Do better schools increase house prices? From my perspective as a Realtor in the Charlottesville area, the answer is yes. I have never had buyers tell me that they wanted to live in a bad school district; but virtually every single one – whether they have kids or not – wants to be in a good school district. Frankly, I don’t need metrics or analysis or data to support my conclusion; I know that people buying homes in Charlottesville and Albemarle want good schools.

All the data in the world isn’t going to change my opinion, either as a Realtor or as a parent, that good, quality schools matter – to our kids and to our housing values.

From The Impact of School Characteristics on House Prices: Chicago 1987-1991

For many people, an important consideration when buying a house is the quality of the local public schools. There is a general perception that, all else equal, houses in better school districts will cost more.
…

Our results indicate that individuals pay attention to both per-pupil expenditures and test scores when deciding where to locate. However, when purchasing a home, individuals do appear to consider the current test performance of students in the local school rather than the extent to which a community’s schools contribute to a cohort’s test performance.

So what? What happens to Albemarle County home values if:

1 – Albemarle County schools cannot trim the fat sufficiently and
2 – They have to make so many dramatic cuts?

This is an email sent by the Albemarle County Parents’ Council with five attachments that will help you get acclimated … before the public hearing tonight at 6:30.

Brian Wheeler has presented a post with hard numbers – numbers that put into context what an increase in property taxes would mean for you – something that has been mostly lacking from most discussions I have read.

The Albemarle County Public Schools budget is now facing catastrophic cuts if we do not find new sources of revenue. This is the result of the national economy, declining sales taxes, declining property values, a proposal to lower taxes collected in Albemarle, and significant state funding cuts for education.

… In an effort to get my head around the numbers, I have prepared the attached spreadsheet which evaluates (to the best of my ability with the data available), the impact of the different budget scenarios and what different property tax rate increases necessary to close the funding gap.

• http://www.wheeleronboard.com/docs/20100214-analysis-wheeler.pdf (Acrobat PDF); or

• http://www.wheeleronboard.com/docs/20100214-analysis-wheeler.xls (Excel spreadsheet)

If you download the Excel spreadsheet, you can even plug in your own home assessments from 2009 and 2010 to measure the personal impact of adjusting the tax rate. At this point in the process, I don’t like trying to address a budget challenge by manipulating the tax rate, but I think the public deserves some factual information about the different scenarios and how that might impact their personal pocketbooks. At this point, the burden has been put on local government and it has few revenue tools at its disposal. We all need to understand the cost-benefit of the status quo, the current tax rate, which in reality is a tax reduction.

…

In the analysis I have provided, here is the bottom line for the median household (2009 sales price) in Albemarle.

• With the worst case state funding scenario (new reductions of $9 million), a property tax rate of 86.5 cents would fund Dr. Moran’s budget with only Tier 1 cuts implemented. That rate would increase ANNUAL tax payments by $272.08 for the median priced home when compared to 2009.

• In the best case state funding scenario, a property tax rate of 81.9 cents would balance the budget and increase ANNUAL tax payments by $146.19 for the median priced home when compared to 2009.

This discussion at the Daily Progress was pretty informative.

* Thank you to Deedstreet for pointing me to the below-referenced study.

The quality of local public schools is widely believed to be a key determinant of housing prices.1 However, the strength of the consensus is puzzling, given the formidable empirical challenges facing any homeowner or empirical researcher seeking to answer the question carefully.2 First, good schools usually come bundled with other neighborhood qualities– such as proximity to employment, shopping and recreational conveniences and neighborhood peers. Because the homebuyers who enjoy (and can afford) such amenities tend to congregate together, it is difficult to isolate the effect of schools from the effect of these other traits that accompany good schools. Second, it is difficult to disentangle the valuation of the schools themselves (school facilities, curriculum, teachers and principals) from the valuation of the quality of peers available at the school. Common measures of school quality (such as test scores) typically reflect both the quality of the education being offered and the characteristics of the incoming students.3 It is unclear whether homebuyers are paying for quality schools or quality classmates
for their children.

Google Rocks.

Personally, I’d feel a lot better about all of this if I trusted the government. (I’m surprised you made it to the bottom of the post)

Cross-posted at RealCrozetVA.

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I hadn’t. Huge thanks to Waldo for getting the Revenue Sharing Agreement. You can download it at Scribd.

The revenue sharing agreement between Albemarle and Charlottesville is a pointed point of consternation and disagreement and highlights the political (dysfunctional) relationship between the two Governments. This agreement and the relationship between the governments matter. To home buyers, sellers, residents (and Residents) – so many services are separate, but so many are and are perceived to be shared. Schools are clearly separate. (Albemarle – Charlottesville) Everything else is seemingly a matter of branding.

Tons of “ink” have been written recently about this agreement.*

Three of my favorite starting points are:

- Jennifer’s Revenue Sharing Agreement

- CVillePedia

- Revenue Sharing Agreement debated again

But have you actually read the agreement?

