From School Bells to Doorbells: Finding Your Dream Home in a Top-Notch Portland Metro School District

Summary:

Welcome to another exciting episode of "Off the Record: Talking Real Estate with Joe and Makayla." In this episode, we dive deep into the world of Oregon's school districts, focusing on Hillsboro, Clackamas, Portland, and Lake Oswego. Discover how school district quality impacts home prices and why it's essential for both families and investors.

 Episode Highlights:

Hillsboro School District:

 Top Elementary Schools: Jackson and Quatama, both with an impressive 8/10 rating.

Home Prices: 5 homes in Jackson Elementary between $530,000 and $660,000, and 2 homes in Quatama between $305,000 and $555,000.

Top Middle School: Brown Middle School, feeding into Central High School.

Lake Oswego School District:

 Top Elementary Schools: Westridge (10/10) and Forest Hills (9/10).

Home Prices: 31 homes in Westridge between $859,000 and $4.5 million, and 31 homes in Forest Hills between $949,000 and $11.5 million.

Top Middle School: Lake Oswego Junior High School.

Top High School: Lake Oswego High School, an impressive 10/10 rating.

Portland Public Schools:

 Top Elementary Schools: Ainsworth and Bridlemile, both with a 9/10 rating.

Home Prices: 57 homes in Ainsworth between $429,000 and $8.9 million, and 17 homes in Bridlemile between $500,000 and $4.4 million.

Top Middle School: West Sylvan Middle School (9/10).

Top High School: Grant High School.

Clackamas School District:

 Top Elementary Schools: Lynwood Elementary (10/10) and Happy Valley Elementary (8/10).

Home Prices: Only 4 homes available in Lynwood Elementary district between $375,000 and $800,000.

Top Middle School: Happy Valley Middle School (7/10).

Top High School: Clackamas High School (8/10).

Show your support for teachers and schools. Consider donating school supplies or supporting local schools in need. A strong education system benefits everyone and contributes to a thriving community.

Don't forget to visit our website at LivPortland.com, where you can find more information, access blog posts with additional school district data, and explore available homes in these top-notch school districts.

 Join us for future episodes as we explore more topics related to the Portland, Oregon real estate market. Thank you for tuning in, and we'll catch you next time on "Off the Record: Talking Real Estate with Joe and Makayla.

Thank you for listening to this episode. Stay up to date on the latest trends and insights by subscribing to our podcast and following us on social media.

For more information about buying or selling in the Portland Metro real estate market, please visit www.LivPortland.com or contact us directly.

We appreciate your feedback, so please leave a review and let us know what topics you would like to hear more about.

Transcript

 00:00:06:23 - 00:00:26:04

Joe

Welcome to Off the record Talking real estate with Joe and  Makayla. If you're interested in the Portland, Oregon real estate market and want the unvarnished inside scoop, you've come to the right place. Thanks for giving us all this. All right. Welcome to the podcast, everyone. Hope everyone's doing well out there. Makayla, how are you?

00:00:26:06 - 00:00:33:22

Makayla

I'm good. I am embarrassed to say that I'm really loving this rain or having the first day of bad weather.

00:00:34:00 - 00:00:43:23

Joe

Yeah, I wouldn't even call it bad weather. I would just say we're getting some of the garden watered. Right. 

00:00:44:00 - 00:00:46:07

Makayla

There we go. Yeah, let's look at it that way. I’m all curled up in my office today. I love it. 

00:00:46:13 - 00:01:11:11

Joe

Yeah. Jimmy is not happy because he had a tee time this afternoon. My 15 year old is deep into the vortex of golf right now. And any time he can't go golf, he is just unhappy camper. So anyways, he'll have to stay home today. But today we are going to be talking about the best schools in Portland Metro.

00:01:11:11 - 00:01:36:16

Joe

So, we're going to look at Hillsboro, Lake, Oswego, Portland Public School District and Clackamas School. So, I'm really excited about this because it feels like the majority of the people we work with who are buying a home have some interest in the school district. So, tell me about school. Tell me about what kind of elementary or middle school are and they want to know where that school places.

00:01:36:19 - 00:01:46:06

Joe

And a lot of times it's not. Even with people that have children, they know the resale value is where the good schools are. So that's a consideration that they have. Are you seeing the same thing?

