Beyond The Home: What To Look For In A Neighborhood When Buying A Home
People tend to do extensive research before buying electronics, yet they overlook important aspects of purchasing a home. When buying a home, you need to look beyond the house. You need to thoroughly assess the neighborhood that you will be living and raising a family in. Here are some important aspects about the neighborhood you need to check out.
Schools
If you don't have children yet, you might not even think about the schools in your area. Even if you plan on buying a new home before having children, or never plan on having children at all, plans can fall through. Even nice neighborhoods have schools with low ratings. Every time you consider a home, research all of the schools in the area to make sure they have a decent rating. You don't want to find out after you send your children off to school that they will receive a poor education.
Sex offenders
Every time you consider making an offer on a home, you need to check for registered sex offenders in the area. You don't want to move into your dream home and find out that your neighbor is a convicted predator. If you go to the family watchdog web site, you can enter the address of the home you're considering, and it will show you all of the registered sex offenders within the number of miles you select. It will also show you the type of sex crime they were convicted of and the date of their offense.
Homeowners association
Another issue people have is moving into a neighborhood and being angry about being restricted to homeowner's association rules. If you move into a home with a homeowner's association, you will not only have to abide by their rules, you have to pay annual homeowner's association dues. The rules vary between associations, but they range from specifics about what you can put on your porch, to how long your grass is allowed to be.
Neighborhood routines
Drive through the neighborhood during different times of day. Make sure nothing goes on that will make you unhappy living there. Maybe the residents tend to mow early in the morning when you work late shifts, parking is difficult to come by, or traffic backs up during certain times of the day. Finding out everything you can will keep you from making a huge mistake.
Crime rates
Before putting an offer on a home, you need to the crime rates in the area. You can check online for crime maps and reports in real time. This will ensure that you aren't viewing old crime reports that have changed significantly. If you want to make sure the information is correct, you can ask at a local police station.
Public services
Public services, or the lack thereof, may have an effect on your decision. Check the streets for potholes and the local parks for cleanliness and proper maintenance. Make sure that graffiti isn't a common occurrence that goes unresolved. Find out if recycling gets picked up or if you will have to go out of your way to take you recyclable products somewhere. If you aren't a multi-car family, you will want to make sure that there is convenient public transportation or at least stores within shopping distance.
When moving into a home, you don't want to sign any papers without checking to make sure you love everything about a neighborhood. A home can seem perfect, but then the neighborhood can make you miserable. You don't want to find out too late that there are sex offenders, dirty streets, high crime, or bad schools. Research every aspect of your potential neighborhood before making any offers and then get in touch with a real estate agent or real estate lawyer for more information.
