Parents' Real Estate Strategy: Schools Come First

Christine Haughney:

When Ann and Jonathan Binstock started shopping for an apartment in Manhattan in 2007, their first call was not to a real estate broker. Instead, they hired an educational consultant, to show them where the best schools for their daughter, Ellen, were. After the consultant suggested the most desirable zones , they chose a two-bedroom apartment near Public School 87 on the Upper West Side. Public records show it cost $1.975 million.

Ms. Binstock said the family's apartment "was a stretch financially."

"We ended up buying the apartment that we live in now based on the schools," she added. "All of our money is in our little two-bedroom apartment."

Now Ellen is entering second grade, and the Binstocks are finding that plenty of other parents shared their real estate strategy: P.S. 87 has become so overcrowded with students that, in first grade, Ellen had no gym class, and her lunch started before 11 a.m. It has a waiting list. The Binstocks heard that a neighboring school, P.S. 199, was also crowded, with its own waiting list.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at July 14, 2010 2:05 AM
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