Comments on: Why does Christopher Thornberg hate freedom?

By: RealEstater

RealEstater — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 17:07:48 +0000

High price levels actual has certain benefits. It’s a way to ensure the quality of your neighbors, which affects the quality of your neighborhood and the quality of your schools. If price were affordable, then anybody could move in next door. Those places are called ghettos.

By: Crossroads

Crossroads — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 01:52:45 +0000

That makes sense. Smarter people have smarter children and smarter schools.

Cupertino!

By: madhaus

madhaus — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 01:40:32 +0000

The myth of the good school: the book Freakonomics makes a pretty good case that the quality of the school is not the most influential factor in individual academic achievement. I propose that “good schools” result not from not the schools themselves, but from being populated by motivated students from households that can afford beat the competition to buy houses in “good school” areas.

Ross, a long time ago when I took my SATs for college I ordered a bunch of the supplementary reports you could ask for. And guess what was the best correlation with SAT score? High school grades? Nope. Number of AP classes taken? Nope. Percentage of kids in your high school who were college-bound? Nope? It was…. Family income!

Plus ca change, Plus c’est la meme chose.

By: Ross

Ross — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 01:19:38 +0000

So why do home shoppers so rabidly seek out “good schools”? Perhaps they recall their own miserable high school experience, and believe, “If I get my child into a good school, he/she won’t have to endure what I did.” However, I believe this is also a myth, and that “good schools” often inflict more misery through cliques and peer pressure than “not good schools.” I call this the 90201 Effect.

Also, make sure your kid plays plenty of computer games, and watches reality TV (to find out why, read “Everything Bad is Good For You”)

By: SantaClarite

SantaClarite — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 19:12:40 +0000

correction, that should have read “I’d only pay 300k, max 350k for a house that I can rent out for 3k per month” not 1k..

By: SantaClarite

SantaClarite — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 19:04:54 +0000

“You can buy a nice newish home in the 700K to 800K range, and rent them out for up to $3K / month without too much effort.”

I’d only pay 300k, max 350k for a house that I can rent out for 1k per month. so the rent has to rise 2.5x or price has to fall 60%. Wake me up when the price and the rent converge.

By: MSG

MSG — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 17:47:26 +0000

Really, San Ramon?? I’ve got to look into that too.

Wow, thanks for the heads up, guys. I didn’t know that the school districts in San Mateo County sucked that bad. Who would have thought. How about the schools in Burlingame? How are they?

Well, i’m not that upbeat on the prospects of public education in California. The public school system here is laying off teachers in the masses.

By: Real Estater

Real Estater — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 05:27:33 +0000

WG,

You might want to consider San Ramon for your investment property. School districts are excellent. You can buy a nice newish home in the 700K to 800K range, and rent them out for up to $3K / month without too much effort. Prices have bottomed there and should head up in the future. I think the location is quite promising, as it is within acceptable commute distance to the job centers in SF, Oakland, Pleasanton, all the way down to Fremont.

By: WillowGlenner

WillowGlenner — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 03:38:06 +0000

Oh sorry Crossroads, I see you already mentioned “Dangerous Minds”. LOL. I posted before I read all of the postings.

By: WillowGlenner

WillowGlenner — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 03:23:54 +0000

Right, San Mateo County schools are really horrible. Does anybody remember that really old Michelle Pfeiffer movie where she was a teacher in a “wrong side of the tracks” school (Dangerous minds, I think?). The scriptwriter actually based it on CARLMONT HIGH SCHOOL in Belmont! Not only that, Bill Clinton once spoke at Carlmont in the 90s to discuss his education agenda and not in a good way!
The fact that San Mateo and San Carlos/Belmont schools are so bad, is one reason I believe schools are only a secondary element to house prices here. My area Willow Glen has better schools than San Mateo county, for sure, although they are not the best schools in santa clara valley. And Campbell Union schools are MUCH, MUCH better than any schools in San Mateo/Seqouia district. The area in San Mateo county with excellent schools is Foster City- thats where you live if you want schools, but it is not the most expensive area up that way.