00:01:46:10 - 00:02:03:15

Makayla

I don't know that I've had a buyer who didn't have children that, you know, asked me about school districts. But when I have a buyer that has kids, that is the biggest topic of conversation. And, you know, it's kind of funny because growing up here, you kind of hear what the best schools are, quote unquote, or you just have an idea based on word of mouth.

00:02:03:15 - 00:02:20:00

Makayla

But it was interesting to actually do some research on this because it surprised me a little bit. And I found a recent study that said that people actually, on average pay $50 more per square foot to be in a better school district. So that applies directly to that resale value.

00:02:20:02 - 00:02:23:05

Joe

That's interesting. Yeah, that's not a small chunk of change right there.

00:02:23:05 - 00:02:25:00

Makayla

No, that adds up. Wow.

00:02:25:01 - 00:02:46:05

Joe

Yeah. Well, that's super interesting for those of us who you know, my youngest is in high school right now. There's no changing that. It is what it is. But I remember when my boys were young and we were looking at different, you know, moving to different areas around town here. And we ended up staying in Hillsboro because we had so many good connections and relationships and people in our lives here that we couldn't really be without.

00:02:46:05 - 00:03:04:08

Joe

So we spent that time when we were younger, when the kids were younger, looking at all the different areas and it has changed so much. Education's a lot like housing. There's going to be upstairs downs. You know, schools make improvements, neighborhoods make improvements. So it's going to be interesting.

00:03:04:12 - 00:03:05:13

Makayla

Mm hmm. Agree.

00:03:05:18 - 00:03:25:01

Joe

Yeah. So, the way we're going to do this is we've looked at a lot of different factors, but one of the resources that you can go to, if you'd like to check this out is greatschools.org, that's greatschools.org. And they analyze all the test scores, the student progress equity achievement gaps between students, all those types of things.

00:03:25:01 - 00:03:42:23

Joe

And look at what the best scores for different schools are. And this is a topic that you're passionate about that you're really interested in. I think that's a great place to go. We're going to have a lot of these stats up on our website. If you'd like to go to LivPortland.com, click on our blog button and you can check all this out there as well.

00:03:43:04 - 00:04:12:01

Joe

And we'll probably have some links that link back to searches for current homes and the different schools that we're talking about. Yeah, definitely. So, if you'd like to see what's available in a certain school district, you can certainly do that at LivPortland.com. Let's get into this here and a reminder that we're looking at public schools only so, public schools, Portland, Hillsboro, Eastside, you know, all parts of town have some great private schools and those are readily available.

00:04:12:01 - 00:04:31:11

Joe

But what we want to focus on right now are the public schools that you have at your disposal and different areas around town. Let's start with Hillsboro. Makayla. Tell me about what the top elementary schools are here, because it seems like that it kind of starts with elementary schools as far as how what people are passionate about. Right, And middle school.

00:04:31:11 - 00:04:43:01

Joe

Yeah, that's great. High schools, a lot of times it's like, okay, yeah, I get it. But elementary school man, I have never seen people so passionate about where their kids go. And I get it. It makes a big difference in those early years.

00:04:43:06 - 00:04:57:12

Makayla

Yeah, I agree. I think people are definitely focused on elementary over everything else. So in Hillsboro, actually, Jackson Elementary and Quatama Elementary tied being at a score of eight out of ten. So that was pretty interesting.

00:04:57:12 - 00:05:05:07

Joe

That Jackson's over in that northwest area of Hillsboro that feeds into Glencoe High School. What about home prices? What are you going to be able to get in that school district?

00:05:05:09 - 00:05:24:23

Makayla

So today we actually pulled some stats. So if you are looking for a home in Jackson Elementary School today, there are five homes on the market, between $530,000 and $660,000, which isn't a ton. And of course, elementary schools are obviously means if you're trying to get in in that district, there's going to be less homes if you're just looking at a high school.

00:05:24:23 - 00:05:29:10

Makayla

So. Right. But still only five to choose from. That's that's a lot of spending.

00:05:29:12 - 00:05:49:06

Joe

That’s not a lot. And then Quatama which is over where my children went is a great school. It's over by a Orenco station feeds into Liberty High School. What about home prices here? There are them. Well, but I'm wanting you to say the numbers here because it's always a shocker to me.

