Before You Buy

The biggest question is: where do I want to live?

All of us have different likes and dislikes. The needs of one person may be of little consequence to another person. If you are moving to a new community your questions may be different from somebody who is moving within the community. If you are single, your needs will be much different compare to a married couple with kids or the needs of a retired couple. As you see you really need to think about where you want to move and live.

Often an unthinkable phenomenon kicks in when searching for a new home. This is the emotional phenomenon. You may be drawn to some neighborhoods and homes more than others and are unable to clearly explain why. You may be fortunate and drawn to a home or neighborhood that meets your needs. A suggestion here is to bring with you a list of things you would like to have in your new neighborhood and home and decide on the ones you must have and the ones of lesser importance.

This section of the guide is designed to help you provide resources and provoke thought to make a decision on where you want to live. Ask yourself these questions and decide what importance they have in your decision on where to move to and live. Write the answers down so you have a quick list as you view homes and make sure your agent or broker is clear on these.

Schools
What are the schools like and are they nearby?
If you are a single person, this may need little consideration unless you are planning on starting a family whilst living in your new community. If you are married or single and have kids, this most probably will be high on your list of needs. You may want to check out how good these schools are. There are many ways to do this. You can contact the schools directly and talk with the principal or you can generally find this information on the internet.

You may find information on the internet by checking out the local district website or going to: http://www.theschoolreport.com for detailed school comparisons. You will find contact names, numbers and locations as well as student teacher ratios and class sizes. Sat score information as well as how many students go on to college and the awards and recognitions the school has achieved are also posted on this site. TheSchoolReport.com is an excellent free resource when you are moving or relocating.

Public Act 92-0604 requires school report cards to be published on the district Internet site so check these out and look for awards and recognitions the school has achieved. The secretary of education has initiated the Blue Ribbon Schools program in an effort to meet the requirements of the "No child Left Behind Act". This award is given to schools that fall in the top 10 percent of state assessments or to schools that have at least 40% of students from disadvantaged backgrounds, who has dramatically improved on student performance in accordance with state assessment systems.

Home Resale Value
Does the home have resale value and how important is it to you?
Although we generally think that a home is an investment that will grow in value over the years, this is not always a guarantee. A mansion in a neighborhood of small homes will have a lower resale value than a small home nestled amongst larger and more affluent homes. You need to ask yourself how long you plan to live in this home. If you plan on staying to rear a family, resale value may not be of high importance. However, if you are single and plan to move in a couple of years, this is something you will need to think about. Generally we live in our homes for about 5 to 7 years.
Location, Location and Location
Whats nearby and what do you need to be nearby?
Depending on your situation in life you may need to be near a hospital or need to have stores within walking or at least within short commuting distance. You may have hobbies and need to have an easy access to facilities such as a gym or you may like the great outdoors and want to live near a park. There may be more questions to ask yourself such as:

* Is there a public golf course nearby?
* Is there a public library nearby?
* Are there public tennis courts in the community?
* What other recreation facilities are in the neighborhood?

A swinging single may want to be near or in an area with an active nightlife whereas a family may not need or like this at all. You may like to be nearby good restaurants and the theatre. Is your job within easy commute distance and time and can you get to the highway or interstate quickly and with ease?

Remember the old but true mantra, which is "location, location and location". Living beside a used car dealership on one side and with a busy bar on the other side may not be the most ideal location. Its important to think about this beforehand.

Taxes
One of the certainties in life is that we all have to pay taxes. Property taxes also called ad valorem are locally assessed taxes. The monies collected are used to help pay for public schools, city streets, county roads, police, fire protection and many other needed services.

Generally property taxes are assessed every couple of years so check with your realtor to find out when they were last assessed in the area you are planning to move or relocate. Based on the taxes, you may decide that the area is too expensive to move to as the taxes generally form part of your monthly mortgage to the lender. Lenders generally collect the taxes in monthly installments and pay the taxes when they are due. A lender will also look at the taxes to decide if you can afford the monthly payments. Remember, your monthly payment to the lender will generally include principal, interest, taxes and insurance (PITI).

Taxes are generally paid in advance for the upcoming year, though some counties collect the taxes in arrears. Always check this out. Also, check out when the taxes were last assessed and when they are due for another assessment.

One can also contest and appeal the appraisers evaluation. This is done through the local district. An appraisal review board is in place to hear and attempt to resolve these contests.


Finding the Right Neighborhood

If you are thinking of moving to an established neighborhood and want to live in area or a family area, you may want to check out the local papers to find out whats happening in the neighborhood. It is always a good idea to drive and walk through the neighborhood during the day and also at night. A quiet neighborhood by day may very well be very busy at night. You may want to live in a new and upcoming community so check out whether the surrounding area has the services you need. Remember, many new neighborhoods will go through natural growing pains as they strive to establish themselves with stores and services. If you are retired you may want to live in an area where there are people in the same age bracket as you and where the community services and activities reflect the needs of the mature citizen.

There are many resources to check out neighborhoods you may be looking to move or relocate to. The easiest resource is the Internet. Do some investigation on the area and community through the local district website.

Information on the area is generally divided into four sections and is compared to national averages:


1. Demographics, which provide statistics on such things as average age in neighborhood and average household size as well as median household income.

2. Cost of Living provides statistics from as average household education costs to average household retail expenditures.

3. Housing Characteristics provide information from the cost of homes to average dwelling size.

4. Quality of Life provides information on crime rates and weather related topics.

Planned Communities
Planned community is a little neighborhood within a community with builders building several different types of homes. You can go and see the models and pick out your upgrades. The community is generally maintained from a budget that is met by resident contributions or fees known as homeowner fees or HOA fees. These fees generally pay for landscaping and street and path maintenance.

The advantages of this type of community are that residents do not need to wait until the property tax dollars they pay actually reach the community to pay for landscaping and other things that make the community look good. Tax dollars will generally pay for infrastructure development first. With new developments springing up all over the place, tax assessments may not be carried out immediately. This is a very useful way to ensure there are dollars available to maintain the community and not let it get down trodden and reduce property values.

Some planned communities may be also gated. The homeowners association will generally be more expensive there.

All in all, there are numerous Internet resources available to you to help you investigate communities that you are considering moving or relocating to.