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When I used to live in an apartment, the rules were something like no common areas, laundry rooms, elevators, pools, playgrounds, top floor, corner unit, etc.
I've been a homeowner for the past 5 years. I've moved from a house on a busy street to a house on a not so busy street but with ghetto neighbors (10 people living in a section 8 rental house) to a house in a nice neighborhood with obnoxious neighbors and a useless HOA, oh, and a corner lot that is absolutely awful.
I'd say in the above cases I could have avoided the problems if I had known what to look for (first house I visited at night due to traffic delays, so there was no traffic when I visited around 8:00 PM at night on a weekday).
But surely there is a list similar for to the apartments to be avoided for houses? Like no houses on corner lots, no houses in high renter ratio areas, no houses on a busy street, no houses with an HOA, etc. They say 1 out of every 4 homeowners has buyers remorse. What's on your list of houses to be avoided?
You won't always know. Now that I've lived in my neighborhood for a few years I've noticed that when houses come on the market the "trouble" neighbors remain quiet during and after the sale then have a big thundershow to "welcome the new neighbors to the block". The new neighbors typically paid in the $700K+ range, so it's a bit of a surprise to them when the mad max on meth show starts.
Most of the other neighbors don't talk about the problem for fear that the people doing this will harass them or prevent them from selling their own house.
Really you need to find an honest person already in the neighborhood that will tell you if there are trouble houses. I'm better at spotting them now that I've been here a while.
Here are a few tips:
- The house hasn't been sold recently, especially original owner houses tend to have issues. A lot of time's it's that their loser kids inherited the place and never had to pay a dime to live there, so they don't give a rats ass about anyone else. Typical entitlement issues.
- It's a run down rental. Usually easy to spot due to lack of upkeep or bad landscaping despite obviously being "well lived in".
- The neighbors have all put up fences and grown tall hedges to block their view of the property, even if it "looks nice enough".
- Anyone collecting junk or scrap. Sometimes these are just hoarders, but more often than not it's drugs.
My wife and I totally got taken for a ride. Every time we came to see our house the neighborhood was quiet and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Within a month after moving in it was screaming meth fights, tv/radio blasting, cars revving and constant pounding or other mechanical sounds all day long.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,690 posts, read 57,994,855 times
Reputation: 46171
home / location shopping will be very personal / need based (jobs, schools, services...)
I'm retired...my short list:
Does the place have appeal to me and a future buyer.
low traffic / noise
view / on park or greenbelt ...
near my needs for commute / services / entertainment (walkable if in town)
SUNNY, with access to good breezes (no homes nestled in the trees for me)
Is it priced within 100x the month rents it could get?
Could I sell it tomorrow for 10% more (cover costs)
then...
neighbors, ... can be a curse (as you have mentioned) When I'm new to an area, I stay with local people to get the straight dope). Talk to as many as you can find, and visit during different times of day.
Listen / look for dogs. Owners have selective hearing and will never notice their own dogs barking (peacocks, roosters, and burros are noisy neighbors too). As are 'thumper' / boomer cars, and motorcycles (dirt and street).
Tax assessor and code compliance officer.
review comprehensive plan (will there be a superhighway or a shopping mall next door?)
I have only had 6 city homes, I purposely bought in traditional older / established neighborhoods adjacent to park or greenbelt. I don't do tract homes, new (pre-built) homes, or HOA's.
It is not ez to find your sweet spot.
Make a spreadsheet of must / wants and 'lessons learned'. Hint... there are a few more lessons to be learned.!
Last edited by StealthRabbit; 11-07-2015 at 12:36 PM..
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,551 posts, read 81,085,957 times
Reputation: 57744
Read the demographics, you will see things like the percentage of owners vs renters, poverty levels, median family incomes, and other facts that help you
determine the kind of place you want to live. I don't see the problem with a corner lot, we chose our place partly because it was a corner lot. Much more privacy with only one neighbor on one side and then a house behind us, on the other side no one. Also, we looked for a quiet street away from major arterials, 2 miles from the nearest store/strip mall, and 6-8 miles from the nearest freeway. For most cities there are plenty of school reviews and crime maps available online. Then drive around many times of the day and night and observe what's going on, if anything, in the neighborhood.
I'd recommend people check for good schools, even if they don't have kids. The neighborhoods near good schools tend to keep their value a lot more. Also, check the crime statistics with the police or sheriff's office, check the sex-offender registry and do some hands-on investigating. I always make sure my buyers have a 3-business-day "neighborhood review" clause in their contracts, and urge them to drive by and walk around the neighborhood on evenings to check out noise, parking, traffic etc.
Top 10 things that generally devalue properties in my area
1) busy streets
2) homes near high voltage electrical lines/transformer stations
3) steep driveways
4) lots that slope excessively toward the house
5) homes too close to railroad tracks
6) Think hard about corner lots (since it means having little yard in my area)
7) funky floor plans
8) flood plains
9) tiny kitchens (unless the whole house is very small)
10) poor performing schools
You won't always know. Now that I've lived in my neighborhood for a few years I've noticed that when houses come on the market the "trouble" neighbors remain quiet during and after the sale then have a big thundershow to "welcome the new neighbors to the block". The new neighbors typically paid in the $700K+ range, so it's a bit of a surprise to them when the mad max on meth show starts.