00:05:49:08 - 00:06:02:11

Makayla

There are two homes available at $565,000 and $589,000. But then they also have three condos and townhomes available between $305,000 and $555,000.

00:06:02:13 - 00:06:24:20

Joe

And that goes back to what we've been talking about with affordability, having if you're dead set on getting into a school district, sometimes a townhomes, not a bad way to go, you know, and it doesn't necessarily have to be a single family home. You jump into if you can do or are okay with or want to do a condo or a townhome, that's easily the most affordable way to get into some of these school districts.

00:06:24:20 - 00:06:27:07

Joe

So, what about the top middle school?

00:06:27:09 - 00:06:37:22

Makayla

The top middle school and Hillsboro School District is Brown Middle School, and that's over in SE Hillsboro off Cornelius Pass. And that one feeds into Central High School.

00:06:38:00 - 00:06:47:13

Joe

I meant to do my homework before this podcast, too, and find out what all of the elementary, middle and high school mascots were and I forgot to do.

00:06:47:13 - 00:06:48:18

Makayla

Oh, that would have been cute

00:06:48:18 - 00:06:50:15

Joe

Can you tell me Brown's mascot Do you know?

00:06:50:16 - 00:06:51:07

Makayla

You know I.

00:06:51:07 - 00:06:58:05

Joe

Can't. I'm going to guess right now. Brown Badgers. No, no.

00:06:58:07 - 00:07:05:14

Makayla

And then the top high school in Hillsboro is Century High School, and that ranks at a seven out of ten. And that's over off TV Highway.

00:07:05:16 - 00:07:26:08

Joe

Yeah. And I remember a few years ago, Century was probably at the bottom of the list as far as Hillsboro goes. And they have worked extremely hard to get their test scores up. I know a couple of teachers over there and it's no easy task. You know, those are large high schools and changing the culture and changing that the testing abilities in the students is tough.

00:07:26:08 - 00:07:41:18

Joe

So that's quite the accomplishment I'm seeing that they have 15 homes available between $425,000 and $950,000, which is great. We actually have one coming on the market next week. That's in Century School District $489,900

00:07:41:20 - 00:07:42:18

Makayla

Exciting.

00:07:42:18 - 00:07:46:02

Joe

So new inventory hitting the market.

00:07:46:04 - 00:07:51:17

Makayla

The South Hillsboro, new developments did does that feed into Century two you know Yes. Okay.

00:07:51:19 - 00:07:57:18

Joe

Yes, it does. The Jaguars this century Jaguars. Yet another mascot.

00:07:57:18 - 00:07:58:18

Makayla

You do. I mean.

00:07:58:18 - 00:08:23:15

Joe

That's kind of you got to go. You can't really be that into a school if you don't know the mascot. It's like arctic hot take right there. Exactly. Lake Oswego. Boy, you can't talk about moving to Portland without people telling you the best school districts are in Lake Oswego. Well, newsflash, they are.

00:08:23:17 - 00:08:25:08

Makayla

My research did not steer us wrong.

00:08:25:12 - 00:08:32:01

Joe

Our Research was not wrong. That's right. So tell me about the top elementary schools in Lake Oswego.

00:08:32:01 - 00:08:45:00

Makayla

So the top is Westridge Elementary, and that ranks of ten out of ten, which is crazy because we don't have many towns on this list. And then right underneath it is Forest Hills Elementary, which is a nine out of ten.

00:08:45:02 - 00:09:02:23

Joe

I know it was one notch below, but it was so close that I thought we got to include Forest Hills because that is a fantastic school. So Westridge is just south of the lake, and then Forest Hills is northeast of the lake. You know, Lake Oswego, everything's oriented around the lake there. But tell me about the homes that you can get there.

00:09:02:23 - 00:09:07:02

Joe

I shudder to ask, what's the low entry point for that?

00:09:07:04 - 00:09:15:20

Makayla

So for Westridge, there's 31 homes on the market, between $859,000 and $4.5 million.

00:09:15:22 - 00:09:22:14

Joe

Yeah. So that $4.5M is on the lake if you're asking. Okay, it is fantastic. And then Forest Hills. 

