Love your new Home, Love your new Hometown

When you consider the purchase of a new home, it stands to reason that you will inspect this house from floor to ceiling, from the vantage points of its interior and exterior. By the time you make this house your own, you will know it from the inside out; its features and amenities, its strengths and weaknesses, its beauty and flaws. Yet while you may feel familiar, comfortable, and—well—at home in your new residence, you still need to ask yourself one important question: While you know your home, do you know your hometown?

Now by hometown we’re not referencing the place where you were born and raised, but the new community in which you will live once you claim residence in your new home.

In fact, at the same time that you tour your new house, you also should tour the city and county in which it is located. And as you take a good look around, ask yourself the following, very important questions:

1. Is your home located in direct proximity to the place you work? Your office should be located either in or at some point around your new community of residence, unless you favor a lengthy commute.

2. Is your new community safe? Before you move there, check the crime rates and ensure the presence of a strong police force and active neighborhood watch programs.

3. Does the community boast a strong school system? If you have children or are expecting to have them sometime in the near future, then you will want to ensure that your new community offers a strong and productive school system.

4. Does the community offer strong cultural and recreational scenes? Regardless of your personal tastes and interests, you should ensure that your new hometown will keep you good and busy—fulfilling your need for art and culture, sport and recreation. Do you favor art museums or ballparks? Libraries and bookstores or ballrooms and performing arts theaters? You shouldn’t have to drive too far to have a truly wonderful cultural or recreational experience.

5. Explore the community’s wide open spaces. Your new hometown should come complete with a vast variety of environmental meccas, including parks, nature trails, gardens and arboretums.

6. Does your new hometown feel like home? As you drive through this community, do you feel as if you truly belong here? If so, then what are you waiting for? Welcome home!

For those searching for that perfect community, there are a wealth of resources that can help you.  Ask me, and I’ll give you some hints.