Inlookers, Charlottesville is surrounded by Albemarle, and to most people who don’t live in CharlAlbemarle, they are one and the same.

Charlottesville is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia with a population of 40,745^[1]. It is home to the University of Virginia which provides another 9,000 part-time residents. Charlottesville is located on 10.4 square miles of land and is completely surrounded by Albemarle County. Charlottesville is also the County seat, though it is an independent city with a separate government.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the two jurisdictions as one of 363 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) in the nation. Its 2005 population of 188,016 ranked 212th in the nation^[2]. The MSA also includes Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene and Nelson Counties.

* Google News Search by location is pretty nifty. Have a look at their sorta-accurate historical timeline of the revenue sharing agreement .

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One of the reasons people choose to relocate to (and stay within) Albemarle County is that our school systems are generally regarded as being quite good. Now that the Albemarle County Schools’ Budget/Funding request has been released, we need to do our part and see how we may help.

From the Albemarle County Public School Parents Council site:

The Superintendent’s Funding Request calls for $5.3 million in reductions, including:

• No salary increases of any kind for any employees; the projected 8 percent increase in health care costs and increased Virginia Retirement System expenses are covered by the request so employees will not receive a direct reduction in compensation for 2010-11;
• Increases in class size by one student in grades 4 through 12, a net loss of ~17 full-time equivalent teaching positions, many of which will be absorbed by attrition;
• Ten percent cuts in eligible operational budgets across the board for all schools and departments;
• Places hold on technology replacement and improvements;
• Reduces Learning Resources (textbooks, online resources, consumable materials) by $500,000;
• Reduces the transportation department by nearly $400,000, as efficiencies in routing, compensation, and program delivery are implemented. There will be fewer bus routes, longer bus ride times, expanded walk zones, and fewer bus drivers.
• Reduces professional development reimbursement funds by 50 percent.
• Introduces for the first time a student activities fee for athletic programs and reduces the programs we offer:
• A student activity fee of $75 per student, per sport, with a cap of $425 per family will be enacted.
• Freshmen athletic teams at Monticello High and Western Albemarle High will be eliminated.
• Junior Varsity coaching assistants will be eliminated at all high schools.
• Cuts instructional support funds for intervention and enrichment, CATEC, elementary and middle school summer school;
• Makes, for the third consecutive year, additional position cuts in at the central office, and in support services, including leadership reductions.

The Superintendent’s Funding Request is not balanced to current projected revenue. An additional $1 million in increased funds or further reductions must be made to meet current available revenue. The School Board will hold a series of budget work sessions in January, a Public Hearing on February 2, and another Telephone Town Hall on February 3 to hear feedback and concerns from the community. The Board may decide to revise the funding request before submitting it to the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors.

Please get involved.

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GRI, ABR, CRS, EPRO, SRES, ALC, GAA, SIOR, RSPS …

The above are some of the many designations Realtors can earn (with the accompanying annual fees) … the education provided by the courses can be valuable, but cluttering up a business card?

Why?

Consumers don’t care. (maybe they do about this one. A tiny bit)

Maybe they would about this one, courtesy of the inimitable Kris Berg:

6. The National Association of Realtors unveils a new designation designed to further underscore the agent’s value proposition. However, the “I’m an Expert at Everything because I Paid for this Course and Say So” accreditation is quickly scrapped because it lacks the requisite snappy acronym.

It is replaced with the “Delivering Unmatched Marketing by Applying Social Strategery” designation and, by mid-June, thousands of agents are officially calling themselves … well, isn’t it obvious?

(she’s joking)

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It’s been just over eight years since I received by Commonwealth of Virginia real estate license.

So now I’m an Associate Broker. No longer “just a Realtor” (and yes, brokers would look at me with disdain when I would say that I was not a broker)

Why the wait? No reason other than I never had a compelling reason to get my Virginia broker’s license.

That changed this year with the opening of Nest Realty Group in Charlottesville.

It’s a fact that the bar for entry into the real estate profession is laughably, perhaps criminally low. We wanted to change that. In Virginia the basic requirements to obtain a real estate license are 60 hours of education, don’t have a felony conviction and be at least 18 years of age. Pretty low. (Colorado, North Carolina are broker-only states, and each state has wildly different licensing requirements)

One of our core philosophies at Nest Realty Group is that we have high standards for our agents, so much so that we wrote this belief in Nest’s Core Philosophies – a Manifesto if you will (more to come about these beliefs over the course of 2010).

One way we ensure the above is that agents must achieve their brokers’ licenses by the end of their first year with Nest. Frankly, it’s not that much more of an achievement, but it’s something.

A lot of people talk about raising the bar within the real estate industry; I have for many years:

- Move Off The Blogs to Change NAR

- If A Realtor is Unethical in the Woods

- But, We’re ALL Ethical!

