems are different. Good idea, and I guess, we can always add in the description

Lenn- My town's school website posts the school districts by street. There is no excuse for not including the school info on the listing. Our MLS listings include spaces for elementary, middle and high school info. Agents who type in PBE (per Board of Education) claim they are avoiding liability. More likely, they are simply lazy.

Great reminder!! Im going to post a link to this blog on my fan page. ;-)

Lenn...

It's a non-issue here because these fields are mandatory .... as they should be!

Lenn, this all goes directly back to "COMPLETELY" filling out the listing form, which, I'm sad to say, not many agents are doing right now. Back in the day, as you say, it was required. I liked when they required ROOM SIZES too. The more information available in the actual listing, the less driving around we have to do, therefore, making our day a little more productive.

We don't have fields for that in our MLS. We can just say what school district a home is in. In fact I think the school district is a required field.

Most of the schools have online resources that provide maps or street guides.

Putting all three schools in the remarks of the listing would use up too much space because of disclaimers about redistricting, or maybe redistricting is the wrong word... reworking attendance areas based on shifts in the population.

I do talk about schools in hyperlocal blog posts because the Zillow, Trulia and Realtor.com info just talk about closest schools, they just use maps and ZIP codes. A lot of time the schools Zillow, Trulia and even I noticed REALTOR.com do it yesterday are pointing out are in a different school district from the home.

Lenn - it always drives me crazy when listing agents do not put school zone information into the MLS. It should be a mandatory field, just like it is with short sales here in Lakeland. If I don't know the school zone I will go to the school board's web site and find it and if it is a new neighborhood/subdivision I will call the school board to find out it is that simple. Great post!

The problem that I have with my MLS is that you can only fill in one school for each field. However, there may be more than one school in that area, because there are a number of public charter schools. For example, there are two free, public elementary schools in my neighborhood, located just one block apart. However, one is the "district" school, and one is a charter school with different enrollment criteria. That can be confusing for people who are looking for houses around a certain school, but not realizing that they would have to search under a different school in order to find houses in the same area.

Around here, some folks look at school listings as a liability issue. School districts keep redrawing their attendance lines, so a home might go to one elementary school one year, and another the next. If someone buys a home because you listed it as one that goes to a certain school -- and then the buyer finds out it's no longer so -- a potential law suit.

Better be sure you keep up with district boundary changes. Here we have county districts and they change frequently. If a buyer is intent on having his or her children attend one school and then shortly after buying they find out that they will instead be going to another location, they are going to be unhappy to say the least. Sure we warn them that they should verify all info, but most will not. And even if they cannot hurt us legally, the bad feelings could ruin any future referrals from them or their friends who hear how they were "mislead". I say, give them the links so they can find the district webpage and get the correct (or incorrect) information from them. Then you are in the clear and it will be the district personnel that have the egg on their faces.

I tend to go with the premise that the agent is lazy if they don't enter the school info. My pet peeve is when you have a four bedroom house and they only enter room sizes for two bedrooms. With all the money we get paid, take the extra five minutes to verify the school district and enter all of the complete data.

Dear Lenn,

Our MLS allows only the district that the school is in and then does not distinguish between East and West or North and South in the case of two of our regions' districts. On alternate forms of advertising (after thorough research and verification - lots of liability you open yourself up to there) maybe including it as a helpful report (provided off the district web site), would be nice but it is not a predominant factor in selling homes. If a buyer was so concerned about schools they would be investigating the district first and the homes second, not vice-versa. That is up to the MLS to decide anyway. I think putting the exact school information also may be classified as steering - if people profile schools based on demographics I wouldn't want my MLS to be putting out information that may hurt sellers in a particular area. Also, many reports from outside sources, such as Great Schools.com, provide false information and bad reviews that mostly come from unhappy parents of poor students.

Hi Lenn,

I think you have an excellent point here. Too many Realtors in our area leave that information blank. But we've noticed that many move up buyers in our area are very loyal to their elementary or middle schools and it would help to always have that information in the MLS. We know however that we would be doing a disservice to our buyers to limit their search because we KNOW so many agents leave it blank (or get it wrong). We keep school district maps in our office and verify with the individual schools ourselves if we are not sure but know it is critical to the buyer.

~Lisa

In our MLS also all the schools through High School are required fields. What school district is the home in is always one of the first questions asked by buyers. It is definitely something that I use all the time. Great post!

