Talk to the Neighbors When Buying a House in Charlotte or anyplace else for that matter.
We have a pretty social street. It seems like every holiday, one of the neighbors is hosting a party for the neighbors on the street... one neighbor hosts Halloween, another neighbor does July 4th, and yet another neighbor does New Year's Eve. One of the older women on the street often has all the children of the neighborhood over for hot dogs and hamburgers to give the parents on the street a break every now and then. Sometimes a group of neighbors will get out and go to dinner together. Our children are often found with the other children outside running from house to house and yard to yard playing hide and seek. My wife and I have often said that we like our house, but we really love our neighborhood.
Think of how you live today. Are you somebody who stays in your house and does not know who the neighbors are? Or, are you someone who likes to socialize with everyone on your street? Perhaps you have children who like to play outside with the neighbors. Or maybe you have a dog that you like to walk throughout the neighborhood.
I'm frequently surprised when people want to place an offer on a house without ever talking to a single neighbor near the home that they want to purchase. Many people live in a house that they will purchase for years to come, yet they don't spend a few minutes walking to the next-door neighbor to find out more about them and about the neighborhood. Is it a social neighborhood? Does everyone pretty much keep to themselves? Are there lots of children around? What do people do around the holidays? Are there block parties? Do people use the neighborhood pool in the summertime? Are there rowdy neighbors? Is there anything about the neighborhood you should know? Sometimes these questions are best answered by simply walking around to several of the neighbors and asking.
People tend to focus on the square footage, number of bedrooms, bathrooms, and other features of the home; however, though these physical attributes are very important, for many people they are only a few of the very important things about living in a home. For some, what makes a home is often the neighbors around you.
Though neighbors often change over the period of time that you're in a home, it may be worth a few extra minutes to not only check out the size of the bathroom, but also to discuss the neighborhood dynamics with your potential future next-door neighbor.
(photo courtesy of chrisdlugosz on Flickr)
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