Are you looking to buy a new house soon? The market is definitely a buyer’s market and you can get a lot of house for a lot less money compared to 1-2 years ago. However, it does not matter when you move – you still have to pay extra attention to the house and the surroundings. Most people look only at the house itself, maybe at the land that comes with it, but often that is it.
There are a lot of hidden values or traps included when buying a new house. It is very important to look around in the neighborhood to determine how great the new place is really. Why? Because what if you buy the house and have neighbors from hell?! What if the house next door is a rental and is occupied by a gang of 7 college kids that party all the time – especially when you are trying to sleep. What if the house across the street is owned by a motorcycle fanatic that enjoys nothing more than listening to the sound of his Harley Davidson – that has a custom exhaust pipe for a little extra sound?! Or how about the other neighbor who has 3 dogs that love to bark, but only come outside after 5 PM when the owner comes home and only stop barking at 10 PM when the owner goes to bed.
As you can see there are many things that can be wrong in your future neighborhood. They can be the reason why the house is for sale in the first place. Can you risk to move there and be happy in that house if you do not check on those things? Unless you sit in your fully finished basement all the time watching TV you will be confronted with these issues sooner or later if you buy that house.
Here are a few things to do when buying a new house. Not only inspect the house and the land/yard before making an offer. Check out the neighborhood. How well are the houses in the immediate neighborhood maintained? How many cars or motorcycles are parked in front of each house? The less cars you see, the quieter the neighborhood. Drive by several times per day for a week to get an impression of what the neighborhood is like. Park your car at night and enjoy a large cup of coffee and a magazine and monitor the neighborhood for a few hours. If you have a dog – go for a walk in the neighborhood. This will help you to determine how many other canines live in the neighborhood and what the potential barking sound level might be. You could even talk to people on the street and ask them for their impression of the neighborhood.
You get the idea of why it is important to inspect not only a house you want to buy, but to also check out the neighborhood, too. If you want to buy a house as your primary residence it should be very high on your list of priorities to identify issues that will eventually affect your level of happiness with the new house.