Lenn: What was it I read the other day in a Wall Street Journal article???OH! Yes, some realestate brokerage was sued for using names of schools in their ads and in their listings---can't remember where this was but it was called out as "steering" by the mere fact of suggesting that the property was more desirable because of the the named school!!! What do you make of that?? If I can locate the article again I will send it on to you---talk about politically correct OVER LOAD.

Lenn - I put the schools in my listings and posts about listings for that reason. You are right that schools are important consideration even if they do not have school age children.

Debra W. Thanks. Same here.

Lisa. I do the same. Buyers love the POWER of selecting homes to preview. However, when they're searching for schools, they could miss the best homes.

Jason. I disagree. Your listing public information. Sure, higher ranked schools will be sought by many buyers. Why put barriers in the way of folks buying the home they want.

Mark. Indeed. Those are reasons we do get the big bucks.

John. Since only about 1/2 the listings include school info, we provide that information from the school boards for out buyers. Especially relocating buyers.

Richard. It behooves agents to update info when they are working with a serious buyer. It's not rocket science and takes a little amount of time.

Dawn. That would mean making a note in the remarks.

Petra. Indeed and if they don't have good "school locator" on the web, I make a trip to the school board. They are always very helpful.

Maureen. As long as an agent is willing to get the correct info, that's the important thing. I just beleive that including schools is a good listing practice. Or, a phone number for the school board.

Jean. Indeed, and a listing agent only has to do it for one listing at a time. Think about the buyer's agent who may be showing a buyer homes in multiple areas.

Richard. Indeed. That makes it easy.

Clint. Glad you liked it. Link away.

Marilyn. HA! Laxy is the word.

Jon. I surely would.

Jeff. Good for you. That's called service.

Ann. Indeed. Our schools are very county oriented and buyers want to know up front. I give them what they want.

Craig. Makes sense to me.

Pippa. Now that's the right attitude.

Paul. BINGO!

Our local MLSes already includes district and all 3 levels of schools. I had no idea it wasn't the norm.

Hi Lenn -- I always verify the schools with the local BOE before I enter the schools on a listing. I cannot stand it when I see PBOE. Additionally, if the buyers have children, I advise the buyer's agent to verify the school with the BOE themselves which is all the more important if there is talk about imminent school redistricting.

Ok so I'm guilty of NEVER providing the school info. I still seem to sell a lot of real estate. Go figure

Lenn, Very kind of you to make reference to my blog posting about schools and listing in Northern Virginia. It is very appreciated. I thank you.

It's always included in our MLS - I have often searched for homes based only on the school district - but we have excellent schools here. I suppose if the schools were not top notch, you might be tempted to omit them, but I think it's important.

Lenn, you just gave away my biggest secret for selling homes... I have sold more homes over the years to buyers that insisted in choosing the schools as the first criteria for buying a home.

Phil. It is not the norm, but it should be.

Barbara. Indeed. Many of our busiest school systems redistrict every two years or so. It's just not that hard to verify info for one listing at a time.

Bryant. I don't think folks are buying your listings for the schools.

Robert. My pleasure. You inspired me and I've spend many hours researching schools for buyers.

Margaret. I think it's important too. Buyers often want to search by schools but when the schools are listing in only half the listings, the other half are likely to be missed.

Jim. Me too. Me too.

Lenn - This is a no brainer. I can't believe there are agents out there who do not include the schools in their MLS search. To those who care, it will always matter.

Lenn--This is an excellent post. One of my best client, Virtual Homes Real Estate has listing in all the towns in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, because they reserved the domains 15 years ago. Into each website, they list the schools and which location draws which school. It drives a lot of business to them.

If I may please Lenn... add a link about schools... which might be the article Paula is referring to. Maybe.

Paula wrote: I read the other day in a Wall Street Journal article???

"it was called out as "steering" by the mere fact of suggesting that the property was more desirable because of the the named school!!!"

Is this the article ? New York Times??? In NYC? about Manhattan? The Perils of Promoting Schools as Amenities.

It says "Most major brokerages follow the Real Estate Board’s advice and urge brokers to omit public school listings." in advertising properties...

If you say where a property or neighborhood attend elementary, middle or high school... and are not promoting it...

