Irvine Real Estate Blogger

$8000 Federal Tax Rebate Updated

First-time home buyers and move-up buyers have another great reason to get off the fence, pre-approved and on the road to purchasing a home! The benefit to first-time homebuyers is a tax credit up to $8,000 and for move-up buyers a tax credit up to $6,500. But this opportunity ends in April.

• Between November 7, 2009 and April 30, 2010, homebuyers that have a signed binding contract to purchase a home may be eligible for the tax credit. The transaction must close no more than 60 days after April 30, 2010.
• First-time homebuyers may receive a credit of 10 percent of the purchase price, up to the $8,000 tax credit amount. If you have never owned a home before or have not owned a principal residence in the last three years, you are considered a first-time homebuyer.
• For home-owners, a tax credit of $6,500 is available for homeowners who have lived in their current residence for at least five of the past eight years. Homebuyers can also receive a 10 percent credit up to $6,500 when they contract to purchase a home between now and April 30, 2010, provided they close no more than 60 days after this deadline.

The tax credit does not have to be repaid provided you live in the new home for a minimum of three years. Military families are exempt from this stipulation.

For an exhaustive and detailed Q & A by Sonia M. Younglove, Esq., see the latest California Association of Realtors extensive article on this subject.

The recently enacted American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 or ARRA, commonly referred to as “The Stimulus Bill,” created a tax credit for first time Home Buyers. Most first time home buyers wonder what the specific qualifications are for this $8,000 tax credit. Below are six steps to determining your eligibility:

1. Who is a First-Time Buyer? The bill defines a first time home buyer as anyone who has not owned a property/home/real estate for the past three (3) years.

2. How does the Tax Credit Work? The tax credit is received when you file your taxes the year after your home/real estate purchase. In other words, the first time home buyer does not receive any cash at the time escrow closes, nor does the 1st time home buyer receive any assistance with closing costs through the escrow. Instead it is added to any refund you would be due on your taxes in the year following your home purchase.

3. Can I Receive theTax Credit of $8,000 Even If I Owe No Taxes?: You, as a first-time home buyer, can still qualify even if you own little or no taxes. (more…)

When you, the buyer, purchase a condo in a multi-unit/hi-rise building, you may not be aware of the unintended consequences that can arise due to your neighbor(s) defaulting on their mortgage(s) and/or condo/association fees.

Depending upon how many homeowners in your condominium building are in default–those of whom have stopped paying their mortgages and association dues–will directly impact the condominiums reserves and the funds necessary to operate and maintain the integrity of the building. As a result, the HOA (Homeowner’s Association) may have to vote to increase the association dues/and or propose a special assessment for each and every homeowner in the building to cover the short fall resulting from your neighbors’ defaulting on their loans and/or dues. This problem can be compounded depending upon how many of the condos in the building are in default. (more…)

Photo Courtesy of NBC.com
The buzz in home purchases/sales revolves around distressed properties these days–namely, REO’s or bank-owned homes. If there is one story that peaks a buyer’s interest, it is the REO home market. The reason is simple enough: the buyer believes that REO’s equal great deal or steal. But are bank-owned homes the real deal? Let’s take a closer look:

If you happen to be a first-time homebuyer or a novice in terms of the homebuying process, an REO (Real Estate Owned) home or bank foreclosure requires seeking the assistance of a knowledgable real estate professional. At first blush, the pricing may look enticingly attractive.

In her article entitled “Foreclosure Sales And Pretend Pricing,” Kris Berg of The San Diego Home Blog writes that the “pretend pricing method or (PPM) is an entirely different and oft-mysterious approach to the whole conundrum of determining what the market value really is for a home. Once a lender has foreclosed on a home, the PPM comes into play.”

