What Real Estate Agents Don’t Share

Information is the key element to finding the right mortgage and mortgage rate as well as the right home.  Don’t skimp on acquiring the proper information when searching for a home loan or a home.  The starting point for obtaining information on the right home is usually with the real estate agent.

As much information as a real estate agent shares with you, sometimes they can be guilty of holding critical information back.  Ask your realtor about crime, zoning and property developments, demographics or the local school system and you’ll most likely get a tight lipped stare.  Real estate agents are not allowed to “steer” you toward one property over another.  They may simply show you properties that meet your criteria.  By offering you information about the crime rate or demographics, they may be playing with fire.

Several pieces of information that may be helpful to a prospective home buyer to assess the value of the house and the neighborhood, the real estate agent simply may not be able to speak about due to fair housing laws.  Sharing socioeconomic information along with race and cultural statistics in a neighborhood is taboo.  Likewise an agent can’t chat with you about how good the schools are in a particular area.  Instead the agent will likely direct you toward an internet website or other source to discover this information on your own.  This isn’t the real estate agent holding out on you; it’s the agent protecting her own interests from a lawsuit or smear on her professional reputation by breaking the rules.

Crime

There are many ways to gain knowledge on the crime in an area.  Start by simply reviewing the crime statistics for the area that are published in the local papers.  Additional data on more troubling issues can be found by tracking the registered sex offenders living in the neighborhood or zip code.  Websites such as Roddel’s Family Watchdog Website let you see exactly who is living in each neighborhood.  You can see the house and a picture of each offender.  You can even use information such as this as a basis of comparison when shopping for a house.  Your real estate agent can show you properties in neighborhoods with less than a certain number of offenders, for example.

Other websites may offer additional crime statistics.  The local police station is another excellent source of information about crimes in the area.  Visit the station and get statistics.  You might also visit the department of public safety for statistics as well.

Schools

The quality of school districts is the basis of many family moves.  Your real esatte agent can’t tell you if your potential neighborhood feeds into good schools, but many websites can.  The National Center for Education Statistics Website has information about ethnicity, socioeconomic status and student teacher ratios for individual schools.  Standard & Poor’s runs an educational snapshot website, School Matters Web site, which can help you compare two different schools.

Take a tour of the neighborhood school and visit the school district’s website to read more about individual campuses.  Review information online for the individual school’s website or school district website.  You may also find community groups that speak out about the local schools and school district.  These community groups will often have information online with forums for residents to discuss what they do and don’t like about their schools.  Speak with other families in the area if possible to gain a full understanding of how the district works.

Demographics

The demographics of a neighborhood are one of the messiest areas for a realtor to discuss.  Real estate agents will most likely direct you to the Census Website to see who lives in the surrounding area.  Large cities and towns will generally also have website that post demographic information for instance New York holds a wealth of information on its site at www.nyc.gov under the residents tab.  Driving through the neighborhood at various times of day may also lend clues as to who your future neighbors would be.

The Environment and Zoning Regulations

If you plan on doing improvements to the property in the future and are contemplating pouring a lot of money into your home you should know in advance before you acquire a large home loan on what exactly are the requirements and restrictions.  Information on local zoning laws can also be vital for you to make an important decision about future improvements to the property or to know what improvements or changes can be done to nearby property.  Open land may very well be in private hands and then turned into a shopping mall shortly after your move in to your new home.  See what information is available online from the planning or zoning commission to avoid surprises.

The environment in neighborhoods is evaluated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Website.  Type in the zip code of the area you’re interested in to see pollution statistics, hazardous waste information and the quality of local air.

The Personal Feel

Visit the community.  Walk through the neighborhood or at least drive through at various times of the day.  Make sure to visit nearby areas as well.  Come by during the day and in the evening to get a feel for traffic and parking.  Breeze through on a weekend to see what the neighbors are up to.  Get out and take a walk.  Do you feel safe?  More importantly, do you feel at home?  This is not a pair of shoes you are buying this a large investment with a large mortgage loan, there is no such thing as too much information or too much research.  Investigating the neighborhood and the local stores will help to get a feel for all the little things that will decide whether this house will be pleasant to live in.

When it comes to your home and your home loan there are some things a real estate agent can’t tell you and there are some things real estate agents just know very little about.  Real estate agents are salespeople.  Some real estate agents are very knowledgeable about all aspects of housing but many are not.  Fortunately, there is a wealth of information on the internet about schools, crime, zoning laws and more.  Do your research on the neighborhood just as thoroughly as you would or should research the mortgage.  You have to scout around and do a lot of homework to make sure you get the home you want without unwanted surprises.