Wonder Why Buyers Prefer the Burbs? Dallas Real Estate & DISD Schools

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The Dallas Observer reports that in 14 days, our DISD School Superintendent Michael Hinojosa will be moving to Atlanta’s Cobb County to take over as school superintendent. This comes after last fall when he was courted by Las Vegas, turned them down, promised Dallas he would cast his eyes no more and stay put. Then I guess he signed a contract for another three years, which leads me to wonder how he can wriggle out of that contract so cheaply and who in the heck drafted it? He was paid about $308,000 annually in Dallas and upon leaving, gets to pocket $180,000 annually, ANNUALLY, though the Teacher Retirement System of Texas. (Question: is that tax-free?) In Cobb County, Georgia, quite an affluent community, he’ll be paid less — $208,000, says Robert Wilonsky at the Observer, who I am sure will keep us very, very apprised of this story.

Frankly, I think he was making way too much here.

I often hear that Realtors “guide” buyers to buy in communities with better school systems than DISD, and they are chastised for it. No, they don’t guide: buyers ask for information on graduation rates and education excellence and agents provide. Yesterday, I was in Colleyville, which draws buyers with giant homes on leafy lots for $500,000 and exemplary schools. Was interviewing a Frisco broker today who tells me buyers up there LOVE the school district. Yeah,we’d love to ditch our cars and not drive so much but what are you going to do when the only affordable housing with decent school districts is in the ‘burbs? For as long as I can remember — and I am old — we have been trying to find a decent school superintendent in Dallas who could turn the schools around — not that the district is not a supreme challenge, and there are pockets of greatness in the system. But schools help real estate. And for some reason, today, all I could think of was Yvonne Gonzalez and that tacky awful bedroom furniture she bought with District dollars.

Update: I found Mr. Hinojosa’s contract while trying to find his home.

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Candy Evans, founder and publisher of CandysDirt.com, is one of the nation’s leading real estate reporters.

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