How’s the Neighborhood and Why Swear Words Don’t Sell Houses

Last week, I was driving to an appointment to show a young couple a property in the Rockville section of Vernon.  It’s a beautiful Saturday – I’ve got my sunroof open, windows down in my car.  If you’re familiar with Vernon at all, it’s a relatively affordable suburban community next to several pricier towns like Ellington and South Windsor.  Rockville is the old commercial/downtown part of Vernon that has been trying to reinvent itself as the historic district. 

We drive past a few police cars, then a very loud and lively house party, then more police, then more people out in the street yelling and then we pull up to the property. 

As we’re getting out of the car at the house, several streets away from the previous police activity, people are everywhere – yelling at each other, at their kids, at the dogs, at themselves, who knows.  We look around the house and we can hear sirens, music blaring and several police cars go speeding by.  As we’re leaving the house, a naked kid runs through the neighbor’s back yard and a neighbor yells to another neighbor, “What the F&%! is going on!?”

I love a good swear word just as much as the next person but swears don’t sell houses.

No offense to Rockville residents but R.E.M. did a song called “Don’t Back to Rockville,” and I’m beginning to think that they had this Rockville in mind when writing the chorus. 

My clients didn’t need to ask, “How’s the Neighborhood?” They are from the area and know Rockville.  And, our showing didn’t do anything to improve their perception.

But when I have someone ask me about a neighborhood, I can’t and shouldn’t say what I really think, whether it’s good or bad. While my clients are seeking out my opinion, I cannot legally say anything that may be perceived as steering or discriminatory.  In addition, tastes are completely subjective.  My perception of a neighborhood may be based on some experience that has nothing to do with actual facts and figures. 

The right thing for me to do is to direct my clients to finding out the answers for themselves, since legally I can’t say very much.

• Drive through and around the neighborhood at peak activity times – during the week around 6 PM and weekends.
  • Pay attention to the condition and types of properties in the immediate vicinity. Are neighbors mowing their lawns?  Are there a lot of kids playing in the street? Does the property conform to its surroundings?  If it’s the only single-family on a street of multi-families, then the value of the single-family is negatively impacted by the properties around it. 
• Call the local police station and ask to speak with someone about getting crime statistics for the neighborhood.  I did this before buying a property and the officer I spoke to was very helpful, explaining why certain figures were high or low and what they meant.  He also told me that their department almost never gets calls for this information by prospective homeowners and he was pleasantly surprised that I had called.  This information helped me to make an informed decision about buying property in a neighborhood that concerned me.
• Sites like Family Watchdog and the CT Sex Offender Registry can give you information about sex offenders in the area.
• The EPA can give you information on the environmental conditions of an area.
• For demographics information, you can visit the US Census site or CT has a site where you can view town profiles.
• For school information, the CT Department of Education has a site with school profiles by district as well as by individual school. Great Schools also has some good information and features parent reviews.