Foreclosures are often priced 20-30% below a “regular sale”–that is a home that actually has equity in it and is not over encumbered or “under water”, so to speak. That said are REO homes real deals or not? Most home foreclosures are priced way under the market just to create hype. Welcome to the wild west side of the home pricing market. These properties will garner multiple offers with the final sales price often thousands of dollars above the original asking price. Not only does this breed disappointment, disillusionment and frustration among buyers who are looking to own and occupy the property, but these homes typically will sell to the highest bidder who also has a large cash down payment. (more…)

Photo courtesy of The Truth About Mortgage
With the financial markets in turmoil, and with the luster lost in the real estate market, one wonders where the savvy buyer/investor is placing his/her dollars. If you remove gold bullion, and/or stashing your money under the mattress from the safe haven equation, I would say that the REO (real estate or bank-owned) market is currently vying for the home buyer’s/investor’s cash.

I’ve been tracking the REO market here in Irvine for my buyers and sellers. Buyers want to know that if they decide to purchase a home now that their investment is protected from a further market decline. They feel that if they focus on foreclosed properties, then they have, to some extent, a built-in cushion just in case the real estate market experiences further declines. Whether or not this perception proves to be true is still debatable. However, this is the buyer’s/investor’s view of the current state of the real estate market. (more…)

Photo courtesy of Tim Larson of Grey Clad Mystery

We all search for perfection in the real world. We look for the perfect person with whom we can bond. We look for the perfect culinary or wine-tasting experience. We look to catch the perfect wave. We look to achieve the perfect SAT scores; well, you get the picture. We all strive toward that elusive dream of perfection in whatever it is that we deem important in our lives.

Fast forward to the way in which buyers/consumers search for the perfect place to call home versus the way in which real estate web developers construct a real estate site. In his funny and illuminating article entitled Rethink Real Estate Search, in Inman News, Marc Davison, of 1000 Watt Consulting points out that real estate internet sites are engineered by programmers–”guys and gals with 180 IQ’s–guided by folks who get their kicks from Excel.”

A programmer might construct a search by zip code, or create an application that includes home-value estimates that “can never be accurate, no matter how many Ph.D.s are thrown at them;” or create searches that are “cluttered by advertising;” or provide maps that are either “hybrid,” “satellite” or “list” views (“humans don’t search from space”), instead of speaking to what real people are looking for when they search for the perfect place to live.

And while it is true that statistical data has demonstrated that over 80% of buyers/consumers begin their search for the perfect home online, their home search continues off line, on the ground, and at the local level in conjunction with a real estate professional

(more…)

We lived in Tucson, Arizona when our children were infants, and, in the desert climate, we socialized around the pool. To ensure that our kids were pool safe, we enrolled them in a program that would help them survive in the event that they fell or found their way into the pool in an unguarded moment. The swim program taught babies 6 months to 6 years old to save themselves in an accidental water encounter. This was a first-step in trying to avert a tragedy.

In the Friday, May 30th edition of the Orange County Register, Michael Mello, in his article entitled “Take Steps for Safer Swimming,” sums it up in a few words: “Three seconds. One inch of water.” This is the time and the amount of water needed for an infant or toddler to drown. A kiddie pool holding water only an inch deep demonstrates all it takes to drown a small, unattended child.”

Were you aware that drowning is the leading cause of death in children under five? Fire officials urge homeowners to install multiple barriers, as well as other safety measures around pools and spas, such as fences with self-closing and locking gates, and net covers. Other approaches to pool safety include the following: adult supervision, barriers, and classes such as swim lessons and CPR.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends multiple safety measures such as “pool and spa drain covers to help keep children from becoming entrapped and an alarm that will go off after seven seconds if a door to the back yard is opened by a child.”

Even if one doesn’t have children of their own, homeowners need to be mindful that their neighbor’s children can get into their yard, where the pool or spa may not have a cover or a fence.