(and in fact, recently had the privilege of serving on a National Association of Realtors workgroup specifically tasked with increasing the level of professionalism of Realtors)

Why require Brokers’ licenses of our agents? Simple:

- In the licensing vernacular, it’s one step higher than a real estate licensee.

- It’s an accepted and acknowledged designation – by consumers.

- Experience is required. From the broker’s application form:

Experience Verification Forms verifying that the applicant has been actively engaged as a real estate licensee for at least 40 hours per week during 36 of the 48 months immediately preceding the date of application.

The difference? At Nest we’re actually doing something about it.

Update 8 January 2009: Real estate education requirements by states (PDF)

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Everything’s been on the table for non-government people for years.

Next year is going to be an interesting budgetary year. Brandon Shulletta writes in today’s Daily Progress:

School division leaders drafting budget requests are also wondering whether next year’s supervisors are more likely to maintain the current real-estate tax rate of 74.2 cents per $100 of assessed value or increase the rate to 77.2 cents — two options officials have keyed on. At the 77.2-cent rate, county heads project that the average homeowner would pay the same real-estate taxes next year as under this year’s rate because assessed home values are declining.

No matter how it’s framed, that’s still raising taxes.

Brandon covers a lot of ground, including the Charlottesville-Albemarle revenue sharing agreement.

Albemarle County assessments are going to be a hotly-debated topic this year.

Rather than complain about or note how ridiculous it is for local governments to decide how much they are going to spend before they know what their actual income is going to be, I’d rather come up with possible solutions.

The current Albemarle County School budget is here; the proposal for the 2011 Fiscal Year doesn’t come until January.

What are your ideas for reducing the Albemarle County School budget, without negatively impacting our childrens’ educations?

- Fewer bus stops? Have all the kids meet at the front of the subdivision.

- What impact would year-round schooling have on the budget?

- How much money would be saved by turning off lights methodically and religiously? Are they already using CFLs?

- Print less

- Make less copies and have the students take more notes.

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This bill in the General Assembly makes no sense.

Or … get away with it for fifteen years and you’re good to go. Or … after fifteen years, there’s nothing left to learn. Can’t teach old dogs new tricks?

I’ve been assured that the Virginia Association of Realtors will fight this bill; hopefully they’ll have better luck in the House of Representatives, because the bill has unanimously sailed through committee and the Senate. The red italics indicate the proposed change

C. The Board may waive any requirement under the regulations relating to education or experience when the broker or salesperson is found to have education or experience equivalent to that required. The Board shall waive the broker education requirement for any applicant for a brokers license who has, for more than 15 years, owned a real estate brokerage firm and during that time, maintained an active license as a real estate salesperson.

What? If nothing else, this proposal highlights the remarkably low barrier of entry to the real estate profession. That not one Senator felt compelled to vote against it is either astounding or not surprising at all.

This strikes me as an attempt to shore up the flagging real estate business model that has dominated the industry for the last thirty forty fifty plus years. Pure politics wielded by those who are seeking to stave off evolution and obsolescence. Or as Rob says so eloquently:

But at the heart of evolutionary theory is the notion of competition. Evolution is not, as popular usage of the phrase has come to mean, a peaceful, gradual change from one state to another. It is a violent conflict, with winners and losers, and the losers in evolutionary struggle almost always die.

Why are education, evolution and innovation so anathema to many of those in power, who have been in the business for so long?

If time allowed I’d go to the General Assembly and wander the hallways making inquiries of those who have already voted for this bill and lobby those in the House who have yet to vote. But, this is the best forum I have available.

I’m trying to be open minded about this, trying to keep perspective. Maybe I’m mis-reading the bill’s intent. I welcome any defense of the proposed change. Please – educate me (and do it quickly, because there might be another bill out there removing all real estate education requirements).

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From today’s Daily Progress:

A public hearing on Charlottesville Superintendent Rosa Atkins’ proposed $58.1 million budget for fiscal 2008-09 was as over as soon as it started at Thursday’s School Board meeting.

Though no one spoke Thursday, the public will have another chance to comment on the budget on Feb. 21.

It’s a shame to see citizens abdicating their responsibility to themselves, their fellow citizens and the children. Better public schools are one of the absolute best ways to increase property value. Where were the homeowners?

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Remember when you worked on a document or presentation with somebody and you would email it back and forth with the changes? That is so last month. In working on this presentation on blogging for the past week or ten days, we used Google’s Presentation (Powerpoint for the unenlightened) to work together. Chatting within the presentation making changes was mighty efficient.

I’ve said before, and this is a clear example, effecting change needs to be at least a two-pronged approach. Working from outside the aging gorilla’s reach is effective, but working within the behemoth’s reach in tandem with those outside efforts should prove much more effective. For better or worse, those to whom we are talking this afternoon make decisions that affect tens of thousands of Virginia Realtors. Influencing their conversation is but one way to get things done.

