Rent for Good Schools?

According to The Wall Street Journal, there’s a new trend happening in the real estate world, but the draw for families, of course, is not new. Families are choosing to rent rather than buy. But why? Quality schools are a major part of this new trend. 

Tenants, who are not interested in weathering the COVID era bidding wars over homes, are drawn to the luxury amenities and good school systems new rental communities offer in Litchfield Park, a suburb of Phoenix, Arizona. In fact, many of the tenants in these communities are affluent customers, with average family incomes ranging between $120,000-$150,000 a year.

But why are they not investing in homes? According to property owners, these families are looking for a great school system and community. In a place where homes are frequently rezoned, it makes sense that families would not want to be financially or emotionally burdened with moving if they were suddenly thrust into a different school assignment than they expected to be a part of with the purchase of a home. 

Schools are a significant driving force when it comes to where people choose to live. And now, these rental developments are tailor-made with this as a marketing focus. It makes sense that families would choose to pay higher rent in order to secure a spot in a community with schools they believe in. 

In fact, one tenant in a WSJ interview described his decision this way, 

Mr. Boe said they were drawn to Val Vista because the homes are new, located in a good school district and have a lot of outdoor spaces for the family to enjoy. “We spend five nights every week playing with the kids and wearing them out, whether it’s the park, the pool or the grill,” he said. “We’ve really enjoyed it.”

These patterns also confirm past research findings on family moves and school decisions that quality education will draw middle to upper income families to communities that might not otherwise be obvious choices for those populations. 

There is no doubt that quality education has an effect on neighborhoods. So why aren’t we leveraging this reality to assist communities that are in need? What if communities struggling to develop jobs and to grow suddenly had access to better education? This article and other research suggests that there would be more healthy and financially integrated neighborhoods if lower income neighborhoods had better school options. 

Want to learn more about this concept? Check it out here.