Choosing a Neighborhood When Buying A Home

Any Smith Marketing realtor will share the mantra, location, location, location when talking about the attributes that help a home hold its value and potentially appreciate. However, no one neighborhood is right for every buyer. Determining which community in the greater Greensboro area that meets your needs and your budget requires research and some soul searching about your priorities.

Establish Your Priorities

Before one of our realtors can begin to help you look for a home, you and your spouse or partner should develop a list of needs and wants. For some buyers, the home itself is of paramount importance: they want a particular style or size or a big yard. For others, the neighborhood is more important. If you have an unlimited budget you may be able to find the perfect home in a desirable neighborhood, but since most buyers need to meet a budget, you may have to compromise on either the house or the community.

Next, think about what amenities you’d like to have nearby or whether you’d like to live in a rural area without neighbors. If you like to swim or golf or play soccer or your kids do, facilities for those sports should be on the list of things you look for in a Greensboro neighborhood. On the other hand, you could be more focused on easy access to cultural amenities or nightlife. Think about whether you’d like to live in place where residents interact often or whether you prefer to have cordial but distant relationships with your neighbors.

Schools Matter

If you have children or are planning to have a family in the future, buying a Greensboro home in a community with good schools is already likely to be a priority. Even if you don’t have children to educate, though, you should be aware that homes located in a good school district typically hold onto their value better than those in less highly regarded districts.

Transportation Issues

A major consideration for most home buyers in Greensboro when it comes to choosing where to live is how they’ll get to the places they go regularly. In communities near or in the city, prime locations are typically close to shopping and work. Many suburban communities are being designed around a town center concept so that residents can walk to restaurants, shops and entertainment and sometimes even to work.

When you’re looking for a Greensboro or Burlington home, you should consider how convenient it is for you and for future potential buyers when you’re ready to sell.

How to Compare Communities

It’s important to visit a prospective neighborhood at various times of day and on both weekdays and weekends to get a feel for what it would be like to live there. Look at how the homes are maintained to see if they meet your standards. Try to talk to residents about what the community is like and test out your commute at the time of day you typically go to work.

Finding the right neighborhood takes some legwork, but it’s important to choose a place to live where you want to come home every night. Let Smith Marketing help you find the best community in the greater Greensboro or Burlington, NC area. Give us a call today.