Learning long distance
December 1, 2013 5:49 PM Subscribe
Tips and tidbits about learning more about the neighbors before purchasing a home?
Moving to a new area and want to know more before we put in an offer.
What we have done so far:
Checked sex offender registry
GIS to get all surrounding neighbors and run them through court system database
Checked crime and calls for service in the areas
We are going to be looking at several houses this weekend and I have done that for all of them. Normally I would like to stalk a neighborhood in person, but we don't have that luxury this time.
Ideas?
Moving to a new area and want to know more before we put in an offer.
What we have done so far:
Checked sex offender registry
GIS to get all surrounding neighbors and run them through court system database
Checked crime and calls for service in the areas
We are going to be looking at several houses this weekend and I have done that for all of them. Normally I would like to stalk a neighborhood in person, but we don't have that luxury this time.
Ideas?
Best answer: When we were narrowing down our home search (down to the top 5, I believe), I knocked on the immediate neighbor's doors after a showing. I introduced myself, let them know we were thinking about buying House X, and asked them some basic questions (how safe are the streets for biking/skateboarding/walking kids, what's the approximate age mix in the neighborhood, would you buy a house in the neighborhood again). We settled on the house we're in now because the answers to all of those questions pointed to a very kid-centric, kid-friendly neighborhood, which is what we were looking for. The neighbors I talked to were also very nice and polite.
That said, it really does seem like you're maybe kind of going overboard. Unless you're looking in neighborhoods where there are bars on the windows, I think you'll be fine.
posted by cooker girl at 6:13 PM on December 1, 2013
That said, it really does seem like you're maybe kind of going overboard. Unless you're looking in neighborhoods where there are bars on the windows, I think you'll be fine.
posted by cooker girl at 6:13 PM on December 1, 2013
I can understand checking the sex offender registry, but anything beyond that is, as kmennie says, very panicked-sounding. For crying out loud, you're running total strangers through court system databases?!? If I knew you were doing that, I'd be HOPING you'd find my neighborhood unacceptable, because I would definately find YOUR behavior intrusive and unacceptable!
"Normally I would like to stalk a neighborhood in person"..... normally people DON'T DO THIS. The only 'idea' I have for you is to stop your possibly-illegal stalking.
posted by easily confused at 6:18 PM on December 1, 2013 [4 favorites]
"Normally I would like to stalk a neighborhood in person"..... normally people DON'T DO THIS. The only 'idea' I have for you is to stop your possibly-illegal stalking.
posted by easily confused at 6:18 PM on December 1, 2013 [4 favorites]
As long as things are neat and tidy, why would you be interacting much with your neighbors?
I'm from Manhattan, tho, so maybe this is "a thing" in non-urban areas?
I think driving/walking around during the day and at night should tell you enough. Are you moving to a neighborhood that is gentrified, or in the process of gentrifying?
Large development projects often impact a neighborhood's tone, so you might want to check with the local planning commission.
posted by jbenben at 6:20 PM on December 1, 2013
I'm from Manhattan, tho, so maybe this is "a thing" in non-urban areas?
I think driving/walking around during the day and at night should tell you enough. Are you moving to a neighborhood that is gentrified, or in the process of gentrifying?
Large development projects often impact a neighborhood's tone, so you might want to check with the local planning commission.
posted by jbenben at 6:20 PM on December 1, 2013
Response by poster: Jumping in here.
The reason I am being so 'panicked' is because our current neighbors are dealing drugs from their home in a small neighborhood. I would like to avoid that again. If I had done the prior mentioned research we would not have bought our current house. I'm being overly cautious.
I too used to live in NYC, and I expect it there, no biggie. But when moving to the burbs to raise a family, I have different expectations.
posted by MayNicholas at 6:29 PM on December 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
The reason I am being so 'panicked' is because our current neighbors are dealing drugs from their home in a small neighborhood. I would like to avoid that again. If I had done the prior mentioned research we would not have bought our current house. I'm being overly cautious.
I too used to live in NYC, and I expect it there, no biggie. But when moving to the burbs to raise a family, I have different expectations.
posted by MayNicholas at 6:29 PM on December 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
what you are doing is no guarantee their won't be a similar drug house in your new neighborhood. In fact I think it is just a waste of time. The name of renters is not going to appear on public records data-that is always just the homeowner(s). There is no way to tell who else is living there. Having sketchy neighbors is sometimes just a fact of life. And just because someone is on the sex offender database doesn't mean they are threat-lots of people get on their for innocuous things like urination in public or for dating their 17 year old high school girlfriend when they are 18 or 19. Doesn't mean they are after little kids or violent rapists or anything. And just because someone has a criminal record doesn't mean they are threat either. Maybe they have paid their debt to society and moved on from their past.
