Home Buying: What You Need to Know About the Neighborhood

Neighborhood Buying Things to Know The home you have been searching for has everything on your wish list. It's has the right number of bedrooms, the right number of bathrooms and the extra features you always wanted. But when buying a home, new home buyers are doing more than buying four walls and a bit of land. New home buyers are also buying into a neighborhood.

Before making an offer on a new home, it's a good idea to do some neighborhood research. Get the details on the neighborhood to make sure it's a place you may want to live.

Researching School Ratings

If a new home buyer has children, most parents usually want to move to an area that has good schools. Even if a new home buyer doesn't have school-age children, moving to an area with good schools could still be a good idea. How people perceive the schools in a neighborhood may very well affect property values. If the schools in the neighborhood are in popular and parents want to send their children to them, home values in these areas might be higher.

Commuting & Transportation

Are you planning on buying a home in an urban area? Then it might be helpful to find out how well served the neighborhood is by public transit or if you might be able to walk most places with ease. Once you find that special home, then look for the nearest subway stop, bus stop or train station and then get the details for the routes. If you are using the public transit, then discover how frequently buses and trains run, if they run on the weekends, and what the fares may cost.

And it's worth noting that homes that are near public transit stops may have a higher value than homes that are not near public transit according to "The New Real Estate Mantra: Location Near Public Transportation," which was a report published in 2013. Depending on your transportation needs and commute distance, it might be a good idea to look into the public transportation, or lack thereof, when looking at a home to buy in an urban area. 

Home Buyer Average Commute Times

You're not just buying the home; You're buying into the location!

Unless you work from home, a new home buyer should calculate how long it might take to commute from their potential home to their place of employment. It Do a practice commute a few times - but be sure they are done at the same time you might leave for work (or return home) to have a realistic idea of what the commute times actually would be. Remember that commute time is time that is NOT spent in your new home. Home buyers often have to weigh the time of commuting to work against how closely the home matches everything on the wish list. 

Nearby Neighborhood Amenities

It helps to know what amenities, if any, are in the neighborhood before committing to buying a home. Be sure and find out where the nearest grocery store and coffee shops are. And what parks may be close by. And if you enjoy being to walk to a nearby restaurant for dinner, be sure and check if there is one in the area.

Be sure and take a walk around the neighborhood after looking at the home to see how close the amenities are. And remember that traffic on roads, as well as parking, sidewalks and trails nearby should also be considered before purchasing a home. 

Details About Crime Rates

Before buying a home, it is usually a good idea to research the details on crime in the neighborhood. To research, one can look at crime statistics on a government website or by using an online tool such as Neighborhood Scout or Crime Reports. Also, many police departments can give information about specific areas or neighborhoods. 

Along with online home searches and on-your-feet research, a new home buyer can often learn a lot about the neighborhood where the home is located. You can also learn more about the area by simply talking to the people that live there. Also, your own real estate agent can be a great source of information about different neighborhoods in your area as well. So be sure and get all of the details on the neighborhood before you buy that new home! 

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Dylan Snyder is a seasoned real estate professional serving the Jupiter real estate market, Palm Beach real estate market, Palm Beach Gardens real estate market, North Palm Beach real estate market, and the surrouding Palm Beach County area. Along with being a top producer in Jupiter real estate, Dylan's professionalism and expertise in luxury and waterfront real estate sets him and his team of real estate experts apart from the competition. For more information on Jupiter and Palm Beach real estate for sale, contact Dylan at (561) 951-9301.

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