Before embarking on your dream home search, you have to focus on your dream neighborhood. Sure, you’ve lived somewhere your whole life so you know your way around the town but what if you’re moving somewhere you’re not so familiar with? What types of things are important to you?
Let’s go over a list that you might want to add to your “Neighborhood Priorities.”
People in the neighborhood
When you’re driving around your ideal neighborhood look to see what sort of people already live there. If you have children, look to see if there are babies being strolled or kids riding bikes. Is there a lot of car traffic? These are potentially your new neighbors, odds are if you think you would get along with these people this might be a great place to call home.
School district
If you are planning for a family, expecting a baby or already have a few little one’s running around then a good school district might be important to you. Look to see the proximity from your home, what are the SOL scores, do they have sports or even specialty schools? Those are the kinds of questions you should ask yourself. Better schools tend to have a better home value.
Crime rate
Finding the crime rate in a certain area is easy to do online. Checking police records for the area will show you what kind of neighborhood you’re moving into. Are you moving into the country where you don’t need to lock your car doors? Or does the neighborhood have a history of car theft? Knowing the records in the area will set you mind at ease, plus it’s just good to have knowledge of that.
Shopping/entertainment
From grocery shopping to dog food or wreaths, if being in close proximity to shopping is important to you then make sure you don’t have to travel to far for that expensive hobby. Options are key, but distance on days, nights or weekends are important, too.
Work proximity
Where is your work in relation to you dream home? How far of a commute is it every morning? If it’s too far out, you might miss out on kids recitals or have to deal with a saved meal in the microwave every weeknight. Talking to your family about what’s important to you is a huge factor here.
Parks. community pool or other neighborhood amenities
If you live somewhere warm chances are you might value a neighborhood pool or even just an outdoor living space like a park. Exploring your neighborhood to see what amenities or even just driving around to see what the local parks are like would help your decision. If those things are important to you some newer neighborhoods have website’s that feature the different amenities within the neighborhood.
Friends or family nearby
We know how important it is to live near friends or family, to some it’s important to still be a part of Sunday night dinners. Ask around the area to see what houses in those neighborhoods might come up for sale, some even have Facebook groups, ask the question in there! That way, you know what’s about to hit the market and you can swoop into your favorite neighborhood.
In closing, there are a ton of different reasons why you decide on a neighborhood. Driving around or asking people in the neighborhood the questions you want to know will help. Get in touch with us, we’re a wealth of knowledge when it comes the house hunting journey.