Photo Courtesy of the Orange County Register On-Line, 05/29/08

For further information, please visit the following web sites:

http://www.abcpoolsafety.org

http://www.usla.org

http://www.swimforlife.org

http://www.choc.org/community/safetycenter.cfm

Long before the sub-prime mortgage debacle became a part of our common vernacular, Freddie Mac instituted a campaign entitled, “Don’t Borrow Trouble,” in which specific steps were put forward in order to avoid “borrowing pitfalls.” Education, of course, is the best defense against predatory lending practices. An important initial step in protecting families and their homes is understanding your rights and educating yourself in the home buying process.

If you are considering an Adjustable Rate Loan Program be an informed consumer by asking the following questions:
1. Ask what the initial interest rate will be (your start rate).
2. Ask how often the interest rate will adjust and the dates upon which the interest rate changes will occur.
3. Ask the name of index used to adjust the interest rate (e.g. Libor, COFI, etc.)
4. Ask what the interest rate spread will be or what your interest rate will adjust to when your rate change does occur.
5. Ask how often your interest rate will adjust.
6. Ask what the lifetime cap of the interest rate will be above the initial start rate.
7, Ask how many points you will have to pay (each point translates into a percent of the loan amount for which you are paying) and what your total fees will be.
8. Ask what your APR or Annual Percentage Rate will be (your interest rate plus the total cost of your loan)
9. Ask if there is a pre-payment penalty associated with your loan and what the cost will be (No, you do not want one!)
10. Ask as many questions as you need in order to understand the loan program you are obtaining. You should have received a written Truth-in-Lending Statement outlining the interest rate you were promised, along with all of the charges associated with the loan, at the beginning of the loan process. Don’t sign the loan documents if they do not appear to be correct.

For more information on the subject, click here

They are both solid investments in your future.

According to the National Association of Realtors, on average the value of a home doubles every ten years. In addition, most people’s personal wealth comes from real estate. A personal note: I bought a condo in Irvine in 2000 for $178,500; I sold it in 2007 for $429,000. You can do the math, and see that I made a nice profit, even after paying all costs of the sale.

Education produces the same profit potential. High school graduates don’t have much future earning power. College graduates at the B.A. or B.S. level have a much higher earning power. And it increases exponentially with a Master’s Degree or Doctorate Degree. Whether it’s for yourself or your children… just keep writing those tuition checks… there will be future pay-back in terms of long-term earnings.

In Irvine, we are fortunate in having several higher level education opportunities. Several two-year colleges in the area, regional four-year colleges including the award-winning Chapman University, and the Irvine campus of the prestigious University of California.

And what about current investment in real estate? Interest rates are still at historic lows, and prices of Irvine real estate are comparatively low. It’s a great time to buy! A possible scenario: a home you could have bought two years ago for $600,000 is now priced at $500,000 or less. Given that real estate always appreciates over time, doesn’t that sound like a good time to call a Realtor?

As of 6 pm on April 23rd there are 887 active listings in Irvine; 479 of them are under $729,750 (the new guidelines for first time buyer loan programs); 411 of them are two bedrooms or more with one or one and one-half baths; 391 of them are two bedrooms and two baths. If you are not a first-time buyer, there are still many opportunities for continued home ownership: 133 2-bedroom, 2-bath homes priced up to $500,000; 258 2-bedroom, 2-bath homes priced up to $600,000.

Isn’t it a good time to call a Realtor?

I usually make it a point to scan the Real Estate sections of the L.A. Times, the Orange County Register, and the New York Times at some point over the weekend. However, I overlooked an article regarding 10 zip codes in Southern California that actually experienced price appreciation in the 1st quarter of 2008 as compared with the 1st quarter of 2007. Thankfully I came across Elaine Carlson’s article in PalosVerdesSource.com entitled Hottest SoCal Zip Codes.

The numbers were based on at least 20 sales in each of the zip codes as reported by DataQuick Information Systems. In Orange County, Irvine’s zip code 92603, which encompasses the villages of Quail Hill, Turtle Rock (including Shady Canyon), and Turtle Ridge, experienced an 18.0% increase in the median sales prices for existing single family detached homes as compared to the 1st quarter of 2007, Newport Coast’s 92657 zip code had an increase of 27.4% in the median sales price, and Newport Beach’s 92663 zip code encompassing Lido Isle and Balboa Peninsula had a 66.8% in the median sales price as compared to the 1st quarter of 2007.

