If you’re looking just to buy, then yes, school ratings affect a lot of people’s decisions on where to buy and in theory will make the property values increase. Most people dedicated to public schools tend to idolize the district they’ve chosen and decide to be happy with it no matter how bad others think it is.
If you actually have kids, then you have to assess their personalities and needs as well as your own dedication (or lack thereof) to public schooling. If you have a profoundly gifted kid, you will end up homeschooling or needing private schools most of which are on the West Bay - SF/Peninsula/San Jose.
If you are 100% for private schools, you’ll want to be somewhere on the Peninsula where most of the good ones are.
The actual way to judge how good schools are is to find out who went to what colleges from the high schools.
No matter where you live politics can change the schools. When I grew up in Berkeley it had the best schools and the highest property values in the BA. Forced busing destroyed the schools. White flight destroyed property values. Berkeley now attracts a lot o people without kids that don’t care about schools. SF is similar.
People don’t move to Discovery Bay for the schools. So why worry about the schools. Same for South Lake Tahoe. School quality can’t get any worse. So you are better off buying in places like that instead of PA where schools can only get worse. Marin county used to have great schools.now it full of rich retired people and very poor lower class workers. The middle class with kids have moved away. Schools have suffered and property values are much less than PA.
Thanks. No I am not moving to Discovery for schools as I don’t have kids yet. I just asked to gain knowledge. I got outbid for a SFH last week. Put 20k above listing price. Now another SFH listing for 600k but seller wants 680K! I thought it would be easier to buy in Discovery bay but it seems like I was wrong!
I was in contact for 500k to sell in Tahoe. The buyer had loan issues. I am raising my price to $600k. 1650sf. 4/2 main house and 350sf cottage. 27000sf lot. Prices are going up so fast. sellers are getting greedy. I certainly am.
My point is if schools have been consistently mediocre it makes it easier for a buyer. One less thing to worry about.
My mother traced things back - started with the best high school then asked where their kids come from elementary school.
Alternately, if you have a kid, go to a park nearby with your kid and talk to parents about the schools.
If you want to see the complaints, you can also go to Greatschools.com. You’ll get lots of people who love a school, but the complaints can be telling. Obviously you’re only hearing one side to the story, but there’s almost always a grain of truth to them.
Another thing you can do is go to glassdoor and see what the teachers say. Do parents run all over them? Is the principal supportive? If you have a school where teachers love the parents and the principal, it’s probably on the better side of whatever is local.
Discovery bay is neither a tourist hot spot like Tahoe or have 9/10 rating schools. Even with the fear of raising rate, does it justify seller expecting 80K more than listing price? Since you are a seller would be better person to answer
I regret selling but I was in a partnership so I had no choice. In hindsight it was a bad purchase originally. But boating is back in a big way. We actually sold for less than we paid in 2007. So I think there will a huge boom in Discovery Bay. My house there will be torn down. 16000sf flat lot. They can build a mansion wrapping around a pool.
Tahoe us unique. Tourists and a retirement community though the snow is hard on some. A lot of my older friends are selling and moving to the Carson Valley where house sell in two days or to Arizona.
But if you are into the boating life style in the Delta is unique. Water ski year round and can park an ocean going yacht at your private dock
Thank you. Myself and my wife grew up in coastal places with beaches around so in that way being near water is good for us but both of us are not big into skiing or boating. She was a surfer before but due to medical reasons doesn’t surf anymore. Only reason to choose Discovery bay or Brentwood is it’s the only good place which fits our 650k budget and above 1990 year built and closer to SF.
The best part about the Delta is warm water from April till November. The ocean water anywhere near the BA is freezing.The Delta offers 1000 miles of 75-85 degree water ways within one hour of the BA. 160 marinas. 2500 square miles much accessible only by boat. It is an amazing place with a lot of history. Like old town Sac. Locke, Walnut grove. Windmill Cove Tiki Lagoon. Basically Florida like weather for 6 months a year. 80-100 degrees wihen SF is 65 and the ocean is 58. The new big sport is wake surfing… anybody can do it. So easy you can drink while doing it.
I think you may be getting hit by people fleeing higher cost areas because they think that work-from-home - even if part time only - will stay and being farther away is worth the lower mortgage.
If it’s gentrifying, we get to ride the improvements up as long as we stay 20 years.