A family from a nearby town is looking at moving to Walpole this summer before the school year starts up. The family really likes the southeast region of Massachusetts, and is looking at the towns of Westwood, Sharon, and Walpole. An important thing for a potential home buyer to think about is home values and the education system. The family heard that an override did not pass in Walpole recently, and they are worried that if they move there, there may be very cheap home values but a poor education system. In Walpole, you can get much land and space for a great value. Comparably, Westwood and Sharon are far more expensive to live in, even though they have a good school system. However, if the override does not pass, home values would decrease because people would rather move to Westwood or Sharon for the education.
A local realtor (who wanted to remain anonymous) simply put it, “All I can say is that one of the many things people look at when planning to buy a home is the quality of the school system. If the override does not pass, there will be people with children who will not consider Walpole as a town to live in.”
Depreciating home value creates a depreciating town, and later everyone will wonder why they cannot sell their house, or why no one has moved to the town of Walpole. For those of you out there who have been in Walpole for a long time, and want to sell the house you have lived in for more than 30 years, this may not go as you had originally planned. The value of a house will be diminished if the town decides not to pass the override, therefore causing the quality of life and value of the town of Walpole to diminish.
Parents debating whether to move or not now have a lot to worry about. One such person, a mother of two kids (who prefered to remain anoynymous) said, “everyone is on the same page” in terms of the education in our town–as of now. She complemented on the town of Walpole that the last few years she can see that there is a sense of community in our town, and that the school system really values that aspect. For her, Walpole was a town that had a great price on homes that was right for her family, and the school system was really impressive.
However, she also said, “I would pay more to live in a town that puts its money into their education system.” As a former teacher herself, she agreed that class sizes can be difficult if they become too large and hard to handle, and that class size indicates student success.
Obviously, a major factor that homebuyers look at is the school system in the town. Do the math: if the override does not pass, people will not want to move to Walpole because the school system is lacking in many areas. When you have a quality school system, more people will want ther children in our classes, and house values will increase If the override does not pass, there will barely be enough funding for teachers and core classes, which will have a negative impact on the quality of our school.
Without academic challenges and the strive for creativity, both of which will be at stake depending on the outcome of the override, the school atmosphere would be simply boring and unbearable. A major reason why you would not want to move here, and enroll your kids in public school at Walpole.
Walpole right now is definitely a prime pick for people deciding to move for home values and education; however, if the override does not pass, these people are willing to pay more for the school system. Balance is an important quality to have. For Walpole, on June 2nd, the scale could tip drastically .
The override effect will not happen right away; instead, the effects will sneak up on home owners later like an insidious disease that hits you like a brick wall. Basically, people who are planning on voting “no” need to know what effect it will have on their property. This override affects everything in the town, from education to athletics to home values. For those people that have their kids in private school and are planning to vote no, think again. Your house might lose its value in the next decade.
