Back HomeGreat Neighbors = Great House
May 7th, 2014 by keithandkinsey
When searching for a home people often want to know what their neighbors are going to be like. As a Realtor I need to abide by fair housing laws and not discuss the demographics of a neighborhood. In most cases though, I don’t think people are trying to be discriminatory in any way. Buyers are usually just curious about things like; are there kids in the neighborhood for their kids to play with, or are the neighbors the type that gather for a few drinks around the fire pit on the weekends.
Before we built our house in the neighborhood where we live now, we spent a fair amount of time in the neighborhood. We had some friends in the area already and some clients who recently bought there. Also, we were planning to have children and it was a couple blocks from a great elementary school. We absolutely love the neighborhood, and we really lucked out with our neighbors. We have great people all around us. You couldn’t get me to move by offering $50,000 more than market value for our house, because our neighbors are worth more than that!
My best advice for buyers is to go walk the neighborhoods that you are considering living in. Grab the kids, the strollers, tricycles, dog, or whatever you normally do when you go for a walk where you currently live. Stop by the neighborhood parks, the local coffee shop, the neighborhood deli, or the school playground to get a feel for things. Meet some people and tell them you are considering buying a home in the neighborhood. You would be amazed at how friendly most people are and how much information you will get.
I’ve heard horror stories about bad neighbors. Obviously we can’t pick and choose our neighbors like we can our house, but if you talk to some people and get a good feel for the neighborhood you’ll be more confident in your purchase. Most importantly, be a good neighbor yourself, and hopefully everyone else will be a good neighbor to you.
