If you’re just getting started in your home search, you’ll want to be familiar with the neighborhood you plan on settling down in.  Something we recommend is to do some research on the areas that interest you.  You’ll want to do some of your own research on the area to make sure you’re confident it’s the right one for you.

[SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO]

3 Sites to Use

1. One great website we like to use for economic and crime statistics is bestplaces.net.  Here, you’ll be able to research tons of information such as the unemployment rates, education expenditures, crime rates, and where the community ranks in terms of a number of criteria.

2. Another great site to use for researching local school ratings is greatschools.org where you’ll have access to proficiency ratings and more for the local schools.

3. If you’re buying a rental property or want to know what the rental rates in the area are, check out rentometer.com where you can enter an address and research the rents of the surrounding properties.

Other Tips

Another thing we like to recommend to our home buyer clients is that you drive through the neighborhood you’re thinking of buying in at different times of the day including at night.  You might even want to head to work early one day and drive there from the neighborhood you want to buy in to get an idea of the traffic in the area.

Now keep in mind that you’ll have time to conduct more research on the property and the neighborhood once you’re in escrow on a property as well, but these tips should help you in determining if a community is right for you ahead of time.

We of course hold our clients’ hands throughout the home-buying process and beyond, so if you have any questions about buying a home in San Diego, give us a shout!  We’d love to hear from you: (619) 537-6016