How Are the Neighbors?

There are a few things that, as agents, we are FORBIDDEN to discuss. One of them is the neighbors.  It’s not at all uncommon for me to be hosting an open house or working with buyers and having them as “So, what are the neighbors like?” 

With so many fair housing violations, it’s puts me in a precarious position.  I genuinely WANT to tell you about the area, and I WANT to be a resource- but it can be a very slippery slope.  When someone asks me this question, I generally ask one questions back:

Why are you asking?  Typically if someone is asking me, it means they are interested in the property but want to know more about the area.

Maybe they have kids that are going to be enrolling in the schools and want to make sure they have friends in the neighborhood.  I’m happy to share where the current bus stop is or local playground can be located. I can offer up resources for buyers with school age kids to help them see where the school stacks up, but it’s really up to the parents to do the homework on this one.

Perhaps they offer dog training at their home and want to be sure its a dog friendly neighborhood and barking dogs won’t be too much of a disruption. Sometimes just walking around a neighborhood, seeing what you can see, or taking a couple of drive bys can help you figure out if this is a place you’d like to call home. I had a buyer that would arrive at showings about a half hour before to scope out the neighborhood and hopefully catch a neighbor to talk with. She was able to procure the answers to all of the questions I couldn’t help with, and she knew all of kinds of neighborhood gossip that I would have never been privy to- which helped her eliminate some areas and make others strong contenders.

It’s possible they are asking for safety issues.  When I first got divorced, it was SO important to me to find a place where I felt safe for myself and my dog. With what was a random schedule, dog walking sometimes took place after dark. My idea of safe might not be the same as it is for someone that teaches krav maga, or a person with no self defense experience. It’s never a bad idea to reach out to the local police dept and ask about recent call logs to the neighborhood, or check out the sex offender registry if you have specific concerns.

While as agents we pride ourselves as being the local experts (I can tell you who has the best bagels, where to find the coldest and crispiest diet pepsi, what restaurants have the tastiest apps and which gas stations have the shortest lines), there are limitations to this superhero power- we can be the source of the resource, but we can’t air the dirty laundry 😉

If you’re thinking of buying and want to know more about a specific neighborhood or area, give me a call! I’d be happy to share what I can with you!