When you buy a home, you buy into a neighborhood. While that neighborhood is somewhere you will live and want to feel like you belong, it also affects your home’s value. Unfortunately, you don’t have any control over the area that you live. You can’t make your neighbors take care of their yard or maintain their homes. You also can’t control the crime rate or the school district’s ratings singlehandedly.
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What you can do, though, is do your research before you buy a home. Don’t focus on the home itself, but on the neighborhood too. If there are factors that throw up a red flag now, chances are they will only get worse in the future.
Learn the top six ways that your neighborhood can affect your home’s value.
The Quality of the Schools
Even if you don’t have children, the quality of the schools in the area can affect your home’s value. In areas with highly rated schools, values tend to be higher than in those with lower-rated schools. People seek out homes in highly rated areas, which can increase the value of your home just by the sheer demand of the area. Likewise, buyers steer clear of areas with schools that don’t rate well, even if they don’t have children. This makes the demand lower and can bring values down.
The Proximity of Retail Stores
Your home value can also be dependent on its proximity to retail stores. How the home is affected depends on the type of living your home is in – urban or suburban. Urban areas place value on living close to the retail stores and restaurants. They place value on the convenience of these places being close to the homes. Suburban homes, on the other hand, tend to lose value, as they get closer to the retail stores and restaurants. Suburban buyers want to be out amongst their neighbors, not the hustle and bustle of city life.
The Proximity of the Expressway
In today’s day and age, it’s all about convenience. If a homeowner has to travel far just to get access to the expressway, it’s seen as an inconvenience and can lower a home’s value. Many buyers are willing to pay a premium for a home that has easy access to the expressway versus one that requires drivers to go out of their way to access.
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The Surrounding Environment
You probably already know that most buyers want to live in a home that isn’t near nuances. This could mean something physically obstructing the view from their home or a rancid smell that they can smell in the yard. The proximity of the home to things like industrial parks, factories, or even expressways can play a role in the home’s value. The more noise, visual obstructions, or smells the surrounding area has, the lower the home’s value may be.
The Number of Foreclosed Homes
Are you in a neighborhood with a cluster of foreclosures? That may not be good for the value of your home. Each home that is within a reasonable distance of your home that forecloses brings your home’s value down. This is because the closest homes to you serve as the comparable sales. If the home sold as a foreclosure, chances are that it sold for much less than it was worth. Eventually, this can bring down the value of the entire neighborhood.
The Proximity of Parks
Finally, your home’s value may be affected by the proximity of the local parks. Are you located directly across the street from a park? This could help increase your value. Families value the convenience of parks, even if they don’t have children yet. Knowing that they might have to drive miles to get to the closest park can bring a home’s value down slightly, while having a park could instill a feeling of community within the area.
The neighborhood plays an important role in your home’s value. Make sure before you buy a home that you do your research and know what a neighborhood is like. You want a neighborhood that has a low crime rate, good schools, and is located close enough to the things that mean the most to you.
