When people begin to search for a home, there are many criteria they consider. Most prospective buyers go into the process with a pretty good idea of the geographic location (or even the neighborhoods) they’re interested in, and they probably have a fair notion of the square footage they want, the number of bedrooms and bathrooms they’re seeking, and a price range that is doable for their income and budget. They may also want extras like a 3-car garage, a granny flat on the property, a swimming pool, or other amenities. And one thing that many people want when they move into a new home is proximity to good schools (or inclusion in a particular district). So whether you are a real estate agent looking to improve your knowledge of schools in the areas you service or you’re a home buyer planning for a future family, here are a few reasons you’ll definitely want to download the GreatSchools Finder app for your favorite iDevice.

The functionality of this free app is fairly simple; all you have to do is input a location anywhere in the U.S. to begin retrieving information on schools in the area. You’ll have the option to choose from elementary, middle, or high schools (or see all nearby schools) populated on a map as numbered pins, and you can further narrow results by filtering public versus private schools, enrollment size, distance from a specific location, ratings, and so on. From there it’s simple enough to begin scrolling over pins to discover the names of each facility, along with other pertinent data like address and phone number. But you’ll gain access to a lot more information when you select a particular school from the map.

For starters, you’ll notice that each school has a GreatSchools rating (out of a possible 10 points) as well as a community rating that operates on a 5-star system. The former is based on more than a decade of performance information for over 125,000 U.S. schools, while the latter rating is based on parent reviews, which you can access through the app. And if that’s not enough to help you compare K-12 schools in your area (or another geographic location) you can also pull up information on particular districts and even see recent test scores for particular schools. Of course, users can also save their faves and share information with others.

In short, this freebie gives users many ways to search and compare schools in an area, with both statistics and first-hand accounts to help parents choose the best school to send their kids to. And for the savvy Los Angeles, Minneapolis, or Houston real estate agent, this app can provide access to instant information that will help clients to find a home that meets all of their wants and needs. Schooling is an important consideration for many homebuyers, whether they already have kids or they’re planning a family once they have the perfect home. And GreatSchools Finder can ensure that finding an amazing school in proximity to a home is the easiest part of the process.

Editor’s Note

Thanks to Evan Fischer for this guest post. He is a freelance writer and part-time student at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, California.

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