Grand Jury Gives Carlmont High School a Lesson in Enrollment

The Civil Grand Jury directed Carlmont High Scholl to clarify its own open-enrollment program and limit the number of students who can transfer, increase capacity, or change school boundaries. School_stairs

Carlmont is over its official capacity of 2,100 students. Administrators say the district’s use of open enrollment – which allows students to choose a school outside the one designated by attendance boundaries – along with the popularity of Carlmont has caused the shift.

Superintendent Pat Gemma said for starters, the district plans to allow only about 80 open enrollment transfers to Carlmont for the freshman class that will start next fall, compared to about 220 transfers that were let in this fall.

Students with siblings at the school will get the highest priority, followed by those who chose Carlmont after making a documented effort to educate themselves on the options. ""There’s no question in my mind nor the mind of the principal at Carlmont that 2,300 students at Carlmont is too many," Gemma said.

With that in mind is seem unlikely that Carlmont will be choosing the option of increasing capacity, and will likely be forced to move school boundaries. Currently, any eligible Belmont resident can go to Carlmont High while only certain parts of San Carlos may attend providing they are within the designated school boundaries. The third option has been to apply for an intra-district transfer to Carlmont.

This dilemma could have an impact on housing values as buyers are apparently more inclined to pay extra to live within the Calrmont School boundaries. The folks who bought in San Carlos thinking they were well within the Carlmont High School boundaries may find out that everything has changed—including what someone will pay to live there.

Alternative Real Estate Models



Drew & Christine Morgan,MorganHomes.com


Drew and Christine
Morgan		 650.508.1441
"Helping People
Make Good Decisions"sm		 MorganHomes.com
November’s Market Reports-Our custom
graphs

 

Find
Your Perfect Home
Search
for an Open House
Get
E-mail Home Alerts
What’s
Your Home Worth?
Moving
Soon?
How’s
Belmont’s Weather?
Want
to Compare Schools?
Belmont’s
Blog
Real
Estate Blog
About
Us

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Our
Rebates		 Our
Fees

Buyers:

Buying a home should be fun and exciting
yet the uncertainty of the process and the magnitude of the
investment can be daunting.

That’s where we help. Few if any agents
are as diligent in helping you understand the entire home
buying process. Finding a home you like is the easy part–getting
the home you want can be a challenge. From getting a loan,
to negotiations, inspections and escrow follow-through our
detailed team will assist you in understanding and even enjoying
the entire process.

Sellers:

Our reputation speaks for itself. In
16 years as a partnership we’ve sold nearly every home we’ve
listed for sale.*

In today’s market it’s all about getting
your house seen in both traditional print advertising and
on the Internet with virtual and video home tours. Our "Excite"
marketing plan creates a lasting first impression with high
impact roll out of your home’s advertising.

 

 

  • We’ve successfully negotiated hundreds
    of contracts

  • We’re never in a hurry unless you
    are

  • We explain the entire buying process
    and guide you through every aspect of your transaction

  • We tell you if we don’t like a
    home and if we’d buy it ourselves–we never want to resell
    a home we don’t like and we always want our clients to
    be happy

  • We know home values in our area
    and we can assist you in making a good decision

  • We offer a listing Guarantee

  • We have virtually a 100% client
    satisfaction

  • We typically sell our listings
    in a shorter time and for more money to the Seller

  • We specialize in peninsula properties

  • We are highly respected in the
    industry

  • We are detailed and thorough

  • We have superior print advertising
    and web presence






December 10th–Property Tax Deadline

Today, December 10th is the last day to pay your property taxes in California. Many people wait until the December 10th deadline to pay their property taxes though they are due November 10th, becasue there’s no penalty until after the December deadline.

Taxes

The fiscal year for California property taxes runs from July 1st through June 30th of each year, which is why your property taxes cover those specific dates. There are two payment vouchers, one for the first installment and another for installment numbers two. Installment number one is collected in arrears in November as it covers the time period from July 1st through the end of the year. This payment is due November 10th and delinquent December 10th of each year.

The second installment is due on February 10th but the tax collector gives you and additional 30 days to make this payment as it is not delinquent until April 10th.

For those trying to get all the airline miles possible, there’s an easy on-line payment option but be aware that a 2.5% surcharge will be applied for this convenience.

Lies,Damned Lies, and then there are Statistics…

The article titled "California’s October home sales slide 40%" reported by Inman News today evokes thoughts of Mark Twain’s famous saying there are "Lies, damned lies, and statistics".

Though the number of homes which sold is easily tracked, calculating the true median home price is a little more elusive. The size of homes which sell in a particular period can greatly influence this statistic. The median price has been used quite often as a benchmark for home values since all things being equal, roughly the same size homes sell each month. However, current lending conditions affecting first-time home buyers have skewed these numbers and in fact a disproportionate number of larger homes are selling; and since larger homes sell for more, this has created the appearance of an increase in the median sale price in certain areas.

For example, one of the cities sited in the article as one of the 10 cities and communities with the greatest median-home-price increases in October 2007 compared to October 2006 was Redwood City at 20.6 percent. But if one examines just the single family homes which sold in those two periods, it reveals that in October 2006 the median home price was $810,000 and a year later $1,100,500-a whopping $290,000 more! Pretty exciting news for sellers until you look further at the data and realize that the median size home sold in these two periods also grew; from 1330 sq. ft. to 1760 sq. ft. Calculating the price per square foot which homes sold for in October 2007 ($600.00) and applying that to the difference in the size of homes sold (400 Sq. Ft.) for these periods reveals that $240,000 of the $290,000 increase was simply due to larger homes selling-still an increase, but hardly worthy of making the news. And of course if this scenario is played out across California as a whole, one wonders if the 9.9% median home price dip isn’t actually much steeper than reported?

*Data retrieved from the REIL MLS system for San Mateo County.