Support of District 200 Referendum

I am writing in support of the District 200 referendum and want early voters to know they can vote starting March 10th at the DuPage County Complex, March 20th for outlying sites and the election is on April 4th! I am confident that the silent majority of our community will rise up to overwhelmingly vote in favor of the referendum!
I would like to give you my perspective from the real estate industry’s point of view as to why I am voting for the referendum. I am the immediate past President of the Chicago Association of Realtors, the immediate past Commercial Real Estate Liaison to the National Association of Realtors and I am the current Treasurer of the Illinois Realtors. I am not writing in any official capacity with the Associations, but I am writing as a parent, taxpayer and homeowner in Wheaton. My experience serving in these leadership roles working with Realtors from across the country, in our state and local community gives me a unique perspective on one of the major factors that homeowners need to consider when voting for the referendum, “the quality of our schools directly impacts the value of our homes.” Sounds like a no brainer right? But I would like to share with you a few examples that help to quantify this statement:
According to a Realtor.Com survey, “The next generation of home buyers say they will move to the suburbs if it means they can find quality schools.” It goes on to say “millennials- the generation born between 1980 and 2000 are less likely than other generations to compromise on school districts when in house hunting mode and 52% of millennials said poor performing school districts are a deal breaker in their home search.”
The Brookings Institute sights another study that states living near a high-scoring public school district can raise home values $205,000.00 higher compared to homes located in neighborhoods with low-scoring school districts. In fact the study highlighted that housing costs near high scoring schools were 2.4 times higher on average or $11,000 more per year than homes located in school districts in the bottom fifth of homes.
Another Realtor.com survey suggests buyers are willing to put their money where their mouths are. One out of five home buyers said they would pay 6 to 10 percent above their budget for the right school district. One out of 10 would double what they would pay up to 20 percent. Even for buyers who don’t intend to send children to schools the quality of the school district is an important factor when shopping for homes.
Our school district has done an unprecedented evaluation of the needs of our schools…19 out of our 20 school buildings will have work being done to them…Hubble is the only exception since it is so new…the medium priced home in the district is valued at $322,300.00 and the initial yearly impact will be $180.00…a $500,000.00 home’s initial impact will be $285.00...the way the debt is structured takes into account existing debt declining over the years and becomes less because other debt is falling off. Please go to cusd200.org website and utilize the calculator that you can plug in the value of your home.
The quality of our schools directly impacts our home values and so it is vital for our community that we all vote in favor of the District 200 Referendum to not only keep our schools strong but our home values as well!