So you are assuming people are guilty until proven innocent and invading peoples privacy.
Personally I am much more concerned with who in the neighborhood has kid with a stereo system worth more than the car it is installed in. Those things suck. Or motorcycles whose riders believe mufflers are optional. Or who hires their landscape crew to work at 5 am with leaf-blowers. These things suck. Not so much concerned with who is smoking a little weed in the neighborhood.
posted by bartonlong at 6:51 PM on December 1, 2013 [2 favorites]
So you are assuming people are guilty until proven innocent and invading peoples privacy.
Personally I am much more concerned with who in the neighborhood has kid with a stereo system worth more than the car it is installed in. Those things suck. Or motorcycles whose riders believe mufflers are optional. Or who hires their landscape crew to work at 5 am with leaf-blowers. These things suck. Not so much concerned with who is smoking a little weed in the neighborhood.
posted by bartonlong at 6:51 PM on December 1, 2013 [2 favorites]
I don't think you're crazy, but on the other hand I don't think running people through a court system database is going to tell you what you want to know. The only way to find what you're looking for is to hang out in your parked car for an hour or so at night, early morning, whatever it is you're concerned about, and see what you see and hear what you hear. People with legal troubles can be great neighbors, bad neighbors can escape legal trouble, etc. What you care about is what's actually happening right now. If you can't do it yourself, can you ask a friend to help? Or hire someone?
posted by HotToddy at 7:15 PM on December 1, 2013
posted by HotToddy at 7:15 PM on December 1, 2013
Best answer: "Normally I would like to stalk a neighborhood in person"..... normally people DON'T DO THIS. The only 'idea' I have for you is to stop your possibly-illegal stalking.
What? I disagree, I think this is a perfectly reasonable thing to do. Think about all the questions in the Green about what one does to try to get along or deal with the neighbor that is throwing loud parties, has the outdoor sound system, smoking on the side of the house that goes into your kids bedroom windows, damaging your fence, causing issues with boundaries, whose kids are playing in your yard and/or are damaging, removing, or adding to your landscaping, and whose dogs are pooping, eating, or otherwise misbehaving.
This is actually our largest concern when we're moving to a new neighborhood. And it is so difficult to parse ahead of time - we've had great experiences where our neighbors were pleasant and we were able to communicate and negotiate issues, and we've had shitty experiences (cops called, them trying to have our vehicles towed in petty attempts at escalation, etc etc blah blah blah).
Let's not get on OP about trying to make sure they have a non-shitty experience with neighbors.
With that said, I think a lot of ringing doorbells. Try to be there in the late afternoon or evening when people are home, better yet mid to late morning on the weekends to gauge the level of normal activity and see how it fits with your lifestyle. To get a finger on the pulse of the neighborhood I totally agree with the previous suggestion of checking online reviews.
Good luck finding the right place!
posted by arnicae at 7:33 PM on December 1, 2013 [4 favorites]
What? I disagree, I think this is a perfectly reasonable thing to do. Think about all the questions in the Green about what one does to try to get along or deal with the neighbor that is throwing loud parties, has the outdoor sound system, smoking on the side of the house that goes into your kids bedroom windows, damaging your fence, causing issues with boundaries, whose kids are playing in your yard and/or are damaging, removing, or adding to your landscaping, and whose dogs are pooping, eating, or otherwise misbehaving.
This is actually our largest concern when we're moving to a new neighborhood. And it is so difficult to parse ahead of time - we've had great experiences where our neighbors were pleasant and we were able to communicate and negotiate issues, and we've had shitty experiences (cops called, them trying to have our vehicles towed in petty attempts at escalation, etc etc blah blah blah).
Let's not get on OP about trying to make sure they have a non-shitty experience with neighbors.
With that said, I think a lot of ringing doorbells. Try to be there in the late afternoon or evening when people are home, better yet mid to late morning on the weekends to gauge the level of normal activity and see how it fits with your lifestyle. To get a finger on the pulse of the neighborhood I totally agree with the previous suggestion of checking online reviews.
Good luck finding the right place!
posted by arnicae at 7:33 PM on December 1, 2013 [4 favorites]
> But when moving to the burbs to raise a family, I have different expectations
It's an unusual thing to do in the suburbs, too. And it's not that useful. You could have terrible neighbors who've never had problems with the law, and great neighbors with felonies in their past.
