How To Find Out If Your Home Is In A Nice Area
Everyone wants to live stress-free, and the area that you live in will have a profound effect on your quality of life. The idea of a nice area is subjective, of course. However, it is necessary to find out more about the type of area you live in when you sell your home.
There are several factors you can assess to learn about the type of area you live in and how it affects your property value. So, whether you are looking to buy or sell your home, use this guide to explore what contributes to an area’s reputation.
Crime Stats
Safety is a core part of living in a society. It doesn’t matter whether you live in a rural area or an urban sprawl, everyone wants to be able to walk around their neighborhood without the threat of danger. There is a lot that can affect the level of crime in an area. Societal pressures can lead to a rise in drug-related crimes, and a lack of a police presence can drive up the crime rate. However, you can check whether these issues are likely to affect you by researching your area’s local crime stats.
Every police force should publish a list of crime stats for the year, and these will be broken down into several categories. Therefore, any resident can find out what crimes occur in their area and how often. This information should give you a comprehensive insight into how this activity is likely to affect your life in the area, if at all.
House Prices
The prices of the surrounding houses are probably the best metric to use when trying to find out your own property’s value. Since location is such an important factor when determining the worth of a house, the homes around you are likely to be priced similarly to yours.
With today’s technology, it is even easier to discover the price of homes for sale in your area. All it takes is a quick google search or a chat with professional real estate agents at EZ Home Search. While some of your neighbors may have increased their property value with maintenance work or an extension, but the price will never exceed or fall out of a specific range. Therefore, you can use these property values to estimate the value of your own house.
What’s more, homes in desirable locations are likely to sell for more. This means that you can determine whether your current area, or one you hope to move to, is of a certain standard.
Building Plans
While the house prices in a location will help you to work out the type of location you are moving to, things can change in an instant. As expected, these changes will affect the price of houses in your area.
For example, a big supermarket is going to draw attention to the area resulting in an increase in traffic. With traffic comes noise and pollution, which means that the houses in the immediate area are likely to be affected by these issues. Unfortunately, this is going to reduce the price of the homes nearby. As such, it is wise to stay up to date with current building plans and discover what you can do about them before they affect the homes in the area.
Amenities
New infrastructure isn’t always a bad thing, however. You will find that many people find an area desirable because of the amenities available on their doorstep. For example, if you're moving to Blue Bell in Pennsylvania and you love dining out, you'll want to research all of the best restaurants in Blue Bell, PA before you decide to move there. Similarly, many elderly people will welcome a shopping center on their doorstep as it means that they do not have to travel as far, whilst new parents are often on the lookout for the best schools. It is always nice when there is already one nearby.
The type of amenities in your area will affect people differently, and what you see as a negative will be greatly appreciated by someone else. Therefore, you may be able to use the elements as part of your negotiations whether you are buying or selling.
Flood Risks
The weather is capable of many things in the United States, but most events come and go without many people noticing. Sadly, there are still weather effects that can reduce the quality of life of people in the local area. One such effect is flooding.
An area situated near a canal, river, or reservoir will be susceptible to flooding after heavy rainfall. However, different areas receive varying levels of rain throughout the year. Therefore, you are not at direct risk of flood just because you live in an area near a water feature. What’s more, residential areas that happen to be at high risk of flooding have defenses in place.
Unfortunately, these defenses can put some buyers off from moving to the area. a flood is still a massive inconvenience, after all. That is why it is important to research flood risks if you are concerned about your property’s value.
Pollution
It is natural for an area to be exposed to a certain level of pollution. These levels are perfectly normal, and you won’t suffer any ill effects from the air pollution in your neighborhood. However, times are changing.
Sustainable living is now a big topic among the public, and climate change is an issue that many young people have become passionate about. While there is very little you can do about the pollution levels in the area, demonstrating that you are willing to make a change can be enough to sway someone’s opinion of the area. This is especially true if your surrounding neighbors are also taking steps to become more eco-friendly. It is unlikely that pollution levels will affect the area you live in too much, but you can still make changes to increase your negotiating power when selling your property.
Street View
Technology has opened many avenues for people looking to invest in property, as mentioned above. Perhaps the best tool for people looking to move to a new area; however, may just be Streetview.
This global map tool allows the user to zoom into any street in the world and take a digital journey through pictures. It might not seem like a big deal, but it is great having a virtual tour of an area at your fingertips. You will still have to visit the area to get the vibe of the place, but Streetview is a great tool to get a quick first impression.
Conclusion
A nice area is great for both home buyers and sellers. Therefore, it is important to undertake this research if you are one of these individuals. At least now you know where to begin.
