Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Just curious if others do this. Before I bought my first house, after long years of renting and my share of bad neighbors, I introduced myself to a couple of potential neighbors and told them I was considering buying the house. I had concerns about crime in the neighborhood and also wanted to know what kind of people I'd be living next to. I value a quiet place and didn't want to live next to a house of noisy partiers. I did the same thing when I recently rented an apartment. I introduced myself to a tenant that I saw walking into the building. She told me a lot about the place and what the landlord was like. Do other people do this? To me, it's the best way to find out about the place you are moving into and what kind of neighbors to expect.
For renting, no, I never did meet any neighbors. I have been very lucky in that respect the years I was renting.
When you buy a house/condo/etc, definitely try to meet your neighbors. Doing so actually saved me from buying into a huge mistake. I asked a neighbor "What is the story with the house next door (the one I was interested in)." You'd be surprised how much good stuff people are willing to divulge
However, I would recommend also asking if you are renting (whether it be an apartment or a house). While some renters will not give much praise about their residence, but if they are not too derogatory it might be a good sign.
If I had to rent again, I would have no problem knocking on the people living next to me or above me just to see what they had to say. I would also be on the lookout for dogs and kids. As much as I might like dogs and kids, if they are not mine and are stomping around and screaming, you might not like it much as their neighbor.
Yes and Before I buy a property I always
Drive by when school is letting out to see what the kids look like it tells me a lot about the parents
Call the police and get a printout of all police calls whiten a five mile radius of the home
When we were looking at homes to purchase, my wife found the home she wanted and nothing else on our list was good enough. We cancelled the next days tour with the realtor and just asked to go look at the house she wanted again to go through it more.
We then went to check the neighborhood out in the evening, when people were home and see what it is like. We found the next door neighbor outside waxing his car and spoke to him about 30 minutes. After speaking to him it eased my mind about the one concern I had in the neighborhood and we bought the house.
In my opinion, if you don't check out the neighbors/neighborhood before you move in you have no one to blame if you are surprised later on!
Well, in an apartment building, I think it is kind of a waste of time. People come and go so quickly. Just because your neighbors now are good, doesn't mean there is any guarantee that will last more than a couple months.
Renting a house or buying a house is usually a lot more long term, so there it can be a very good idea, for all the reasons people have said.
Personally, I've only rented once. It was for 3 years in an apartment. I never met a single one of my neighbors, and had no desire to. I never had any problems.
I've also only owned once. I've been in my house for 7 years now. My house was built for me, and I was one of the first in the subdivision, so there was only one neighbor to meet ahead of time. Mostly I met them as we built houses for them. Fortunately, I ended up with a good group, who, for the most part, all get along.
Honestly though, even though I do think it is a good idea, I still might not do it, just because I am very much an introvert. It isn't my personality to knock on people's doors just to introduce myself. Now if they were working outside when I was in the area, I might stop and chat.
I don't. Even when buying, there's no guarantee that a neighbor today will still live there tomorrow. People move. People sell. People invite bothersome guests over.
But I do check out the neighborhood. There's a lot that can be learned just by observing. The way lawns are kept, what kind of cars are in the neighborhood, street and sidewalk maintenance, the types of shops that are in business in the area, how many people are outside and what they are doing, etc. Observations are more honest than people, in my experience, and what can make a living experience bad isn't limited to the people living immediately beside me.
Usually when I'm considering moving, I do my research on neighborhoods first, narrow my search down to one or two areas, and then start looking for specific places. The walk-thru is the last thing I do.
I learned from a neighbor that the home I was interested in had suffered a landslide back in 1973... the seller didn't mention it until presses and then said he really didn't know much about it since it was his parents home...
I passed... a few years ago when we had a really wet winter, the land behind several homes on that street started moving... I recognized the street when I heard it on the evening news...
Interesting responses. Some do, some don't. I too am a bit uneasy about knocking on a stranger's door to ask questions. The way I see it, I'm going to run into and meet these people after I move in, I might as well meet them ahead of time so there are no surprises.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