Why do “some markets sizzle, while others fizzle?” Proximity to the beach where demand is high and inventory is relatively low has a great deal to do with price appreciation. These coastal areas have buyers who are able to qualify for good fixed rate loans, whereas the interior part of the state had borrowers who were stretching to afford homes, many of whom fell victim to the sub-prime mortgage debacle. (See my article entitled Which Cities are on Top for Home Sellers in California).

To view the cities with the biggest losses, Click here.

Not all city of Irvine addresses are served by the Irvine Unified School District.

The question arises time and time again: If I buy such and such property in Irvine, will my child be able to attend X elementary, middle, high school? The answer is: Don’t assume anything! If you want your child to attend a specific school within the Irvine Unified School District, the best course of action is to check, and then, double-check again!

All too often, buyers do not verify the school boundaries prior to purchasing a home. They assume that if a particular school is within a few blocks of the property they wish to purchase, then it follows that the school is within the property’s school attendance boundary. Wrong! In fact, a school can be within walking distance of the property, and still be outside the school’s designated attendance boundary.

I’ve seen real estate agents make the mistake of inputing the wrong school in the multiple listing service. In so doing, they are unwittingly misleading prospective buyers. For instance, today I had a prospective buyer e-mail me regarding whether University High School is within the attendance boundary of the high-rise condos in the 92612 zip code. This would include the airport area’s mid and high-rise condos of Watermarke, Avenue One, the Plaza, and the Marquee–all of which happen to fall within the Santa Ana Unified School District, not the Irvine Unified School District. There are some buyers (and, indeed, even some real estate agents) who are under the assumption that just because these condos are located in the city of Irvine (92612), that they necessarily fall within the Irvine Unified School District’s attendance boundaries. Not so.

One other caveat: Be sure to check the attendance boundary changes for future years. Just because a school is located in an attendance boundary for 2008 doesn’t preclude the school from a future boundary change. Again, in the airport area, the Metropolitan neighborhood used to be within the Irvine Unified School District’s boundary. However, now the attendance boundary of the Metropolitan falls within the Santa Ana Unified School District. Similarly, the neighborhood of Las Palmas, within the village of Westpark, used to be within the University High School attendance boundary. A homeowner of a Las Palmas condo wound up selling her condo and moving to the University Town Center just so her daughter would be able to attend University High School. She sold her condo because University High was removed from the attendance boundary of Las Palmas a few years ago. To her chagrin, her former neighborhood was recently re-installed and is now again within the University High School attendance boundary.

Therefore, I always recommend that if parents are bent on having their child/children attend a specific school, then the best way to verify if a particular school falls within the desired attendance boundary is to go to the Irvine Unified School District’s web site and check. This is very easy do. Scroll down to Enrollment, and then over to Assigned Neighborhood Schools. Click on this and it will bring you to an area where you can type in the address of the property, and it will display the elementary, middle, and high school attendance area for that particular address. You may also wish to click on the Irvine Unified School District’s School Boundaries. The site also provides a future map indicating boundary changes.

Currently the attendance boundaries for University High School include the villages of Quail Hill, Rancho San Joaquin, Turtle Ridge, Turtle Rock, University Park, and University Town Center.
Better to be informed than sorry!

If you are a home owner looking to actually sell your home in this season of 2008 in the current Irvine real estate market, and not just hoping to sell, then pricing your home realistically makes the best sense–that is not at 2006 sales prices but at today’s comparable home sale prices. If the home is priced commensurate with the recent sales, then the home will sell.

