Realtor.com: Buyers Give up a Dream Homes for Good Schools!

For the boomers” the home buying mantra

is “Location-Location-Location”!

For millennials & “Gen Xers”, the mantra is schools, schools, schools.”

The survey found that 78% of home buyers favored a great school district over the perfect home.

Among those polled, 19% said they would give up a garage in favor of a stellar school district,while 18% would go without a large backyard, according to a new Realtor.com survey.

“Most buyers understand that they may not be able to find a home that covers every single item on their wish list,” Realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale said in a prepared statement. 

“But the survey shows school districts are where many buyers aren’t willing to compromise.

Unsurprisingly, buyers aged 55 years or older were less likely to choose between a good school district and other amenities, with 42% insisting they would make no such compromise.

Only 21% of buyers between the ages of 35 & 54 said they’d make no such compromise & just 17% of buyers aged 18-34 agreed said to the survey.

Seventy-three percent of buyers said good school districts were important in their home search.

When familial status and age were put into the picture, families with children (91%) and those aged 18–34 (86%) were the most likely to say good schools were a must-have.

What makes a good school? More than half of all home buyers (59%) said exemplary test scores are the, followed by accelerated programs (53%), arts & music (49%), diversity (43%) and before- and after-school programs 41%).

Buyers 18-34 were more likely to value a school’s diversity (49%), while buyers aged 55+ have greater importance on accelerated programs (62%).