Tips for Researching Neighborhoods

In order to comply with Federal and local Fair Housing Laws and avoid any potential discrimination, a real estate agent is not allowed to answer questions that have to do with the demographics, safety, and school systems of an area. 

Here are 3 questions you might have that a real estate agent cannot answer and ways for you to do your own research:

What are the neighbors like?

Information provided about the age, race, sex, religion, familial status or other factors about the makeup of the community may be subjective or biased. A real estate agent is not supposed to encourage or discourage anyone from buying a home in any community because they do or don't "fit" the demographics. To get a better feeling of what the neighborhood is like, check out the local grocery stores, restaurants, and parks.

Is this a safe neighborhood?

Safety can be an individualized notion and there's no area that is immune to crime. You should drive around a neighborhood at different times of day to see how the lighting, traffic, and noise is. A mid-afternoon showing may not be representative of what you would experience at rush hour or after dark.

You can contact the local police department for stats on the crime or reference sites like communitycrimemap.com or spotcrime.com. (Sites like nextdoor.com can often lean much more negative as people feel more compelled to post about unfavorable situations and they will impose their own bias.)

Are there good schools?

Schools are another area that can be subjective and implicit bias can impact perceptions. Test scores may not be indicative of the schools' ability to teach your child in the way they learn best or offer the programs that they need.  To research schools in the Denver area, check out dps.schoolmint.net or greatschools.org.