We got lazy- not good. In my previous state, the school codes were required input, and it was often difficult to keep track as more and more new schools went up. Now that we find ourselves in a teeny town, it hasn't been included (one elementary, middle, and high school) HOWEVER, losing out on those search terms from prospective buyers for our sellers makes no sense. Thanks for the swift kick with this one-

Schools are required in our MLS, as well as whether or not the elementary schools are on year-round schedules. We also encourage potential buyers to verify zoning through the school district's website.

School information is crucial for many home buyers. I had a recent client that was given the WRONG information about the school district and didn't find out until they went to enroll their child in school. This home buyer is now in a situation of selling after two years of home ownership in that communicty. It's CRUCIAL that the information is correct.

I agree with this. Sometimes it takes a little more leg work to find the elementary school, but it is worth it.

Chrietianne. I agree. I know for sure that buyers care.

Elliott. That doesn't surprise me a bit. I get hits on my web sites that have school pages too.

Laurie. My pleasure. My web sites with school info show in Google serp.

John. Always recommend that buyers verify info with school boards, but it helps to have it in the MLS.

Lenn: actualy it is an article in the NYT and my managager sent it on to all of us telling us not to mention schools in our ads--Hope the link opens here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/11/nyregion/11appraisal.html

Kate. IMO, that is a given. However, any buyer should verify the information. The MLS is a guide, not a school map.

Michael. It surely is.

Paula. Broker policy always trumps good marketing.

I find that being able to talk about the local school district is VERY important when prospective buyers call about my listings. I include school information in listing presentations and in my research of neighborhoods. Very good post, Lenn!

Not taking about schools in understood, But Robert made a great point that the location of a property within a school area is fact and the lazy agents that don't list it are being negligent. Period. Thank you for highlighting this Lenn. Hope to see the source article that inspired this featured as well.

Schools are required fields in the northern Illinois MLS. Most buyers search home by school district. Also schools are the biggest taxing body on our tax bills. It's important to every home owner. It's basic information.

You are absolutely correct that many, many buyers are really interested in schools. In fact, I recently had a home buyer who swore up and down that he and his family had to have this multi-million dollar home and I went to bat for them and they got it and a ridiculously low price. Then... during the 17 day contingency period, they changed their mind because they had second thoughts about the schools!

Shawn. Good for you. It's good business.

#55. Thansk. I find that schools are an important search criteria for buyers throughout MD and VA.

Linda. I agree completely.

Melissa. That's sad. They should have taken themselves to the schools and researched it before going that far.

You have touched on one of my biggest pet peeves - agents that leave those fields blank! It is right up there next to listings with only 1 photo....

Schools are so important to most buyers that I agree it makes no sense to omit the info. Seems like almost all my buyers want that as part of their search criteria whether it is just which school district or a specific elementary or whatever. Our immediate Olympia, Lacey, Tumwater market area has 3 different school districts - & people are PASSIONATE about their preferences!!

Great info, I always think it's the lazy agent that doesn't bother with such vital information. Thanks for brining up the topic, Best Success....

You are right on target. School information is critical these days!

Lenn - I didn't have a chance to read the comment, but this is not even an option in our MLS - it's a mandatory field. You're spot on - buyers often search by school and district.

In Denver the schools auto-populate when you put in the address and the parcel ID number

I can't imaginge a listing not including the school district information... We get a LOT of searches by school here.

Lenn- That will never happen here in our MLS. That field was removed after a Realtor lost a law suit regarding public school information. We can not even say that a school is rated A because if it moves to a B- the realtor is liable for that! It is awful!

The realtor sold a house to a buyer. The buyer wanted to be in ABC school boundaries. The realtor showed the listings that were listed in the mls in ABC school boundary. THe buyers put an offer on a house that is in the boundary of this school. THen the day before closing the school district changes the boundaries and the house was now out of the boundary. The REaltor did not know this. The buyers sued her because she did not tell them that the boundary changed. The judge ruled it was the Realtors duty to know that information. The attorneys for the Realtor Boards decided that we are NOT to discuss public school boundaries or anything about the schools. The only thing we can do is give them the internet address of the school district website and they can check the boundaries and we are no longer liable for the information. Katerina

Hey Lenn, you are right. In Atlanta the school info is mandatory, and I know for a fact many search for homes in certain school districts.

We have started to make sure schools are getting into listings now. Great post as always....

Lenn, we can always spot those out of town agents who aren't familiar with the area, always says CLB...

So, if I call the listing broker will they tell me?

Never thought of adding the schools information on our posts........I think it's a great idea.