00:09:22:14 - 00:09:29:18

Makayla

There are also 31 homes on the market, between $949,000, and $11.5 million.

00:09:29:20 - 00:10:02:21

Joe

That one's also on the lake. And also spectacular. Well, those are both really, really good schools. And, you know, the real estate has not done poorly with the level of schools that are in Lake Oswego, especially those elementary schools. I remember 20 some years ago meeting with a young couple, and they were originally looking in northeast Portland. And when mom found out that the best schools were in Lake Oswego as far as elementaries, they just cut off looking at any other homes.

00:10:03:01 - 00:10:10:12

Joe

They had that school district they wanted Lake Ridge and Lake Oswego school districts, and that was it. It was crazy.

00:10:10:13 - 00:10:11:16

Makayla

That's impressive. Yeah.

00:10:11:16 - 00:10:45:11

Joe

And we had not had any conversations about that in the past. And all of a sudden one day she shows up to a meeting that we were having about their house hunting, and it was just, Nope, we're Lake Oswego now. So that's the impact that it can have right there. So Lake Oswego Junior High School, which is just across the street from LO High School on Country Club Road, is the top middle school with nine out of ten and it just beat out Lakeridge Junior High Lake Junior High is also a fantastic school, but the is it the Lake Oswego Lakers or the Lake Ridge Lakers?

00:10:45:13 - 00:10:46:03

Makayla

No idea.

00:10:46:06 - 00:11:21:05

Joe

Inquiring minds want to know. Well, so I'll see you on that. But Lake Oswego Middle School. So 71 homes between $515,000 and that $11.5 million, I think that $515,000 is a townhouse. But that's a great price point to be able to get in to middle school and that crazy dynamic of, well, I would buy a townhouse, but I got three kids and there's no way that we could fit into, you know, 2100 square feet or 1800 square feet or something like that.

00:11:21:07 - 00:11:31:04

Joe

But I'm telling you, if you wanted to get into the best public school system in the state over there in Lake Oswego, that $515,000 is hard to beat, don't you think?

00:11:31:04 - 00:11:32:02

Makayla

Yeah, I agree.

00:11:32:08 - 00:11:36:05

Joe

Yeah. So the top high school. I'll let you take this one.

00:11:36:07 - 00:11:43:07

Makayla

Lake Oswego High School at the ten at a ten ranking. Wow. Really impressive. Yeah.

00:11:43:09 - 00:11:47:01

Joe

High schools don't ever get ten out of ten. That's pretty amazing.

00:11:47:03 - 00:12:05:19

Makayla

Yes. And that one's over off Country Club Road, just north of the lake. And there are 69 homes available between $515,000 $11.5 million. But also there's 29 condos or townhomes available between $218,000 and $3.7 million. 

00:12:05:21 - 00:12:06:15

Joe

So think about $219k.

00:12:06:15 - 00:12:09:07

Makayla

Wonder what it looks like. 

00:12:09:10 - 00:12:38:07

Joe

Probably a studio, I'm guessing. Yeah. 7600 square feet. That would be my guess. Yeah. So that's Lake Oswego, a fantastic school district. You know, Hillsboro, eight out of ten ones and seven out of ten. So there was a day when Hillsboro school districts were way below that. And I think the tech industry coming out to Hillsboro has really increased the interest and the ability and the want to to get those schools up to where they need to be.

00:12:38:09 - 00:12:59:12

Joe

But Lake Oswego is still really, really impressive with what they're doing. Okay. So we're going to shift gears right now and move from Lake Oswego over to the Portland Public Schools. And let's look at their elementary schools, because I know there's some really good ones in Portland public schools, but I'm curious to see what you found for us.

00:12:59:14 - 00:13:23:12

Makayla

Yeah, this was fun to look into. So there are two elementary schools that both tie with a ranking of nine out of ten, and then there was a ton underneath them that were at an eight. So really good options. But the two that tied at nine are Ainsworth Elementary School and then Bridlemile. So Ainsworth is over in the southwest area of Vista Road and it feeds into the Lincoln High School.

