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Who would know best how to judge a neighborhood for safety, good value, compatibility, and quality of life? Gossiping can be very revealing...
I realize opinions are subjective, and realtors are not always OB-jective in describing a neighborhood, but who would you choose to talk to?
The neighbors? Police? City workers? The postman?
I'm looking to hear from people who found out INTERESTING THINGS about the area before buying there, and how they learned what they did that affected their home purchase decision.
(Other than the helpful posts here on this forum, of course.)
Who would know best how to judge a neighborhood for safety, good value, compatibility, and quality of life? Gossiping can be very revealing...
I realize opinions are subjective, and realtors are not always OB-jective in describing a neighborhood, but who would you choose to talk to?
The neighbors? Police? City workers? The postman?
I'm looking to hear from people who found out INTERESTING THINGS about the area before buying there, and how they learned what they did that affected their home purchase decision.
(Other than the helpful posts here on this forum, of course.)
Thanks for any advice and input.
Well, not a buyer duh lol, but just a few suggestions: Some municipalities post crime statistics, neighbors can be a good source of info and just try a google search for your areas of interest. It's amazing the type of information that can be found on the internet - some things agents are prohibited from disclosing by law, so unless they want to face suspension or worse, have to keep their yap closed about certain things, ya know?
Maybe also google the specific town site and search it. God I miss the information I used to be able to find on municipal sites. Anyway, that's a good way you can get a head start on finding out some info on different areas.
Oh, and also check the 'state & city specific' forums on CD. There are a lot of local people who post there and can be a good source of info on their specific area - the good, the bad and the ugly lol Good luck in your quest!
The police and neighbors will tell you tons. One of my buyers called it "recon" in talking with the neighbors. He got great information, which was very helpful in negotiations. Helps to be a good looking, intelligent young man..
Agents have to be careful about steering (fair housing laws) and such so we tend to be a pretty guarded group when talking neighborhood specifics.
You have to really be careful being over reliant on anything that is subjective. There is no shortage of objective data for things like the quality of high schools, crime data, information of about costs and even income. Some of the freshest data is in propriety data sources, but lots of free stuff is still pretty relevant.
I would not rely on postal workers at all -- even in the few area where they still walk the routes interaction is pretty limited as few people are around during the day. Police tend to interact with those who violate laws much more so that than the 'average resident' and I would worry that this would bias their views strongly. Municipal workers are only rarely in contact with residents in an "unofficial" capacity -- the things they'd hear fixing a water main or checking for permits bear little relevance to how most folks live in town. Even neighbors are a notoriously unreliable source of information -- the odds of encountering the "saboteur" that has a grudge against a departing neighbor are quite high, as is the converse -- the "plant" that will report the neighborhood is rosy spoiling the value of 'recon' in either attempt.
I like to suggest to folks that want to pick up on local flavor to try to schedule an anonymous visit to a anything from Little League to Trick or Treating to "summer festivals". If a town doesn't have any of those that too is telling...
Due to the fair housing act and other laws, agents are very limited in the information they can provide on these subjects. Most will just suggest doing your own research. If they overly hint, that you really should do some research, they and probably offering you a clue you would be wise to hear. This has been my past experience anyhow.
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in describing a neighborhood, but who would you choose to talk to?