I totally agree with putting in the schools. I've even got a link on my web page so buyers can verify schools for any home in the city. I'd rather the buyer find out NOW than in 17 days that it's the wrong school!!

Required in my MLS. It's the only criteria besides price for some families. Kids currently have a month of school left. By MLS rules, I should post the current school attending. Reality is it will feed to another school this fall. Enter private remarks, fine print, quickly read disclaimer by a professional voice over actor -- just kidding.

Lenn, Just as James said - it is a required field here and has the ability to autopopulate based on the tax record. We also request the buyer verifies the information. I've put school information in my virtual tours and inside the of in house booklet that highlights why someone would want to buy the home.

Katerina... that is wild!!!

we have the school district but not the individual schools. it would cause a lot of work for the listing agents. And I don't know if the cities would be happy providing the info.

Good evening Lenn,

As Jennifer has said it is a required field in our MLS system and has the ability to autopolulate based on the tax record. We search by schools all the time..can't imagine not having the ability.

We do not have a data field for schools. When we include school information here on Long Island with our property flyer handouts, we can't include demographics like race, religion, etc., of the students. We can't even talk about how a school district is unless we personally know about it because of the liability it poses. Buyers have to do their own research.

I will have to give it a try. I usually do not fill it in and when I do I only include the high school name. Thanks

Lenn, I completely agree. I currently have a listing that is generating enormous interest because it is close to a premierr elementary school.

Hi Lenn -- If one does, then one should be consistent and insert the schools with poor state rankings as well as excellent state rankings.

Hi Lenn~ We include the school info as part of our MLS information. Lots of people base their purchase on which school their child would be going to....

Lenn~ In our Williamsburg MLS, we have a required field for the schools in our data input sheets and it is also true for REIN for the peninsula!

Lenn: Schools may be optional here, but most agents don't treat it that way. Sometimes they do put in the wrong schools.

MAY

2010

Lenn, sometimes putting in the schools can be a detriment if they aren't good ones, but #71 made a good point about not finding out they were the wrong schools 17 days down the road. Definitely buyers must verify - zoning changes can happen at any time.

At the beach, it is not so critical but we own a property in Raleigh and it is very critcal information.

Good idea Lenn, We have one line on our form. "Distance to schools".

It would have to be in "Realtor comments". I'll try it.

This is absolutely critical in our aera. My mother worked in this same area of Silicon Valley with nationally-recognized schools (Cupertino/West San Jose with Monta Vista, Cupertino & Lynbrook High). It has often been the very FIRST LINE on our flyers and ads...and we've been doing this for years. Perhaps that explains our "expert" status.

Great post Lenn,

Now I will make sure to include school Public Schools information in all the listings. Here in San Mateo County the buyers have to call the school district to verify if the zip code of the house they are trying to purchase is in the school district they are interested. Here is a website you can use to search for public schools information.

As always thanks for the great post. Very helpful information.
Tom

Buyers are definitely looking for specific schools and basing their decisions around it! Good post and reminder.

Our MLS requires the school district, not the particular elementary, middle, or high school name. Not so sure that's a huge issue here though with the voucher system.

Schools are a prime factor in so many buyers search for their new home for a multitude of reasons.

I think it is "basic" information about that listing. But then again...the tax rate and the tax map info and deed info would be too....

You know my Uncle lives in Leesburg.... Bruce Noland - not sure how big a town it actually is but maybe you know him?

We belong to 2 different boards in the area (they do not share information but that is another post). One makes school data entry a mandatory field. The other still has the fields but they are optional. The two areas have different types of school systems. We have been advised by broker NOT to fill in the school data if we have the option. We have school choice in several counties here which blurs which school is what for each child. Are you grandfathered in where you are moving from ? You could see the school from your new home and due to amount of registration, be put in another school or on a waiting list. It is not always address at all. Charter Schools also come in to play. It is a new world and litigation is a huge factor. Our school choice system makes school zoning a moving target. So no go for putting it in listings for us here.

Also on our contract paperwork we have a long paragraph explaining no guarantee of school placement and giving a website for each system and phone numbers.

Lenn ~ Thanks for the reminder. It's alway's one of the top questions..

Putting in the Elementary, Middle and High School are required fields in our MLS.

It is very helpful when parents have done there research and want a home in _______school district.

