As Suze Would Say, “DENIED” - Lock Down on Beverly Hills Unified School System Exemptions - Sales on $1-2 Million Homes Soar

There are ample reasons why one would want to live in Beverly Hills, but one of the biggest is for the school system. Beverly Hills Unified School District is considered by many to be one of the finest in the country and most certainly in Los Angeles County. For all of you older rich kids, do you remember on the original 90210 when Andrea used to take the bus from the Van Nuys to BH every day so that she could get a stellar education at the fictitious West Beverly  (side note: apparently Beverly Hills is now an ocean front community - perhaps the big one hit and we lost all of West LA -  as the new West Beverly on the CW's 90210 is on a cliff over looking the ocean, but I digress...not that I watch it or anything...)? Anyway, the BH school district was like a swat team looking for a murder suspect because Andrea had to move into her Grandma's cramped 1 br apt and live on the couch to ultimately convince the pricipal that she indeed was a BH resident. Disaster averted - phew!!!!

There has always been a lottery system for families living outside the city to get their children into the system. Times have changed and if you are not a resident, there are no exemptions for children to attend BH schools from Kindergarten throught 8th grade. At this time, BH High School is still allowing non resident exemptions but many parents send their children to private schools at that point. It's all about the schools at the lower grade levels (which there are, if I recall correctly, three within the city).

How does this pertain to real estate? Houses in Beverly Hills that are priced in the 1-2 million range are flying off the shelves right now as a result of this change. You are not going to be getting much bang for your buck at this price point (I see this pertaining more to single family homes), but parents will do what it takes to give their children a good education. If you have a home in the city limits that you have been thinking about selling under 2 million, I would definitely consider giving me a call and putting it on the market. This was a huge topic of discussion at my office meeting this past Tuesday.