The buyers out there, (and, yes, there are lots of buyers looking and comparing homes and prices) are savvy buyers. They are looking for the best deals. If there’s one thing of which Buyers are aware, it is the prices/values of homes and condos for which they have been looking–often for the better part of a year or more. Moreover, buyers are acutely aware of the foreclosure and short-sale market. These properties scream motivation–even if they are, in fact, a past buyer’s folly or mistake. That’s the buzz, and the buyers are sticking to it…at least that’s what we’re seeing.

Buyers are comparison shopping. Their antennae goes up when a new home comes on the market. Prospective buyers have frequented all of the comparable new homes around and have visited many Open Houses. Buyers are searching on the internet for those real estate web sites and blogs for active real estate listings and comparable home sales, or are seeking the advise of friends and family who may have purchased homes or read about properties for which the debt now exceeds the market value. Thus, buyers are very cautious about the real estate market in general.

Laurie Manny of LongBeachRealEstateHome.com correctly suggests in her article entitled, 8 Deadly Selling Mistakes, that overpricing a home may lead to the opposite result–ultimately a lower price–in other words, chasing the market down. Indeed, overpricing your home will send buyers off to look at and choose to purchase those homes that are reasonably priced in today’s market, leaving the overpriced home a bridesmaid, and never the bride. Moreover, chasing the market down not only can result in a greater loss in the home seller’s net equity, but may also could push a financially shaky seller into a short-sale or foreclosure situation.

On the other hand, homeowners who price their homes to sell can entice multiple offers and actually wind up selling the home for above the asking price–an anomaly in this market, but an increasing event. In her article of April 13th in the New York Times entitled, “Bidding Wars? In This Market?, Elsa Brenner, writes, of an owner in the Westchester area of New York who originally listed their house at $1.2 million, much less than they would have hoped for in better times, but, instead, the relatively low price drew three offers in five days. “In the end, the house sold for $1.35 million, which is what the asking price probably would have been in 2005, when the market was far stronger.”

It is also important to keep in mind most home sellers are, at the same time, home buyers –looking to either size up or down or, if relocating to a new city, purchase a home once they have settled in a new area. So, if the seller can get their home sold fairly quickly, then they can typically negotiate a better price on their new home purchase rather than having a contingency fettering their sale, or, perhaps, the lost opportunity to buy a great home value.

Two elementary schools within the Irvine Unified School District were named a California Distinguished School for 2008, the state’s top honor for individual schools. Based on the results of test scores, only 5% of all schools statewide are awarded this prize, and the award rotates between the elementary, middle, and high school campuses each year. This prestigious prize was awarded to Alderwood Basics Plus elementary school, located in the village of Quail Hill and Canyon View elementary school, situated in the village of Northwood in Irvine, CA.

In an April 1st Day article entitled “Market Bottom Officially Reached at 2:34 pm This Afternoon; Impasse Between Buyers And Sellers Finally Resolved,” Kevin Boar, of 3OceansRealEstate.com, blogged about a property in Stockton, CA that had finally sold after going through five real estate agents, several thousand dollars in price reductions and 30 long months on the market, signaling that the absolute bottom in the housing market had indeed been reached at this particular hour on this appointed day, at which time we could all breathe a collective sigh of relief.
While written tongue and cheek, there is a great deal of truthiness to this, if I can quote Steven Colbert’s newspeak word. If the housing market is in the tank, then why are all these buyers pouring through Open Houses recently? Is it just curiosity? Or do that many people simply have nothing better to do with their free time on the weekends than to frequent Open Houses? (A cheap form of entertainment, maybe?) My take on this up tick in Buyer foot traffic is that:

1. Buyers intuitively feel down deep in their gut that the housing market has “bottomed,” or “corrected.” (Truth be told, Buyers all seemingly appear out of nowhere and disappear into nowhere as a group.)
2. Buyers are experiencing housing market withdrawal in what is coined in real estate speak as “pent up buying demand.” (There has been a house buying strike since the mortgage debacle of the summer of 2007, and the fence sitters appear to be getting antsy.)
3. Re-sale housing inventory has shrunk dramatically since last year at this same time. (Sellers who don’t have to sell have taken their homes off the market, and we are not seeing the re-sale inventory increase dramatically for this “springtime” of the year.)
4. New home builders have either opted out of the current market by postponing new building, while, at the same time, cutting existing new home prices to reduce their current inventories quickly.
5. Buyers are becoming increasingly aware of the new favorable lending guidelines, i.e., the temporary increase of the conforming rate loan limit (previously capped at $417,000) up to $729,750 through the end of 2008, while interest rates continue to remain attractively low (30 year fixed rates continue to hover around the 6% mark with good FICO scores (above 720).

