And so is the neighborhood you’re moving into. It might be a charming, friendly stretch that welcomes you like a friend, or it might be a tense, unhappy block that raises your stress levels. Research and surveillance are always good ideas when considering a move to a new neighborhood, but there’s one more step you should always take before signing a lease or buying a place: Ask your potential new neighbors a few crucial questions. The folks who already live in that neighborhood know all the secrets, and a few conversations with them can save you a lot of heartache.
The best strategy is a serendipitous approach in public. Since it’s a best practice to visit the neighborhood a few times, at different times of day, to gauge the vibe, noise level, and other factors, you can look for opportunities to chat up residents while you do so. Look for folks working in their yards, hanging out, or walking their dogs, and just introduce yourself as a potential new neighbor, and ask if you can pick their brains about the area. Most people won’t mind answering a few questions—and if they do, that tells you all you need to know about what it might be like living next door to them.
What to ask them
Has there ever been a major disaster, especially a flood? If the current owner of the property didn’t make an insurance claim for some reason, there may be no official record that the house flooded—and the current owner may not want to disclose that the place was a swampy mold factory for a while. But the neighbors will remember.
Who’s the problem on the block? People often focus on their immediate neighbors—but sometimes the person who reports everything to the HOA (or calls the police for everything), leaves nasty notes, or trespasses regularly through other people’s yards lives on the other end of the block. Unless you ask, you won’t know until your first encounter with them.
What's the HOA like? If there’s an HOA, asking about the tenor of the meetings, how often assessments are handed down, and whether the board is crazy (or incompetent) is always prudent. A community can look pristine and peaceful and be a hotbed of animosity and vendettas underneath those flowerbeds.
How is parking handled? Are there regular battles about street parking, blocked driveways, or folks with multiple vehicles taking up all the spaces? Do people resort to passive-aggressive notes and folding chairs left in spaces? Does that one resident think it’s OK to just park in your driveway when they need to?
Do you have any trouble getting emergency services? Being outside crowded urban areas has its benefits, but it sometimes comes with difficulty getting emergency services in a timely manner. Ask possible neighbors if ambulances, police, or firetrucks arrive quickly when there’s a problem, or if there’s a routine 45-minute wait (or worse). Another good question to ask? Where’s the closest hospital, and what’s its reputation? If the answers aren’t reassuring, you might want to consider what you’ll do if something terrible happens after you move in.
What's the local drama? If you’ve ever lived in one place for a while, you know that resentments and grudges can develop into full-on warfare between neighbors. Ask some folks what the wars have been about in your potential new neighborhood—is it parking issues? Garbage out at the wrong times? Noise? Unkempt yards? Knowing what has triggered hostilities and passive-aggressive notes in the past is a warning about what your future will be like.
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