Before Purchasing In Your Neighborhood

By Julie Engelhardt

The most important thing to consider before purchasing a home is the neighborhood. It not only determines who you will be living next to, but also influences the resale value of your home. Consider important features like schools, public works, commute time, and zoning.

Schools are often the number one factor in neighborhood values
Quality schools attract high income bracket home buyers. The better the schools, the better the neighborhood, the higher increase in market value of your property. Schools are rated based on graduation rates, drop out rates, college rates, child-to-teacher ratios and funding. Attend a teacher's board meeting or contact the Department of Education to research this information.

Good access to public services
Fire and police protection, water, sewers, electricity, cable, phone, bus systems and roads with well planned traffic grids will increase prospective value and increase the value of the community. On the Big Island of Hawaii, these things are not to be taken for granted!

Find out where the nearest fire and police stations are from your prospective home. Investigate crime rates and the operation's volunteer or paid full-time employees?

County water is only in concentrated area and does not cover most of the island. Instead, catchment water is used for the majority of homes. See Catchment Water Systems for more information about catchment considerations.

Most areas on the Big Island are rural agricultural lands and do not have public sewers, nor refuse pickup
Sewage is dealt with on an individual basis with septic systems, cesspools, or septic tanks. The Big Island has transfer stations from which rubbish is transferred to the dump. You are responsible to get it to the transfer station. Electricity is also not readily available in many locations. Getting electricity to the lot or house is often paid for by the home owner and is sometimes attached to Association Fees (SSMP). Alternative electric is popular, but can affect the resale value of your property. Double check the availability and cost of electric hook up before buying. Television reception on the island is inhibited due to the mountain and ocean. Cable and satellite are common but not available in all areas. If television or Internet access is important to you, make sure your prospective home has a solution before you purchase. In Hawaii, LAN phone lines are also limited by geographic considerations. Most people have cell phones with limited reception. Check to see that your area has phone access either via LAN or cell before considering real estate.

Notice environmental factors like noise pollution and ground pollution
Visit the house at different times and find out if there are any odd noise issues, like coqui frogs or low flying airplanes. Check with the EPA to make sure you are not on a superfund site. Many subdivisions have CCR (Community Compliance Regulations) that regulate noise and other pollutions. They also regulate size and kinds of homes that may be built, so if you have your heart set on a specific floor plan, double check that your community allows it first!

Location! Location! Location!
Last, but not least, mass transportation and traffic are major problems on the island. There is one road and when it closes or is rush hour, traffic is slow. The mass transportation system (bus only), the HELE-ON, is poor at best. Make sure commute times are acceptable and investigate the cost of owning a car before buying. Find out how long it will take you to get to your employment. Drive it at peak hours. You may find that living in a rural area is quaint and esthetic, but you're never home to enjoy it.

Call the local planning department and find out the zoning laws for your state and your future home's zoning. You may be surprised one day to find a shopping mall in your backyard if you are located in or near commercial zoning. This will congest the traffic, decrease privacy and potentially lower the value of your house.

Your agent should be able to answer all of these questions and foot the leg work. They will have good knowledge of neighborhood trends and can point you to rising areas. They have connections in the planning departments to find out zoning, public works, and environmental problems. They will also be able to tell you commute times, school graduate rates and answer any other questions you may have about the neighborhoods.