I had several listings that I KNOW, it was shown like crazy because of the school district and more specifically, all the schools were EXEMPLARY status. We have a large group of home buyers who place school district as the highest priority in their home search.

I cannot imagine not disclosing this and not doing it correctly (which I've seen far too often).

As for me, I not only say where the school is, I plot all the schools, where it is in relations to the house, specify how far away from the house (and approximate drive time). I know that map was important to some buyers.

Filling out school info is optional for us and I'm always surprised at how many agents don't bother to fill this information out! Soo frustrating...

Lenn, school listings should be mandatory like they were in the past. Good suggestion to pass along to the MRIS.

Our MLS gives us the option of filling in the schools, unfortunatley too many agents don't or won't take the time! I always do, even on my rentals. Other agents have commented on how it has made their job just a little easier.

LENN- I agree with this post 100%- list the school have buyers verify. Good schools help sell homes.

Lenn,

Katerina's story is disturbing. It really makes it difficult to provide full service when we have to worry about being sued over something like this. Was there a contingency in the contract that would allow that buyer to back out of the contract if the school district rezoned? I suppose if this all happened at the 11th hour, there must have been some hint of the rezoning earlier in the buying process.

~Lisa

I am always shocked when people leave that out- or just put teh district- many people want to move within a certain elem school. That would skip your listing... Excellent advice! tHanks for the post!

That is unless they are poor performing schools!!

I have always thought the more information you can provide to the buyer the better you have served them.

Charlie. I agree. Prividing good service is good business.

#106. If a buyer is only interested in ares with poorly ranked public schools, then the schools are not what is attracting them to that area.

Shanna. Thanks. I agree.

Lisa. BINGO!! Schools don't change boundaries overnight. Getting the school information just isn't that difficult and a motivated buyer will satisfy themselves about the schools before making a decision.

Allison. You bet they do. Homes in highly ranked school districts in my area have a premium of between $25-100K and still sell faster than other areas.

Phil. Thanks for going the extra mile. You're representing your clients well.

Michael. Right. Pass it on.

Lisa G. You bet. Since a listing agent only has one home to enter at a time, it isn't that much work. For a buyer's agent we may have to research 10-30 homes for schools. But, we do it unless we have the practice of saying, "I don't do schools".

Loreena. Your sellers should appreciate your extra work. Buyer's agents should too.

Missy. And many have and do ask for homes in ____________ school district.

Monique. Same here, often the #1 search criteria. Price is important and if a buyer insists on a particular school but isn't willing the price, they will either raise their price range, elect private schools or choose another location.

I agree, Lenn, it's the one thing that I always want to know when I'm buying a house. My mother used to call it "voting with your feet" when you moved to an area for the school. The redistricting is a problem with us in Myrtle Beach -- it changes every year. However, I'm sure one could put that as a warning caveat or disclaimer somewhere on the listing. And aren't we covered by E & O insurance which covers such things, too?

Dick and Dixie. The info in your comment is enough to let a buyer know that they're going to have to do some homework.

Barbara. No, I do not. Leesburg, although it's the county seat, is a small town. Go 6 blocks in any direction and you're in the country, which is why I love it out here.

Donna. All factors are important which is what makes this job such an adventure.

Bernadine. At least is't a start and offers what information the agent can provide.

Betsy. HA! You're located in some of the best school clusters in the country. Potomac/Bethesda schools sell homes.

Tom. Glad to help. Good conversation.

Mayra. Some of our county school boards have address searches too. Which is a handy location for agents to get the information to put in their listings.

Michelle. HA! Go to http://www.homefinders.com and look at the Featured Home #1 and you'll see that I would do the same.

Terry. Our MLS has a PUBLIC REMARKS search field.

Linda. You bet it is if you're a home buyer with school age children. For folks who believe that it makes no difference, fine. For folks who believe that it is important, you're going to attract those buyers.

Frank and Sharon. If schools are important, get it up front. School reasignments don't happen overnight or they'd be faced with lawsuits from many parents.

Agent Aaren. It's not hard to verify, but having the schools in the listings helps agents search.

Sybil. No question it's going in there. I know folks search in VA beach for schools.

Vickie. That's my experience too.

Chris. Of course, it's about providing information, not making judgements about school ranking.

Sharon. I've had that experience too. I sold a home in Bethesda in a week due to the school cluster.

Aaron. Give it a try. Buyer's agents will appreciate it.

Jackie. You have to do what is the practice in your area.

