Are you planning to buy a house? Don’t make the mistake of buying a house in a bad neighborhood or thinking that neighborhood is the least of your concern. So many people have regretted their choice and decided to sell their house after realizing that the environment isn’t ideal for their family.
Buying a house where your family can live safely and happily should be your number one priority. Imagine your kids being able to play freely and experiencing the best time of their lives. To make it happen, you should know and remember these signs of a good neighborhood before buying a house.
1. Education first
Do a survey of any nearby schools and see for yourself how far it is from the house, how to get there, how are the surrounding areas, and evaluate the quality of those schools. A good public school should have a good reputation as well. Find out about its past and see if the school is safe for your kids for years to come.
If you have a toddler, don’t forget to check out the daycares too. Make sure that not only the daycares are good and safe, but also are not in full capacity. It is also a great idea to check how many students are in a school. If the school is packed, the teachers might feel overwhelmed. If that’s the case, hiring a private tutor might be the best solution.
2. Green and open space
Who doesn’t want to live near a park or other open spaces where you and your family can walk, run, and play freely? If you have young kids, living near a public park could be one of the best things that could happen to them.
Also, you can see it as saving money. Whenever your family wants to go somewhere for a picnic, everyone can go to a nearby park and save gas. Plenty of open space means the air quality is great, much better than living in the middle of a city. Living somewhere with an ocean view is also a fantastic idea.
3. Entertainment
Amusement parks, theaters, museums, or other public entertainment are something to be considered as well. See if the neighborhood offers many fun activities throughout the year. If one neighborhood has more fun activities available than the others then you should take that into consideration.
4. Take a look at your neighbors
This is very important because no one wants to live next to noisy or annoying neighbors. Some people can be outright unsafe for your family. Before deciding to buy a house or move to a new location, take a drive around the neighborhood.
If during that time, you find some disturbance or drama happening, that neighborhood might not be for you. You should always 3-4 houses next to your future house. Increase the radius if you want to play it safer.
5. Distance to other necessities
Besides public schools, daycares, and parks, there are other places that you need to look for. Obviously, you need to see how far the location is from your workplace. That is unless you work from home. But if that’s the case then you need to live somewhere quiet and with as little distraction as possible.
Hospitals, malls, restaurants, etc. could be useful if they’re located not too far away from your house. But remember that the closer you’re too busy business places, the more noise pollution you’re going to experience.
6. Safe neighborhood
This may seem to be obvious to everyone, but how do you know if the neighborhood is safe or not? The first thing you can do is do a little survey of the surrounding areas. Can you find dangerous areas nearby? Railroad tracks, shady alleys, abandoned houses, busy roads, etc. Also, check out the news and see if there are some mentions of the neighborhood or its surrounding locations.
If you don’t have a garage, an assigned parking space could be very valuable and adds to the safety score of the neighborhood. See if the parking space is safe or not by doing a quick check on the location.
Moving to a new location should be exciting
After you’ve done everything and make sure that the neighborhood is great for your family, the moving process should be smooth and exciting for everyone. Use every bit of resource to do your research and don’t forget to survey the neighborhood several times if necessary.