Now here is an interesting idea that I had never thought of before -- Realtors using state education scores to actually map out the desirable neighborhoods to live in. This is the tack being taken by one Florida Realtor, who recently put out this press release.

Jacksonville, FL (PRWEB) February 13, 2007 -- Starting today homebuyers all across the state of Florida can display a Google Map of all of the public schools in their county and the FCAT scores for the past five years. School grades are color coded so that buyers can at a glance identify potential neighborhoods to look at for homes. This map of "A" through "F" graded schools gives buyers more information about the neighborhoods where they are looking at homes. I constantly get asked by many buyers where the best schools are located when they shop for homes. If the buyers are new to the area it's often hard for them to visualize which neighborhoods have the best schools "I constantly get asked by many buyers where the best schools are located when they shop for homes. If the buyers are new to the area it's often hard for them to visualize which neighborhoods have the best schools," says Krista Fracke, Realtor. She continues, "By using this web page buyers can see the past five years of FCAT scores and narrow down where they want to search for homes." The web page, http://www.kristafracke.com/idxschools.php, is a mash-up of the popular Google Maps service that many people are familiar with using to see aerial pictures of cities. Once the user clicks on the Florida County they want to see, the map centers on that county. The map then displays colored markers that show the location of the schools in that county. The color of the marker indicates the school's grade from the last year. Clicking on the marker reveals the school's name and grades from the past five years. The web page may also be found from the home page, http://www.kristafracke.com, by clicking on the "Schools" link on the right hand navigation menu. Krista Fracke is a real estate agent in Northeast Florida serving Jacksonville, Ponte Vedra Beach, and St Johns County. In 2006, Krista closed over $30,000,000 in sales. Krista is member of RE/MAX's Chairman's Club and has one the highest ranked RE/MAX teams in the state of Florida.

Frankly, I like the idea of this service. When my darling wife and I were hunting for our current home, one of the issues was the local schools, because we were planning o adopt. As a teacher, I knew what I was looking for and was aware of the areas to look at and neighborhoods to avoid because of the schools. One house was actually rejected precisely because of that issue. I wonder, though, how many home buyers don't know what they are getting into.

I think that home buyers in Jacksonville, Ponte Vedra Beach, and St Johns County are going to be well-served by this service, and I certainly hope that Krista Fracke's idea is taken up by other Realtors around the country, including those here in Texas as she continues to track Ponte Vedra Beach and A rated schools in her area.

Paid Endorsement.

Posted by: Greg at 06:40 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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