Choosing your neighborhood in California

Article Written By: katiemuck

For many people, choosing a neighborhood in California is the most difficult part of the decision to buy a home. This is true even if already own a home and are trying to decide where to live next. When you tackle the location question, it s smart to prioritize various neighborhood features, and then start looking for homes in areas that match most of your criteria. Here are some things to consider:

Transportation

Check the length of your commute to work from your neighborhoods of choice. Do streets get clogged at rush hour? Is mass transit within walking distance? In a consumer study, 79 percent of respondents said that a top priority in deciding where to live is having a commute time under 45 minutes. Seventy-five percent also wanted easy access to highways.

What s close by

Research nearby schools, restaurants, places of worship and parks. Seventy-two percent of survey respondents ranked sidewalks and places to walk as a top priority when considering where to live.

Costs

In addition to the costs of mortgage, insurance and home maintenance, consider local property taxes and homeowner association fees, if applicable. If homes in your preferred neighborhoods are out of your price range, consider condominiums.

Future

Try to imagine what the neighborhood will look like in 10 years. Will you still want to live there, or do you expect to move before then? Will it be desirable to future buyers?

Before committing to the neighborhood, visit it at different times of day and night and talk to as many local residents as possible.

Once you ve prioritized all your neighborhood amenities and features, you ll find it s much easier to focus your home search. Remember, the neighborhood is usually as important to the value of a home as what is under its roof.

Flooring

Bamboo is an environmentally friendly substitute for hardwood that provides much of the hardness and convenience of traditional wood flooring at about the same price. It s important to look for a formaldehyde free pre-finish and low formaldehyde adhesives. For carpets choose wool—it s renewable, biodegradable, and often more durable than synthetics.

In addition, take a close look at your appliances. If your washing machine is more than 10 years old, you can save up to $100 a year by switching to a new, efficient model.

Given the continuing popularity of green” homes, these improvements may increase your home s appeal when it comes time to sell, this holds especially true in Southern California.

About the Author

Katie Muck is a consistent top producer of sales and management specializing in Palos Verdes real estate. You can learn more about her on her Palos Verdes homes website.

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