00:13:23:14 - 00:13:46:04

Makayla

And there are 57 homes on the market, between $429,000 and $8.9 million. But $8.9 million, that is just one home. That's price that high. There are tons of options in between. And it was exciting to see that there are 57 available. And then within that, 25 of the homes were at the $1 -2 million range. So kind of interesting.

00:13:46:05 - 00:13:57:01

Joe

Wow, that's interesting. The other one, Bridlemile Elementary, nine out of ten, it's over by Council Crest Park and Feeds in the Lincoln High School. That is a cool old school. Have you ever been by there?

00:13:57:01 - 00:13:57:18

Makayla

I have. Haven't.

00:13:57:20 - 00:14:18:23

Joe

Very old school. Yeah, it's pretty cool. Really cool. Neighborhood home prices there. There's 17 on the market right now, between $500,000 and $4.4 million. So both of these, I mean, $429k and $500k those are in our market anyway. It's very affordable price points, entry points to get into those really good schools. I think a lot of people might be surprised at that.

00:14:19:04 - 00:14:30:12

Makayla

Yeah, I know I was. And a lot of them, you know, we're in the 500K-700K range too, and some of them might need a little love. But hey, if it's, you know, if you can get into a good school district, I think it's worth it.

00:14:30:16 - 00:14:54:00

Joe

Yeah, for sure. Let's look at the middle school West Sylvan. Middle nine out of ten. Geez, that's high. SW Portland Sylvan area feeding into Lincoln with a 146 homes between $400,000 and $8 million. So a ton of affordable homes and that West Sylvan Middle School District.

00:14:54:03 - 00:14:59:18

Makayla

I don't believe I got that right. Yeah, I read that at times. Yeah. Wow. Cause I was really confused. 

00:14:59:18 - 00:15:15:15

Joe

Yeah, that really surprises me. I mean, I think that's something a lot of people would really be shocked at, that there's that much available, affordable homes in a top school district like that. So what about the high school? What's our top high school for Portland Public Schools?

00:15:15:15 - 00:15:27:04

Makayla

This one really surprised me, but it is Grant High School ranking for sure would be Lincoln ten. So Lincoln's an eight of ten oh, so just under. But Grant must have gotten it together.

00:15:27:06 - 00:15:32:09

Joe

There was some gnashing of teeth when that came out. I'm sure Lincoln is. They're very proud.

00:15:32:15 - 00:15:52:20

Makayla

They are. I was like, kind of refreshed in a couple times, but yeah. Yeah. Good for Grant. They're over in Northeast Portland and they have 64 homes on the market, between $295,000 to  $4 million, but 16 of those homes are between $400,000 and $800,000. So really affordable.

00:15:52:22 - 00:16:12:12

Joe

Nice. And if you're interested in Lincoln on the west side, there's 169 homes for sale, between $300,000 and $7 million. I think that includes townhouses and condos as well for that. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Well, let's shift gears once again and go out to Clackamas, where our friend Laura Miller sets up shop.

00:16:12:12 - 00:16:15:04

Makayla

We just thought about her the whole time I was doing this.

00:16:15:05 - 00:16:17:18

Joe

I bet you did. What did you find for elementary schools?

00:16:17:20 - 00:16:38:10

Makayla

So the top elementary school range had a ten out of ten, and it's Lynwood Elementary, and that's over in SE Milwaukee. And that feeds into Milwaukee High School. So, wow, a little surprised by that. But that's cool to see. And then, yeah, there are only four active homes on the market in that school district, between $375,000 and $800,000.

00:16:38:11 - 00:16:44:11

Joe

Wow. That's surprising. That's not very much at all. Mm hmm. Interesting. What about. There was another. One, wasn't there?

00:16:44:11 - 00:16:49:04

Makayla

Yeah. Happy Valley Elementary rates at eight out of ten

00:16:49:06 - 00:16:54:07

Joe

Feeds into Happy Valley High. I know the Happy Valley. Word horseman Roughriders.

00:16:54:09 - 00:16:56:22

Makayla

I don't know why you may not remember.

00:16:56:22 - 00:17:00:09

Joe

We might have to do a follow up hard with all of these schools.

00:17:00:09 - 00:17:02:22

Makayla

Mascots are going to be screaming at us. 

00:17:03:00 - 00:17:08:04

Joe

The I know right now they're in Guys didn't do their homework. What the heck?

