It isn't often I see a really good article on regular news sites, but I did today. This article (linked below) talks about some of the research that home buyers really need to do for themselves about a particular neighborhood, and also provides some resources for doing that research.
We often suggest to our clients that they look into the sex offender registry sites to see for themselves if there are sex offenders nearby. The reason we do this is the websites have the most up-to-date information available, and it's the kind of info that is really important for people to look into for themselves. The article does provide info on where to look for this info, by the way.
School information is often convoluted even when attainable; while you can receive a particular school's scores, it is often difficult to determine how those scores translate into actual performance. However, the article does provide resources on where to find school info as well. My advice is to seek out parents of students at the school in question and talk to them about their level of satisfaction with the school. Between that and score information, you will have some basis to compare areas to each other.
All in all, it is a good resource for understanding the how and why of doing your homework on a neighborhood you are thinking of buying into.
http://realestate.msn.com/Buying/Article_mw.aspx?cp-documentid=4220787>1=10932
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