In an example of the Web 2.0 world, I’ve spoken to Ben Martin dozens of times, (only a couple of times on the phone, the rest on IM or Skype) worked on this presentation for a couple of hours, and have yet to meet him, but have full confidence that today’s talk will go smoothly. I’m looking forward to the question and answer part.

Update 1 October 2007:

Sites referenced today:

Cindy Jones’ blog
Merv Forney’s blog
Bloodhound Blog
Rain City Guide
Inman Blog
Robert Scoble
Blip TV (RSS explained)
Pewinternet
Rembex (real estate blog search)
Cluetrain Manifesto
Creative Commons (copyrighting)

Update 05 January 2008: Google just released embedd-ability, so I re-posted with the embedded presentation.

Technorati Tags: blogging, real estate, realtor, var

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I may have the opportunity to contribute to a discussion (a Virginia Association of Realtors “workgroup”) regarding how to improve Realtors’ image. I try to enter everything with an open mind; that said, my first thought is a simple one – improve the product. I have yet to hear a successful Realtor say that either the entrance standards or continuing education standards were remotely sufficient. Let’s work on raising the standards of practice and then work on image. So long as people enter this profession because they don’t have anything better to do and because it’s perceived as “easy,” our profession’s image will suffer.

Technorati Tags: realtor

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Our area is expecting a little bit of snow today and this evening. For the most up to date info, I have found that NBC29 tends to have the most accurate info. Albemarle’s school closing link is a dead link to NBC29.

We tend to have an inordinate amount of school closings, in my opinion. The primary reason for this is that our counties still are quite rural. My understanding is that if one rural road is dangerous, the entirety of the school division shuts down.  That we still have so much rural areas is gratifying in a way, and one of the reasons Central VA is so desirable.

Surprisingly, 29 does not yet have their red jackets on yet.

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All over.

From Brian Wheeler’s SchoolMatters: Where is Albemarle Growing?:

I recently updated my analysis of the Albemarle County building reports from the past two years which document each quarter where new building permits are being issued in the County.  These do not reflect newly approved developments (e.g. Old Trail Village), but rather homes in developments previously approved where a building permit has now been issued.

The report includes all types of housing, but my analysis is limited to single family detached homes, as those are a leading indicator of future enrollment growth for Albemarle County Schools.

If you look at the list of proposed and current housing developments used by the Redistricting Committee and Dr. Castner in isolation, you can easily conclude about 50% of the development is coming up Route 29 North.  However, this report does not include Old Trail Village or Wickham Pond (two developments in Crozet submitted after the committee started its work).  It also does not include the proposed development at the Breeden Farm (south of I-64 near Mill Creek and 5th Street).  The Breeden Farm alone could be larger than all of the growth projected for Crozet (i.e. there could be housing for more than 12,000 people, the number projected for Crozet).

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Last night the Albemarle County School Board (finally!) voted to redistrict the County’s schools. WINA and the DP have their roundups, but I think the best commentary is that provided by Brian Wheeler, the only member of the Board who  blogs about his governmental experience.

I did a search on Google that was for the following words:

lessons in humility, school redistricting

Would you believe of the over 9,200 hits the number one item was a story about redistricting in Albemarle County schools in 1993. It was written by a mediator who used the Sutherland middle school redistricting as a case study in conflict resolution.

What got me searching for insights on humility was a bible verse:

Matthew 23:12 – Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.


I want to talk about humility, not humility we might possess before a God, but rather humility before an immense community challenge like redistricting.

Brian feels, and logically argues, that the best interests of the entire community were not represented. Agree with him or not, that he has the conviction and intestinal fortitude to stand for what he believes is the right path for the County is commendable. Read his remarks; they are very worthwhile and about as transparent as government can get.

Important decisions and processes like this are why I continue to get involved and why I encourage everybody to get involved. As we grow, so must our world-views.

If we have to redistrict again in the Western Albemarle area in two years, I hope the uproar will be significant and that people remember the one dissenting vote.

Technorati Tags: albemarle, growth

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The redistricting saga continues. WINA notes last night’s decision here. The DP weighs in here. Most importantly, Brian Wheeler, At-Large member of the School Board,clarifies a few items on his blog.

Of note -

At last night’s meeting we also learned the following about enrollment as of 9/6/05 :
Total students = 12,433 (60 above projection for this year)

Agnor-Hurt is 37 students above projection

Brownsville is 19 students above projection

Crozet is 30 students above projection

Henley is 29 students above projection

If you are wondering where the bulk of the growth is – look at the numbers above. Three of the four schools above the projected numbers are in the Western Albemarle District. A wise man said to me recently that if you cannot hit the school with a rock, don’t be assured that your kids will go there …

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