How do I Know if This Neighborhood is Right?
If you have identified a certain neighborhood as an area you are interested in, I would strongly recommend you do research into it before you make an offer on a house there or even go house shopping just yet, the reason being that once you find a house and fall in love with it, you will tend to look at the area with rose-tinted glasses. So, if you have identified a neighborhood, definitely look up its community profile in the local newspaper’s website, and on City Data.
Another thing you can do that is immensely helpful is to drive by the area many times, at different times of the day and get a feel for the place. Try first thing in the morning, sometime in the afternoon, later at night and definitely at least once on the weekends. Be critical. Roll down your windows. Can you tolerate loud music coming from some houses? What speed are cars driving? How do the lawns look? How do the houses look? Does it seem like the people that live there care about their properties? How many cars on the road? What kind? Are there junk cars in driveways? Oil stains on driveways?
The best thing of course is to knock on a few doors and talk to the people there. Ask them how long they’ve lived there and what they think. Tell them you’re considering buying in their neighborhood. Trust me, people love to talk about their homes and neighborhoods. And, if they don’t, take a cue.
