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A Safe Haven: Checking Out Your Neighborhood
Before You Buy
You’ve
found the perfect home. Perfect size, perfect yard, perfect amenities,
and perfect view from the bay windows. And when you drive down the
street, you see manicured lawns, big oak trees, and kids playing on the
sidewalk. It seems to be the perfect neighborhood as well.
Or
is it?
You
may be able to tell quite a bit about your prospective neighborhood just
by surveying your surroundings from your car, but can you really be sure
about the area? Is it a safe neighborhood or does it just appear that
way? Before you buy, you need to thoroughly investigate your potential
neighborhood--or you may end up on the wrong side of the tracks,
literally and figuratively.
The
first step in your research is the step that most everyone takes, which
is checking crime statistics on the internet. Some good websites you may
want to check out include HomeFair.com, Homes.com, and Yahoo! Real
Estate (www.realestate.yahoo.com). All three sites offer comprehensive
statistics on crime. Out of the three, HomeFair.com probably has the
most extensive resource called The Relocation Crime Lab. This feature
allows you to research crime indexes for thousands of cities and compare
crime rates for your current residence against your future residence.
Also, The Relocation Crime Lab breaks down crime in your future
neighborhood by type of crime.
However,
just doing a little research on the web isn’t enough. To get better
crime statistics, go to the local police station near your future home
and ask them for a report on all dispatched calls to the neighborhood.
Most police stations are more than happy to provide this information—and you may be surprised by what you find on that report.
After
your visit to the police station, walk your neighborhood. At night. Note
what you see. Are there people loitering at odd hours? Is the
neighborhood well-lit? And do you feel safe or do you feel
uncomfortable? Of course, if you feel uncomfortable, you may want to get
back into your car. The bottom line is that if you don’t feel safe
walking near your potential home now, do you think you will ever
feel safe?
Another
step in checking out the neighborhood is to talk to local business
owners, non-profit groups, and the city hall. All three can provide good
information about the safety of the area. Some non-profit groups you may
want to contact include Kiwanis, Lions Club, or Rotary International.
Local business owners are a great source of information and are very
often open and candid about how safe the area is.
Finally,
knock on some doors. Go up and down the street and talk to your
potential neighbors. Ask them specifically about safety issues. Have
there been any problems in the neighborhood? Do the police frequent the
area? Is there a community association or a neighborhood watch program?
Chances are good that you’ll get all the information you need and
more. Plus, you’ll get a head start on meeting your new neighbors—truly an important part of your new home.
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