Dorie. Good for your system. I search by schools too but have to go through several types of searches and look-ups at the school sites to get the info. But, I get it and it helps me bond with buyers.

Russ. I don't understand. Are the schoos assigments supposed to be secret???

Jennifer. By listing it in flyers, you satisfy one of the biggest needs for information of buyers.

Kristin. I never promised a rose garden.

Richard. Indeed. And if there are plans to redistrict, they need to know that too.

Kay. Think about it. I think you'll like it.

Andrea. Why call the listing broker? If the listing broker knew, wouldn't they enter it. What's the listing broker going to say????? From time to time here I see "Call BOE".

Courtney. Good for you.

Jennifer. I know for a fact that buyers search by schools here too.

Katerina. If I had a buyer for whom schools were important, I'd visit the school board with them to make sure they'd have the latest. They could easily have found out about the redistricting.

Lane. So do we. So do we.

John. That's neat. I'd still verify for a buyer. Still, it's a start.

Jason. THAT is my point in having the info in the listings. Buyer do search by schools. If schools are not in the listing, that house doesn't show in a search result. It's like putting up a web site with no location keywords. Never going to show in Google SERP.

Gary. It is and always has been. I moved from VA to MD some years ago so one of my sons could attend a particular high school Parents care. I had to buy a one bedroom condo because it was all I could qualify for in that school district, but I did.

Vickie A. My pleasure.

Nancy. Passionate describes some buyers about school areas.

Teresa. HA! Or no photo. Either is going to cost them showings.

Yes the school district is important to most people. Thanks for the informative post Lenn.

Patricia

Good post and good point.

Law suit waiting to happen. What happens when the school district changes, the test scores drop, the class size increases, the funding gets cut. etc? As REALTORS we always want to give excellent service but that always seems to be our greatest risk management slap in the jaw. Putting a list of "area scholls" with links for those parents to look them up and do their own due diligence is a much better approach in my opinion and I have them all avialable on my web site for just that reason.

Lenn, I agree with you - buyers want to know this information!

People actually search in that field. I can't imaging agents NOT using it in the MLS and blog posts too.

Great Advice ,,,, !!!!

In Santa Clarita, Ca. we are only allowed to put the district however with boundaries always changing here and some schools having to re-route children for remodeling the risk is big if you miss your mark.

In other areas I can see how it would be a great idea.

Lenn: You are right about implementing school districts in to the listing. Some of my searches are based solely on the schools. Fortunately, it is a mandatory field in my MLS and agents comply by providing accurate information. However, if the information is incorrect, we "police" our data by reporting it to the MLS and the listing agent has 24 hours to make the correction before a fine is issued.

Thanks for good advise.

Lenn: I find this odd. I cannot ever remember inputting a listing without having to list ALL of the schools that the potential buyer's children would attend. Of course, the usual disclaimer about the information NOT being guaranteed was always at the bottom... but I cannot imagine a listing NOT having the schools information in them. How long has this been the case in your area ?

If it is in a good school district, I always make sure to put this info in and include in the remarks as well. If it is in a bad school district, I definitely leave it out. No need to re-emphasize a negative point.

So many people search by school district and miss good properties because the listing agent didn't enter this info. This is a good reminder for everyone.

Dana

Lenn, Along with the schools, listings should have as much information completed as possible - even if it needs to be done in a few steps. No sqft; no property size; no room sizes, etc all make it that much more difficult to get buyers interested in a home. It's so simple really, but so often overlooked. Thank you for the reminder.

Lenn, this is so true...families want to know about the quality of school that is offered in the town or village. That can be a very big selling point

Patricia. Thanks for dropping by.

Sheila. My pleasure.

#118. HA! We are providing "in time" information for MLS search purposes. We are not promising that the boundaries will never change, that funding will reduce services or that the buyers will get a rose garden.

David. Buyers in my area surely do.

Joetta. It happens. Sadly.

#121. Thanks for dropping in and commenting.

Laura. Good point. In my area, boundaries don't change often and then are announced long in advance.

Helena. The info must be accurate. I've reported erroneous schools in listing too.

Karen Anne. It's always been an option in MD. Schools were a required field until about 1996 or so when the new MLS came online. Then it became optional. Still is.

Rob. I'm not sure I'd do that far but I'm sure many agents do.

Daria. It's also the reason I always do a "back-up" search following the homes buyers say that want to tour.

