Posted: Monday Jun 20, 04:04 PST
Tips on buying a house
A good place to start looking for tomorrow's hot neighborhoods is right on the edge of the most desirable, well-established neighborhoods. These tangential neighborhoods frequently are next in line to experience a run-up in prices. Other signs of a neighborhood heating up in popularity:
* Multiple-offer home sales
* An increase in the number of out-of-area buyers moving in
* An increase in local residents trading up within the neighborhood
* A decrease in the percentage of renters
* Signs of remodeling
Hey, neighbor
A desirable neighborhood may have more than one of these elements:
* Close proximity to a thriving economic center
* Good public schools
* Nearby shopping
* Good public facilities
* Convenient commute options to a major metropolitan area
* Well-maintained homes
* Low crime
* High percentage of owner-occupants
Before you buy
If you haven't had time to thoroughly check out a neighborhood before you make an offer to buy there, include a broadly written inspection contingency in your purchase contract that includes the neighborhood and the house. Such a contingency might state that the offer is dependent upon the satisfactory inspection of both the property and neighborhood by the buyers. If you only want to buy the house if you can answer a very specific question about the neighborhood, then write this in as a specific contingency of the contract. For example, the contract might be contingent upon the buyer confirming that a restaurant cannot be built next door.
Quick Take
Property values tend to hold steady in neighborhoods with well-defined identities and assets available to everyone, such as a city park or community band shell.
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