I did the sex offender lookup too -- one house we were looking at turned out to uncomfortably close to an apartment building with a high number of registered sex-offenders in it -- but beyond that, you're being intrusive.
posted by The corpse in the library at 8:44 PM on December 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
It's an unusual thing to do in the suburbs, too. And it's not that useful. You could have terrible neighbors who've never had problems with the law, and great neighbors with felonies in their past.
I did the sex offender lookup too -- one house we were looking at turned out to uncomfortably close to an apartment building with a high number of registered sex-offenders in it -- but beyond that, you're being intrusive.
posted by The corpse in the library at 8:44 PM on December 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
Best answer: If you look for info on local elementary schools you get a pretty good read on what the neighborhood is like. For each house you're looking at, figure out what elementary school your kid would go to, and research that. It wasn't till we had moved to our 3rd house (and my kids were 7 & 4) that I realized out how much the elementary school mirrors the neighborhood.
posted by selfmedicating at 9:07 PM on December 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by selfmedicating at 9:07 PM on December 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Yes, while people who haven't had a problem with their neighbors before might think the OP is in overkill territory here, I would just note the OP's prior question that involved lots responses from this community about getting the police involved and reporting drug deals of the neighbors. Once bitten, twice shy.
Once you have a house you really want to put an offer on I really would go around to three or four immediate neighbors and ask them some questions to get a feel for things, and ask them whether there are any problems with the immediate neighborhood that they think you should be worried about. Good luck!
posted by onlyconnect at 10:52 PM on December 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
Once you have a house you really want to put an offer on I really would go around to three or four immediate neighbors and ask them some questions to get a feel for things, and ask them whether there are any problems with the immediate neighborhood that they think you should be worried about. Good luck!
posted by onlyconnect at 10:52 PM on December 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I don't think you are at all overreacting, or being intrusive. Does the neighborhood have a list serve? The area where we recently bought a house has a very active Google group. By searching on street names, and just generally following the day-to-day conversations, I was able to get a feel for crime, neighborhood issues, and specific nuisances. For instance, where there were barking dogs/dogs running loose continually. Or that there was industrial building which that held all night raves once a month, which really annoyed neighbors on the adjacent streets. Or the house that we loved because it backed up to a greenway was on a street with higher than normal house and car break-ins (likely because of the isolation, and easy access provided by the aforementioned greenway).
posted by kimdog at 6:26 AM on December 2, 2013
posted by kimdog at 6:26 AM on December 2, 2013
possibly-illegal stalking
There is no law against stalking a neighborhood. Not even possibly.
With that said, I think that as a rule, your homeowning neighbors are the last people you have to worry about. I would concern myself with (a) renters, and (b) foot traffic through the neighborhood. I live in a perfectly pleasant neighborhood but (b) is why we can't have nice bird feeders or other stealable items.
posted by ftm at 7:39 AM on December 2, 2013 [2 favorites]
There is no law against stalking a neighborhood. Not even possibly.
With that said, I think that as a rule, your homeowning neighbors are the last people you have to worry about. I would concern myself with (a) renters, and (b) foot traffic through the neighborhood. I live in a perfectly pleasant neighborhood but (b) is why we can't have nice bird feeders or other stealable items.
posted by ftm at 7:39 AM on December 2, 2013 [2 favorites]
The reason I am being so 'panicked' is because our current neighbors are dealing drugs from their home in a small neighborhood. I would like to avoid that again.
I'm sorry, but there's really no way to avoid this. You buying a house doesn't preclude your new neighbors from selling their house to sketchier people, or subletting, or having teenagers that go into that kind of business.
posted by Brittanie at 9:08 AM on December 2, 2013 [1 favorite]
I'm sorry, but there's really no way to avoid this. You buying a house doesn't preclude your new neighbors from selling their house to sketchier people, or subletting, or having teenagers that go into that kind of business.
posted by Brittanie at 9:08 AM on December 2, 2013 [1 favorite]
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I want to suggest reading reviews for the local restaurants and using that to get a handle on the neighbourhood but it's not clear that neighbourhood info is what you're after. All your moving questions sound extremely nervous and I think you are just fuelling your anxieties by snooping on potential neighbours (and breaching their privacy to an unreasonable degree). Google map street view to check out the parks, map out the estimated walk/drive time to stores and amenities you'll use. Use the deep digging to ferret out a first-rate house inspector.
posted by kmennie at 6:03 PM on December 1, 2013 [9 favorites]