Bruce. Entering schools is easy. Sq. Ft. is another matter although it's coming here.

Carole. Indeed it can.

Lenn, we have to enter the schools in our MLS.Here is an interesting point, there is a new high school opening in the fall, people want to know about it. I've already had a call, asking if I worked there.

I've been to it, taken pics, etc.

In Hendersonville NC our MLS has always had the option for school information. Here in Henderson County we have a county school system -- so -- all schools are Henderson County. With that in mind it is great to provide a link to the schools so folks can directly read about and ask questions of them as to how their system works.

Sue of Robin and Sue

Always a good reminder, thanks!

MAY

2010

David. HA! I knew it. A reader has the same experience I've had. YES! Consumers do ask about schools and I make it my business to give them the info (from the school boards) or to give them the source.

Sue. Sounds like our system which, in MD and VA, are completely county oriented. It's a challenge for me because my market area covers about 25 counties. However, I know how to get the info needed to help consumers.

Lawrence. You are welcomed.

great idea Lenn. our mls requires school district, but not specific schools. Thanks

Bill. That's fine. Some information is a good guide and the consumer can always get more.

Here we are required to include the school information in the MLS. I wonder what effect the rampant layoffs are going to have in determining what school districts are desirable in the new economic reality?

Good post and I have started to do this. What do you do when the schools are like a festering wound? Leave it blank or tell them to check with the school district?

Jenna. Oh my! That is a subject for conversation. Atlanta is surely going to be changing.

Gene. Funny thing. I rarely get requests for school information for lower ranked areas. They are not the are of search for folks who want highly ranked schools.

I agree Lenn... and we spend a great deal of time and resources keeping statisitics about the various school districts current on the web... including the information as to which school distirct a property would be in is a good selling tool... buyers will ask, so why not put it forth up front.

Hope you are well...

With the ease of technology today where opening another browser window to pull up the school district and access the locator's map, by address or district boundaries (which I use all the time), it is amazing that it is just not part of the service offered.

The only time I don't list the schools is if the listing is in an over age 55 community. If more fields on the MLS were required instead of optional then agents would put more information in.

Every field is a searchable field....I think it is called basic marketing, but here again on Active Rain we are preaching to the choir. Joy

MAY

2010

Hi, Lenn:

So many listing agents here take the lazy route and put in "Call District." I take the time to verify the schools on the school district boundary maps so buyers and their selling agents can input the school in their search. My buyers want to know--so do theirs.

Cheers,

Robin

I have always included the schools in my listings. I think it is of critical importance. I am amazed when I see a listing without that information available. (Except REO listings, of course)

MAY

2010

... such a smart point ! ... I always put in the schools, when so many dont :o)

Cheers Lenn !

MAY

2010

Sheldon. Good for you. Consumers and other agents appreciate it and you'll get more MLS "views".

Jinus. Why REO listings, of course????? REO listings in our MLS have listing agents.

Robin. That is an indisputable fact.

Joy and Jeff. "Every field is a searchable field....I think it is called basic marketing," BINGO!!

Paul. Thanks. I do the same. I'm fit and fantastic, thanks.

JUN

2010

Our MLS requires us to put in the schools. It's also smart business. Many parents want to live near a particular school and use that search criteria.

JUN

2010

Wayne. I agree. Many agents are under the impression that agents aren't permitted to utter the word school. Nonsense.

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Lenn Harley, Real Estate Broker, Virginia & Maryland

Leesburg, VA

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Lenn Harley, Homefinders.com, MD & VA Homes and Real Estate

Address: Lovettsville, Fairfax, Arlington, Alexandria, Stafford, Woodbridge, King George, Fredericksburg, Leesburg in VA., Rockville, Laurel, Columbia, Baltimore, Waldorf, Frederick, Eastern Shore, Bowie, Harford, Annapolis in MD. , Maryland, Virginia

Office Phone: (800) 711-7988

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Maryland and Virginia real estate agents and brokers serving buyers and sellers with experience. Search listings in Maryland and Northern Virginia and get daily updates of new homes for sale by e-mail. Contact Lenn for a tour of homes. REALTORS available every day for home tours. Homefinders network of experienced agents and brokers includes new home specialists, resale specialists and luxury home experts. We can help you with your home buying needs. Homefinders offers discounted 5% listings for Maryland, Northern Virginia home owners. Experienced agents helping buyers and sellers in the Washington Metro area since 1985.

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