Make Your Best Offer: How is Crime in that Neighborhood? © 2013 Wayne D. Lewis, Sr.

Other Real Estate Perspectives by Wayne Lewis:
http://makeyourbestoffer.blogspot.com/

Abstract: In this edition of Make Your Best Offer, Wayne Lewis discusses the question of crime and helping clients select their potential homes. One of the most commonly asked questions, real estate professionals have to provide substantive information and suggestions to help their clients when weighing whether to buy a home based on any possible criminal activity in a given area.

“How is crime in that area?” A question like this, from a potential home buyer is a loaded question for a real estate professional. Our roles as real estate professionals is to know as much as we can not only about the homes that we sell, but the neighborhoods as well. Presumably, we should have knowledge of the schools that in the area, and whether they are good schools. Presumably, we should know about the types of stores and restaurants that are nearby, whether there are upscale, convenient, or discount stores, or if there any new stores coming up in the area.

http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/neighborhoods/crime-rates/

Real estate agents are not beyond knowing if there is going to be a new light installed at the major intersection up the street, or that there will be a new bus line installed on the very street that a potential buyer would have ordinarily bought their first home. So, with all the answers that real estate professional may provide, it makes little sense that he/she couldn’t answer one question about crime. Why?

Before I answer, let’s explore why crime is an important issue to the potential home buyer. Many home buyers speak to concern about their children. These buyers want to make sure that their children will be able to play safely, generally, in their own yard. More specifically, in their own front yard.

http://www.news4jax.com/news/neighborhood-goes-hightech-to-curb-crime/-/475880/19890568/-/view/print/-/113xp4b/-/index.html

Buyers ask questions regarding basketball goals in front of homes, and whether that attracts too many people to the neighborhood; they ask if cars parked on a front lawn suggest some criminal activity. And of course, an abandoned house or two, that isn’t boarded up, may suggest to a potential buyer that some type of criminal activity maybe in play. As agents, we can’t say that any of these activities are criminal in nature, or that any activity associated with their observations can be, or are criminal in nature. We can only ask that these observations be weighed in our clients’ decision to buy or not buy a home in an area or neighborhood.

One of the most important suggestions that we make to our clients is to survey any of the neighborhoods that they are considering at several strategic times. For example, drive through the neighborhood between early afternoon and late evening and/or, early morning and late afternoon and/or, weekends at any given time. Another consideration for our clients is to take the opportunity to survey a neighborhood during the times that they would be at work. See what happens on their lunch break. Who is home in the area, or what actually goes on while they are at work.

Our clients may also ask whether or not they should install a security alarm, or burglar bars on their homes. We can only recommend that our clients contact several companies that provide these services, the same as we would for plumbing, or a/c and heating work. Our clients’ safety is extremely important to us, so as the issues of safety come up, we need to be able to provide constructive information to our client that helps them in their decisions to buy a home in any given neighborhood. But, we cannot say with any certainty, a neighborhood is safe.

http://www.kiiitv.com/story/22060480/crime-spree-inspires-beaumont-neighborhood-to-take-action

"Would you let your daughter live here?"

I recall one time being asked that question. A client who had made my daughter throughout the home buying process had met my daughter. So, on one occasion while looking at a home and the neighborhood, the client asked me, point blank: "Would you let your daughter live here?" Without thinking, I answered "no". The client asked why?

I told them that my daughter had different taste from the area we were in,and I would not advise her to stay somewhere I know she wouldn't be happy.

To the client, that may have seemed an opportunity to say that it wasn't safe, but to be honest, there are places that I wouldn't want my daughter, or son to stay, safety being the least of my concerns in those instances.

