Tips for Home Buyers With Kids
He was the president of an established realty company. She was one of the firm’s top-selling agents.
But for all their real estate experience, the couple flubbed when it came to selecting the right home for their three elementary school-age youngsters.
Within months after moving to their 5,000-square-foot house, the couple knew they’d erred. The neighborhood, with its oversized estate lots, yielded scarcely any playmates. And the family soon vowed to move to an area with more children.
The couple made the mistake of rushing to buy without giving thorough thought to what they wanted for their youngsters. A big house with a beautifully landscaped yard wasn’t enough. They wanted the spirit of a real family neighborhood.
Are you planning a home purchase with your family in mind? Then realty specialists suggest these 10 tips:
1--Define what you want for your children.
“It’s all very intangible. One person could think a neighborhood is good for kids and another wouldn’t,” said Leigh Latreille, an agent for the Re/Max real estate chain.
Some parents think children thrive in quasi-rural settings with large spaces in which to roam. Others like tight-knit communities with a more urban feel.
Personal preferences are even more diverse when it comes to picking the “right” public schools.
Most buyers want high test scores. But some place still more importance on school athletic programs, racial diversity or other factors, said Erik Weisskopf, who sells homes through the Prudential real estate chain.
2--Go right to the neighborhood for information.
Most people rely on real estate agents for information. But residents of a community know the most about an area.
“There’s no way to search the computer to find out how many 5- and 6-year-olds live in a neighborhood,” said Latreille, the Re/Max agent.
To find out whether a community is child-friendly, walk around on a Saturday and ask questions of residents, Latreille recommended.
“They’ll tell you right away about the personality of the school principal. They’ll even tell you what time the ice cream man comes down the street,” he said.
3--Hunt for the vehicles that indicate the presence of children.
“Minivans, Volvos and Taurus wagons are definite signs of kids,” said Prudential’s Weisskopf.
4--Look for a neighborhood at the right point in its generational cycle for your family.
Communities have definite life cycles that can last several decades or longer. Today’s empty-nester neighborhood could be full of toddlers in a couple of years, after elderly residents move or die and their houses turn over.
Given generational patterns, the number of children is important and also the typical ages living there. Your school-age youngsters could be bored in a community where baby strollers abound.
5--Look for the longest-term housing choice you can afford.
Many young couples buy into town-house or condo-apartment communities with the expectation of moving on to a detached home later, when their youngsters reach school age.
But stability is an important factor for children. And the chances are your youngster will keep his playmates a lot longer if he starts in a community of separate homes, where turnover is usually less frequent, Latreille noted.
6--Go directly to the schools rather than counting on third-party services.
There are reporting services you can pay to assess a school’s quality. But knowing how many computers a school has and how its students score on tests won’t give you the same feel for the institution that you’ll get by walking its halls and talking to its faculty.
7--Be careful about buying into a neighborhood with a highly popular public school.
Today’s popular school is often tomorrow’s overcrowded school, as many families hear of its reputation and move into the neighborhood to enroll their children there.
Overcrowding often leads to redistricting. When boundary lines are changed, the students with the best chance of continuing at the school are those who live very close by.
8--Look for a house on a cul-de-sac or other dead-end street.
Many parents appreciate the relative freedom of movement that life on a dead-end street gives their children.
For instance, one couple working with Leigh Latreille, the Re/Max agent, restricted their search solely to houses located on cul-de-sacs.
9--Consider your child care needs.
Since so many households have two parents in the work force, care for the children is hardly an inconsequential matter.
One well-to-do couple, for example, narrowed its house hunt to the community where the husband’s mother lived. The reason? She provided personalized care for their two young children.
10--Remember there’s such a thing as a neighborhood with too many children.
In their quest for a community with kids, some parents get too much of a good thing.
Living in the midst of myriad young children who are generating noise and activity can be exhausting, cautioned Weisskopf, the Prudential agent.
Working parents, who need quiet time away from the labors of the day, may be especially sorry if they buy into a neighborhood with too many kids.
“If you come home from the office bushed and there’s 15 kids outside your house riding big wheels, it can drive you just crazy,” Weisskopf said.
