Buying a House? Check for Neighborhood Safety
So, you found the perfect house!
Online, it looks amazing. On photos, you can definitely see yourself living there for the rest of your life, put your white picket fence up and have your 2.5 children.
However, in real life, you might sing a different tune!
Many people buy a house and only afterward discover that the neighborhood is rather unsafe, which might make you weary to actually follow your dreams in your dream home.
There are a number of ways in which you can determine the safety of a neighborhood, which is something highly recommended to do if you have children or if you are planning to have children.
Here are a few quick tips to determine the safety of a neighborhood before you move in:
#1 - Do an internet search
It is true that you can find anything online, so use it to your advantage and search the area where your future house is located.
You will be surprised at how much you can find online - Google will even provide you with recent news results, so if/when any major crimes happen, you can actually read the reports about it.
Nowadays, just head on over to social media and go find that area's community page and read up on what residents are saying about it!
You can also try and contact local security companies who will be able to supply you with more information.
These things can definitely determine whether or not you would want to move to the neighborhood.
#2 - Talk to the neighbors
This might be a little bit awkward and slightly strange, but neighbors are the people who will give you the best idea of the neighborhood that you want to move into:
- Ask them things about the crime rate, their experiences in the neighborhood, dogs that might bark during the evening, cars that speed in the street and even simple things like how close the nearest shopping centre is.
- Don't be shy and just talk to one or two neighbors: talk to people down the road and people who live a road or two away from your house. Try and speak to at least 3 people to get an overall idea of the neighborhood.
All-in-all, this will give you a very good idea about the house and neighborhood from a variety of sources.
#3 - Do your own research
What will help you, even more, is if you do your own research instead of only relying on the tales of other people.
Take a drive through the neighborhood on a weekend and see what it is like when most people are at home!
- Try going there during the week as well when people are at work to see if there is any suspicious activity going on.
- You should also take a drive early in the morning to give you a sense of the 'morning rush traffic', as well as in the evenings to get an overall view of the neighborhood you are going to settle in.
- Trust your gut instinct when you inspect the neighborhood and decide for yourself if this is the type of neighborhood you would want to live in.
Buying a house is not as simple as looking for the best building with the most rooms and buying it because it looks nice. You are investing in a community and in a neighborhood.
If you are planning to spend a good portion of your life living there, it would be a good idea for you to get a clear picture of what the lifestyle is like and if you will enjoy it.
You can never have too much information when it comes to purchasing a new home in a new neighborhood.