So what does it all mean? Well my “gut feeling” tells me that Buyers have their ear to the ground. Buyers intuitively know when a new listing comes on the market, and are in tune with what they consider to be a “good buy/value.” Buyers know when a home is “over priced” or “priced-to-sell.” Buyers know when other Buyers are interested in the same property that they are interested in. Buyers know when a home looks and shows well, and is priced right, because Buyers today are well educated…have done their homework, and then some.

Real estate is, after all, local, and what we’re seeing in the Irvine, CA housing market is an increase in demand as evidenced by the number of houses and condos going into escrow (that is, selling), and a diminished housing supply for this time of year. Both of which should translate into higher homes sales and stabilizing prices.

Sounds like the impasse between Buyers and Sellers may be passe…yesterday’s news. And that’s the truthiness of the housing stalemate…it’s over. And that’s no April Fools’ joke!

Everyone has his/her own reason for moving from one place to another. Over the past century we have become an increasingly mobile people. We uproot ourselves and our families seeking a better life, reinventing ourselves.

We move for a job relocation. We move to improve the quality of our lives and of those of our children or grandchildren. We are looking for a vacation or second home. We are looking for a retirement community. We are looking to move near excellent schools for our children or future families. We are seeking to move close to a university environment. We are looking to move from a colder to a milder climate. We are looking to move from a large single family home into a condo, town home or high-rise. We are seeking to move from a condo or town home into a larger single family home. We are looking to move to a golf course community. We are seeking to move to a coastal or a beach community. We are looking to move to a safer environment. We are looking for cultural enrichment.

In short, welcome to Irvine, CA whose everyday motto is “another day in paradise.” Irvine, CA has a dynamic and healthy business environment. Irvine, CA has real estate catering to the taste of one and all: homes, properties, condos, high rise and low rise town homes, second homes, vacation properties, golf course communities, beach communities, and retirement communities.

Welcome, home to Irvine, CA where lifestyle and real estate meet and fulfill the wants and needs of people of all ages in which one and all find their very own piece of paradise.

Venturing into real estate can be compared to jogging in that just as you would want to get a health check-up before embarking on any serious exercise program, so too would you also want to get pre-approved by a lender to see if your current financial “health” can support a housing payment.

Exercising, like real estate, can seem daunting: it takes research and commitment to do both right. But while you can exercise on your own, some choose to seek the assistance of a fitness trainer or coach to help follow an exercise program; similarly, some find that looking for real estate on their own suits their needs just fine, while others, though, recognize and seek the value that a real estate professional can provide to the process.

While jogging ultimately enhances your overall well-being, energizes both your body and your mind, and allows you to take charge of your life, real estate instills a sense of pride of ownership, enhances your self-esteem, and allows you to be the master/mistress of your own castle.

Furthermore, as jogging or any consistent aerobic exercise will stave off diseases and extend the quality of your life, owning your own home has historically been a source of tax relief, enhancing your net income, and allowing you to have more disposable income for even a little self-indulgence on occasion. (Like, for example, enjoying that aged-to-perfection glass of wine—which, coincidentally, could help break down plaque build-up in your arteries just as a morning or afternoon jog would!)

As jogging and exercising regularly could actually add quantitative and qualitative years to your life (if coupled with other healthful lifestyle changes and activities, of course), owning your own home is a major step towards enhancing your future, securing your retirement—and fulfilling the American Dream of home ownership.

