How's the Neighborhood?

I was talking to a friend from high school earlier. She's a recent college graduate and looking to relocate because of her new job. One of the things she was telling me is that she was frustrated because she will be buying in a state she's not very familiar with, and she doesn't understand why her agent can't just tell her where the "good" and "bad" neighborhoods are, or include a "more detailed" [I think she meant more opinionated] breakdown of the areas in which different homes were.

I've run into this same frustration before with clients, and sometimes it can be irritating as an agent that we can't just answer certain types of questions directly and tell them what we really think. One reason for this is the Fair Housing Act - we don't know why you're asking and cannot legally say anything that might be perceived as "steering" a clients towards or away from a certain area, or that may seem to be discriminatory.

Also, tastes are subjective, and even the "worst" neighborhoods have people who choose to live there, for one reason or another. Since I haven't lived in every neighborhood I show homes in, my idea of what a neighborhood is like may not be accurate, or may be based on one or more positive or negative experiences that really reflect the day-to-day reality of living there.

Since there's not much I can say about a neighborhood, good or bad, I try to help my clients find out the answers to their questions, and form their impression of the neighborhood for themselves.

My advice to clients, and anyone else comparing neighborhoods is this:

• First of all, drive around the neighborhood. Some of the best times to do this are weekdays around 6pm when people are getting home from work, or earlier when the school buses are out, if the number or ages of children in the neighborhood is important to you. Weekends are also good, because families tend to be home, and you can check out neighborhood yard sales and have a chance to talk to some of the people who live in the area.
• Pay attention to the condition and types of properties in the immediate vicinity. Are neighbors mowing their lawns, raking leaves, and maintaining their properties, or is there trash and many "run-down" looking homes and lots?  Are there a lot of kids playing in the street? Does the property conform to its surroundings?  If it’s the only single-family on a street of multi-families, or a stick built home surrounded by mobile homes, then the value of the single-family is negatively impacted by the properties around it.
  
• If you are unable to drive around an area, then using "Street View" on Google Maps can at least give you an idea of what the street and neighboring homes look like, and how well the exteriors of the homes and yards are maintained, although you won't have the chance to speak with the neighbors face-to-face.
• To ask people in an area about a particular neighborhood, some good choices would be online, community-centered, message boards like City-Data.com or Topix.
• For crime statistics, call the local police station and ask about statistics for the neighborhood. Most are willing to help, and they can better explain why certain figures are higher or lower in different places in why. Some officers may also give you their personal opinions of which neighborhoods are safer to live in, but keep in mind it is an opinion.
• To find out about sex offenders in the area, there are sites like Family Watchdog, which plots out the offenders' locations on a map, or law-enforcement run sites such as the North Carolina Sex Offender Registry and the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website.
• Information on schools can be found at School Data Direct, the National Center for Education Statistics, or GreatSchools.net, and by searching for your city or county's public school website for links to specific schools and the programs they offer.
• The EPA offers a website with information on environmental hazards and conditions by area.
• Demographic information and area profiles can be found on many sites, including the US Census, ZIPskinny, and City-Data.

If you are looking to buy or sell a home in the Hickory, Lenoir, or Morganton, NC area, or if you would like the direct website links or phone numbers for local police, schools, etc to check out the information for your neighborhood in Caldwell, Catawba, or eastern Burke County, please give me a call at (828) 430-1936.

Raine Carraway - REALTOR®

  Century 21 American Homes