Conversely, if my daughter or son wanted to stay somewhere that I didn't think was safe, I would tell them. But I would not expect them to not stay somewhere if that was the home they thought was right for them. But if a client asked me if I thought a place was safe, I would have to tell them to look at the resources that are available for them to do their research. The fact of the matter is that, clients are spending anywhere from $50,000 to maybe $500,000 on their home, or more. Isn't it worth it for them to take proactive steps to ensure that they are going to be comfortable in every way possible, including safety? As real estate professionals, we are a source to the source, and it is to the client to refer to and research those sources for the best possible information on their investment, including where they are going to live.[1]

http://news.msn.com/crime-justice/video?videoid=5b425eff-7359-411d-886e-8e4748409e98&ap=true&ap=true

After all, what is Safe?

Safe is a feeling, I believe. It is a feeling consisting of smells, observations, sounds and activities that make us feel as though a person, place or thing, or a home is just right. As real estate professionals, we can’t tell our clients that a neighborhood is “safe”, any more than we can tell them that “this is the right home for you”. Our clients have to use their concept of what is safe to their benefit. Just like they know if their dinning room table will fit well in their new home, or that the tailor-made curtains will look good in their new den, our clients have to know what “safe” is.

http://www.bpdnews.com/resources/boston-crime-watch/

To our clients, “safe” is where they grew up, compared to where they want their family to live in the future. Our clients maybe coming from a neighborhood that was never “safe” to a neighborhood that to them, “is the safest place in the world”. It is all relative. What is “safe” is for our clients to determine, using all of the feelings that has brought them to a certain point in their lives. But, there is one final recommendation, if it will help our clients to feel safe: the law enforcement’s latest statistics on criminal activity in the area of their proposed home. It can usually be found on the local law enforcement’s website. In New Orleans for example, reports of criminal activity can be found at:

http://new.nola.gov/nopd/, or http://www.cityrating.com/crime-statistics/louisiana/new-orleans.html. If clients are concerned about sexual offenders, there is a registry. For Louisiana, the website is usually included in the contract to purchase, but here it is: http://www.lsp.org/socpr/default.html.

Whether any of these websites, or client observations will make them feel safe, is anyone’s guess. Feeling safe and comfortable in your home, or in your neighborhood, is as much proactive as it is reactive. Many experts can speak to how to make your homes safe, or your neighborhoods safe, but it only takes one set of circumstance to make anyone feel unsafe. As homeowners, for which I am one, reducing opportunities for crime is also our responsibilities. For example:

Don’t let everyone know what you have when moving into your home. (Try to cover up expensive items, or all of your items as you move from the moving van to your front door. We know that people are watching, but if there are any thieves, they are taking notes);
Keep lights on at night in the front and back of your home;
Keep plants and shrubbery cut low or remove from any entrances to your home, as this may provide a hiding place for potential attackers;
Lock your doors whenever you go in and out of your home;
Change the locks after you move into your new home (Old family members may still have a key);
Join your neighborhood association and become active (Be apart of the solutions that continue to make your current and future neighborhoods safe) [2]

http://www.nbc11news.com/news/regionalnews/headlines/Neighborhood-watch-group-nabs-2-for-burglaries-166764156.html

Summary

Let’s just put it out here: there are no absolutely safe neighborhoods. On any given day, a criminal act can occur in the best of neighborhoods. How you approach buying your home regarding safety will involve more than just a simple question and answer from your real estate professional. With all that is available to us as buyers and sellers, the internet provides a vast array of information regarding not only what you need to know on the activity that is going on in a potential neighborhood, but what you can do to help you, your family and guests remain safe. Best wishes in your pursuits for a new home, and as always, Make Your Best Offer.

Are you looking for a speaker for your association, or group? Contact Wayne Lewis: email waynelewissoldit@yahoo.com or call 512-786-7959. I look forward to hearing from you.

DISCLAIMER: Not intended to provide legal advice. You are advised to seek legal counsel for advice. Not intended to solicit the business, clients or agents of any brokerage. Information deemed to be from reliable sources but not guaranteed.

[1] A Source to the Source, Make Your Best Offer © Wayne D. Lewis, Sr. http://makeyourbestoffer.blogspot.com/2013/04/a-source-to-source-or-i-am-not-sure-but.html