11 Questions to Ask Your Neighbors Before Buying a New Home
Moving to a new home can be daunting. Whether it was rising rent, quality of life issues, or something more positive like a new job, your old home felt cozy and familiar. You knew what challenges awaited you and what to expect each day. A new home is a clean slate.
So is the neighborhood you’re moving to. It could be a charming, friendly neighborhood that welcomes you as a friend, or a tense, anxious neighborhood that raises your stress levels. Research and observation are always helpful when considering moving to a new neighborhood, but there’s one more step you should take before signing a lease or buying a home: ask potential new neighbors a few important questions. The people who already live in the area know all its secrets, and a few conversations with them can save you a lot of heartache.
How to find an approach to new potential neighbors
Of course, these potential new neighbors are strangers at this point, so you’ll need to think about how to approach them. No one likes strangers ringing their doorbell, and it’s easy to ruin future relationships with neighbors by being pushy or intrusive.
The best strategy is to take a casual approach to conversation. Since it’s best to visit a neighborhood several times at different times of day to gauge the atmosphere, noise levels, and other factors, you may find opportunities to chat with residents while you’re at it. Notice people working in their yards, relaxing, or walking their dogs, and simply introduce yourself as a potential new neighbor by asking if you can learn anything new about the area. Most people won’t mind answering a few questions, and if they do, it will give you all the information you need to know about what it’s like to live in the neighborhood.
What should I ask them?
There’s only so much you can learn about a neighborhood by observing and exploring. If you want to know what it’s like to live there, you need to ask questions that are hard to Google—questions that only locals can answer. Here are some ideas to get you started, depending on what you’re interested in:
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Has there ever been a major disaster, especially a flood? If the current owner of the property for some reason hasn’t filed an insurance claim, there may be no official record of the home flooding , and the current owner may not want to reveal that the place was once a swampy mold factory. But the neighbors will remember.
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Did the previous owner keep hiring contractors to fix a problem, like a damp basement or an unexplained roof leak ? I have friends who have spent years trying to fix a leaky roof (made worse by the fact that they share a roof with others) without success. So it’s worth asking if the current owners are selling the house because they refused to fix the problem—and your neighbors will know how many times the contractors came.
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Who’s the Problem in the Block? People often pay attention to their immediate neighbors, but sometimes the person who reports everything to the homeowners association (or calls the police for any reason), leaves nasty notes, or regularly climbs into other people’s yards lives on the other side of the block. If you don’t ask, you won’t know until you meet them.
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What problems do you have in your current home? If you are moving into a new building or townhouse, ask potential neighbors about their problems. Homes built at the same time and by the same company often have similar problems. If your neighbors can’t cool their bedroom, have a damp basement, or have other complaints about their home, you’ll likely have the same problems.
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What is a homeowners association? If there is a homeowners association, it is always wise to inquire about the topic of its meetings, how often assessments are conducted, and whether the board of directors is insane (or incompetent ). The community may appear to be pristine and peaceful, but beneath those flower beds, feuds and vendettas can flourish.
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Do you regularly encounter any pests? Ask your potential neighbors if they regularly deal with mice, rats, or other critters (like raccoons) in their basements, yards, or dumps. If the answer is yes, find out how long this has been going on. You may be in the middle of a long-standing rodent war.
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What’s the parking situation like? Are there regular conflicts over on-street parking, blocked driveways , or people with multiple cars taking up all the spaces? Do people write passive-aggressive notes and leave folding chairs in parking spots? Does this one tenant think it’s okay to just park in the driveway when he needs to?
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What kind of noise? You can get a sense of how noisy a neighborhood is by walking around at different times of day, but you can’t always tell how sound travels inside homes. Ask potential neighbors on either side of the house if they can hear what’s going on in the house you might be occupying. If they heard previous occupants, you’ll hear them too.
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Do you have trouble calling emergency services? Living outside of densely populated urban areas has its perks, but it can sometimes be difficult to call emergency services in a timely manner. Ask potential neighbors if ambulances, police, or fire trucks arrive quickly when there’s a problem, or if you have to wait 45 minutes (or longer). Another good question is: Where is the nearest hospital and what is its reputation? If the answers don’t reassure you, think about what you’ll do if something terrible happens after you move in.
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How does garbage collection work? Does it happen at 2am and make noise like a rocket taking off? Do crews yell at each other, talk loudly, or leave trash behind?
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What’s the neighborhood drama? If you’ve ever lived in one place for any length of time, you know that grudges and grievances can escalate into full-blown warfare between neighbors. Ask anyone what the wars were about in your potential new neighborhood — parking? Trash pickup at the wrong time? Noise? Unkempt yards? Knowing what has caused hostility and passive-aggressiveness in the past is a warning sign of what your future will be like.