00:17:08:06 - 00:17:14:02

Makayla

Like, it's like a statesman of, you know.

00:17:14:02 - 00:17:17:07

Joe

Please call in right now. 503.

00:17:17:09 - 00:17:18:02

Makayla

So it's not a liv pod.

00:17:18:02 - 00:17:20:08

Joe

Can I Say your number.

00:17:20:10 - 00:17:22:10

Makayla

No, don't.

00:17:22:12 - 00:17:43:16

Joe

Unless they want to buy a home in their school district. Right. All right. All right. We move on to middle schools in Clackamas and wow, Happy Valley Middle School was the number one. Was seven out of ten feeding into Milwaukee. But 107 homes for sale between $300,000 and $5 million and tons of new construction. Is that right?

00:17:43:17 - 00:17:49:00

Makayla

Yeah, Most of as I was just scrolling through all the options, most of them are new construction.

00:17:49:00 - 00:17:54:23

Joe

So where is all that new construction? I guess that's got to be east side in Milwaukee, I would.

00:17:54:23 - 00:17:57:13

Makayla

Think closer to Happy Valley, right? Yeah.

00:17:57:15 - 00:18:12:15

Joe

Hm. Interesting. We did a interesting Pod on new construction. If you're thinking about buying in your home, be sure to pull that up because there's a lot of great information there. But that's surprising. So the top high school in Clackamas, Makayla lay it on me.

00:18:12:17 - 00:18:16:19

Makayla

Clackamas High School, eight out of ten. 

00:18:16:21 - 00:18:41:22

Joe

Wow. Okay. We've made a few treks over there for basketball and football and all that. And they have some really great facilities over there. And yeah, the new high school in Clackamas just spun off from Clackamas, and I think that's where Laura's son goes. But I've heard great thing things about that new school. But boy, the facilities and everything to do with Clackamas High School.

00:18:41:22 - 00:18:48:18

Joe

I was super impressed with the number of times I've been over there over the past couple of years. But what's the real estate situation like over there?

00:18:48:20 - 00:18:56:21

Makayla

There are 65 homes for sale, between $539,000 and $3.8 million.

00:18:56:23 - 00:19:00:06

Joe

Geez. Yeah, affordable. That's fantastic.

00:19:00:10 - 00:19:03:08

Makayla

Yeah. $3.8 million level. It's pretty good.

00:19:03:10 - 00:19:27:10

Joe

Yeah, it's not $11.5, but like on the lake, that is pretty amazing that they're 65. So I think this whole thing probably will, you know, open a few people's eyes as to wow, there is a lot of affordable homes on the market in some incredible school districts. So, I don't think we can do this without saying a shout out to all the teachers out there.

00:19:27:12 - 00:19:50:22

Joe

Yeah, this is should be coming out towards the first or second week of school if you can support our teachers right now. I know there's a lot of cuts that have been made. A lot of them have to go out of pocket for their school needs, school supplies and those type of things. If you're going to donate or do something or you want something to make yourself feel better, go support your elementary schools especially, don't you think?

00:19:50:23 - 00:19:57:08

Joe

Yeah. And you've got a ton of friends that are teachers and they need support, don't they?

00:19:57:09 - 00:20:12:22

Makayla

Definitely. Yeah. Especially, you know, some of the middle schools. They just keep getting cut and having aides quit and their resources taken away from them. So any way we can support them, I think they’ll appreciate it. And it goes a long way.

00:20:13:03 - 00:20:22:22

Joe

Yeah, it really does. Education is the base for a good society and we need to keep that going. So. So anyways, well, we really appreciate you joining us, Makayla. Thank you so much.

00:20:22:22 - 00:20:28:15

Makayla

Thank you. This is great. Yeah, I might have to do a part two with other school districts because this was fun.

00:20:28:20 - 00:20:36:06

Joe

And we will include mascots next time. All right, guys, thanks for joining and we'll see you next time on Off the Record.

00:20:36:07 - 00:20:50:00

Makayla

Thank you. Thanks for joining us today. If you're interested in finding out more about Joe, myself or the live Portland team, you can go to LivPortland.com. Thanks for giving us a listen and see you next time on the off the record podcast.