I came across an article entitled “Buyers jump into murky housing market,” by Zack Fox, a staff writer for the North County Times. The story is about how home prices in San Diego county’s Oceanside are finally becoming affordable enough for some buyers to “take the plunge,” while others still are playing “the waiting game.” This concern can, of course, be extrapolated to our local market as well, here in Irvine, CA.

The article features a couple of buyers who have been waiting to buy for years, and with median prices falling, the question for them is whether to buy now or to continue their wait. Some real estate agents suggest that prices will not go any lower and first-time buyers should act now. Some economists, on the other hand “laugh at the notion and advise patience.” One buyer’s view is voiced by an Oceanside teacher, Julie Beck, who is not as concerned with whether the real estate market has bottomed out or not, but rather she is “tired of dumping $2,000 a month in rent into a property where she cannot paint the walls.” “I’m not looking at a home for an investment. I’m looking at a home for a home,” said Beck, who said she plans to keep her 4-year-old twin daughters and 8-year-old son in Oceanside schools through graduation. “I won’t be ready to sell for the next 12 years, so it doesn’t matter if prices drop some more.”

Does her sentiment make sense? In our experience it makes perfect sense, if…and this is a big if

1. The buyer has a secure job, that is, no chance of being laid off or relocated in the next few years
2. The buyer plans to stay in the home for at least five to seven years (the normal course of a real estate cycle to come full circle)
3. The buyer has good credit (these days a FICO score above 700 is a must)
4. The buyer has the down payment, income requirements, credit history, job history, and can afford to make a housing payment (Principal, interest, taxes, insurance, and association) does not exceed approximately one-third of the gross monthly income
5. The buyer’s debt to income ratio does not exceed 38% of the gross monthly income (that is the total housing payment in #4 + revolving credit card debt (car payment, student loans, store credit card debt, etc.)
6. The buyer has access to a down payment (either from savings, gift, investments, etc.) of 20% of the purchase price (again, this is the “old school way”)

If you can say yes to the above, then, yes, it makes sense to move off of the fence/rental and into your very own home.

One of the first questions that buyers ask at Open Houses relates specifically to whether a home or condo falls within a particular school boundary. There is indeed a correlation between home values and great schools. It goes without saying that parents begin worrying about their children’s education as early as preschool. As more students vie to secure a spot in the top colleges and universities, the competition has become greater to give one’s child an edge and at an earlier age than in years past.

Prospective homeowners research schools when they begin to think about starting a family, and it is a driving force in the purchase of a home whose neighborhood falls within the boundaries of top-scoring schools.

One of the primary reasons we decided to move to Irvine was because of the great reputation of the Irvine public schools. When families have to decide whether to pay thousands of dollars for a private school education to ensure that their children receive the best education possible, we realize how blessed we are that we have a fabulous public school system. Indeed, great schools not only benefit our children’s education and opportunities to succeed in a competitive world, but a school’s reputation can add thousands of dollars to your property’s value.

Here in the villages of the University Town Center and Quail Hill in Irvine, we are privileged to have Turtle Rock Elementary and Alderwood Basics Plus elementary schools, respectively, both of which have been named California Distinguished Schools, as well as University High School, which is nationally-ranked among the top 100 high schools in the United States (#76 in 2008 according to the U.S. News & World Report). Moreover, in 2008 there were 31 students named National Merit Semi-Finalists, and University High continues to rank among the top high schools in Orange County for SAT scores. We are also fortunate to have one of the top rated universities in the University of California at Irvine also named as one of the top 100 in this year’s edition of U.S. News & World Report (#44 ) for America’s best colleges.

So irrespective of whether or not you have children of school age, you will be a seller at some point in the future. And the people to whom you will more than likely be selling will ultimately care about the quality of their neighborhood schools and the value they add to their children’s and grand children’s future educational success as well as the added value to the properties in which these schools are located.

For more information on the local schools go to the Irvine Unified School District. For more information University High School, see SchoolMatters.