Most of the other neighbors don't talk about the problem for fear that the people doing this will harass them or prevent them from selling their own house.
Really you need to find an honest person already in the neighborhood that will tell you if there are trouble houses. I'm better at spotting them now that I've been here a while.
Here are a few tips:
- The house hasn't been sold recently, especially original owner houses tend to have issues. A lot of time's it's that their loser kids inherited the place and never had to pay a dime to live there, so they don't give a rats ass about anyone else. Typical entitlement issues.
- It's a run down rental. Usually easy to spot due to lack of upkeep or bad landscaping despite obviously being "well lived in".
- The neighbors have all put up fences and grown tall hedges to block their view of the property, even if it "looks nice enough".
- Anyone collecting junk or scrap. Sometimes these are just hoarders, but more often than not it's drugs.
My wife and I totally got taken for a ride. Every time we came to see our house the neighborhood was quiet and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Within a month after moving in it was screaming meth fights, tv/radio blasting, cars revving and constant pounding or other mechanical sounds all day long.
This is why when I look at a house we will drive there at random times throughout the day or during the week. On weekends we may be in the area morning them afternoon and evening. I don't need to announce I'm coming over. I'm looking at the public area of the neighborhood. Before I spend 500k+ on a house I want to know the neighborhood.
I also go to the PD and ask cops about the area I plan on moving in to. I check crime status websites. Look at the reviews schools get too.
I'd recommend people check for good schools, even if they don't have kids. The neighborhoods near good schools tend to keep their value a lot more. Also, check the crime statistics with the police or sheriff's office, check the sex-offender registry and do some hands-on investigating. I always make sure my buyers have a 3-business-day "neighborhood review" clause in their contracts, and urge them to drive by and walk around the neighborhood on evenings to check out noise, parking, traffic etc.
^^^^^
We were interested in a house that seemed too good to be true---and it was!
An older home, but updated everything! Including new roof, HVAC, upgraded kitchen baths upgraded, new carpet--although we would change out for hardwood---we were going to have a showing today, but went by yesterday. Of course, we couldn't get in, but we didn't want to.
The house was as described, from what we could see. But, the neighbors--- On one side was a giant sort of boat slip structure, but looked like some sort of body shop. We felt it was some sort of home auto/body/paint repair place. The other side....cars that didn't match the neighborhood, IYKWIM. The cars---4 of them---were all high-end luxury brands, but place is simply a family/middle/ neighborhood. A garage apt with covered windows, but we could see trash inside. A funny, chemical smell. My first thought---drugs! Either a meth lab, or some sort of drug dealers. Listen to your instincts, my mother used to say you don't get those feelings for nothing!
Listen! We heard dogs, "jungle drums" (hey, you get it),
The house has sat for >90 days in what is supposed to be a hot market, and the price was recently reduced. Its also vacant, ready for immediate move-in, no straddling two payments, etc. In such cases, its usually something wrong with the neighborhood. I didn't even feel comfortable there, something was "off". We just got out of there and cancelled the showing.
I honestly feel sorry for the owners. They are doing everything they can to make the place desirable, but you can't change the neighbors.
We are looking for a home to "retire-in-place". We will probably retire in the next 3-5 years. We are currently renting, and enjoy the flexibility it gives us. Perhaps something to re-think? Oh, well.....nice we are in no hurry to purchase. Perhaps we will wait another year. Our lease is up here soon, we might just renew for another term. That gives us more time to build up a bigger DP to avoid PMI, also, we have cleared out our debt but need to bank up our emergency fund, etc.
What we do is if we find a house we are interested in we'd go by at all different times. Sometimes early morning, sometimes at 3:00 when school is out and sometimes at night...and especially at all different times on the weekends.
This is why when I look at a house we will drive there at random times throughout the day or during the week. On weekends we may be in the area morning them afternoon and evening. I don't need to announce I'm coming over. I'm looking at the public area of the neighborhood. Before I spend 500k+ on a house I want to know the neighborhood.
I also go to the PD and ask cops about the area I plan on moving in to. I check crime status websites. Look at the reviews schools get too.
We did all this, and lived in the neighborhood a couple blocks away a few years before and never heard of any of this going on. None of it shows up on police statistics either since the people making the disturbances are mostly members of a protected class. IE: the police don't want this to show up in their statistics.
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On one side was a giant sort of boat slip structure, but looked like some sort of body shop. We felt it was some sort of home auto/body/paint repair place. The other side....cars that didn't match the neighborhood, IYKWIM. The cars---4 of them---were all high-end luxury brands, but place is simply a family/middle/ neighborhood. A garage apt with covered windows, but we could see trash inside. A funny, chemical smell. My first thought---drugs! Either a meth lab, or some sort of drug dealers. Listen to your instincts, my mother used to say you don't get those feelings for nothing!
