Realtor.com has launched a new home search by school boundaries to help buyers narrow their search to specific elementary, middle and high schools.
Schools continue to play a major role in how buyers search for homes. More than 40 percent of potential homebuyers with children would use a school-led home search feature, according to Realtor.com. This is supported by the National Association of Realtors’ Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers 2016, which found almost half of all buyers with children ages 18 and younger are influenced by the quality of the school district in their neighborhood choice.
“Searching for homes by school has been the top requested feature by our users and showcases the importance of schools on home buying decisions,” says Chung Meng Cheong, Realtor.com’s chief product officer. “Our new school search feature makes it easy for those who are already familiar with a community to find homes within specific district boundaries.”
Cheong also noted that an April Realtor.com report found that 22 percent of Realtor.com visitors ages 35-44 identified the desire to be near good schools as one of their top reasons to purchase a home. Schools were the third behind only “being tired of their current home” (30 percent) and a change in family circumstances/composition (23 percent).
Visitors to Realtor.com can simply enter the name of a school into the search box. They are then presented on the map view with a “pin” showing the school name and location, along with homes for sale within the boundaries or nearby. Consumers have one-click access to a home’s full Realtor.com listing page.