It's a big step to purchase a home in any neighborhood, but picking your first home in the suburbs can be especially challenging. Moving to the suburbs is an entire lifestyle change.
Suburbs are associated with a strong sense of community and are known as great places to raise a family and grow your roots. A home in the suburbs might mean your forever home; one where you and your family make priceless memories and grow old together.
How do you even begin to approach this huge life step? Choosing the wrong suburb could be a big mistake, and it's not one that can be easily fixed, like repainting the outside of your house.
Our experienced real estate team has a few recommendations to help you pick your perfect suburban neighborhood.
A few ways to start picking the best suburb is:
Conducting your research
Talking to experts
Gaining local insights
Knowing exactly what you want for yourself and your lifestyle
Make Sure Your Decision is Rooted in Reality
There's nothing wrong with picking a neighborhood based on your life aspirations or future goals. However, people can easily get a little too wrapped up in the future and forget all about the reality of things.
While having goals for the future is important, you don't want to make a decision based on an aspirational version of yourself.
For example, maybe you wish you'll have a remote job in the future, but you still work in the office full-time for now. If you pick a home that's a distant commute from the office with the hopes of switching to a remote position one day, you'll suffer from a long commute until that actually happens.
We recommend creating a list of everything you want in your suburb. However, make sure this list includes a healthy dose of realism, including:
Commute time
Walkability
Price range (a realistic one!)
How far away you'll be from close family and friends
Suburban neighborhoods all have their own amenities, features, landscapes, and unique benefits. It's up to you to pick and choose which ones best match your lifestyle.
Research Schools (Even if You Don't Have Kids)
Home prices and school quality are intertwined, whether the local schools affect your personal decision making or not.
We recommend researching the schools in the suburbs you're looking at, even if you don't have kids or if your kids are already grown up.
Why? Because this can dramatically affect the sale price of your home later on. You wouldn't want to eliminate prospective parents or families with young children because you moved into a suburb that doesn't have good schools.
Good schools really just elevate the entire value of your home.
How to Research Schools
Your real estate agent can usually provide some information about schools in specific suburban neighborhoods.
We also recommend researching individual ratings for elementary, middle, and high schools. You can check out ratings for individual schools on websites such as schooldigger.com or greatschools.org. Also, check out comparisons of your schools versus others in the area to see how they stack up.
Your real estate agent can provide valuable data on school districts, school zonings, and school ratings.
Gain Insights on Traffic & Future Developments
Research local commerce and traffic flows of the suburbs you're looking at.
It's helpful to know which areas might receive better investments for future public transportation infrastructure, road projects, or new businesses moving in.
Here's what to look out for:
Find the local Chamber of Commerce for the suburb. Then, research any ongoing or planned business developments. This includes traffic projects, public transportation, rec centers, infrastructure updates, etc. This shows you the area is investing its money to improve things, versus somewhere where that might not be the case.
Research construction projects. No one wants to have to drive through a construction zone to get to work every day, especially if it's one of those projects that spans 5+ years. Getting an idea of planned projects can help you steer clear of these inconveniences.
Check out the number of new businesses opening up in the area. New business, especially from big brands, is always a great sign. Not only does it give you more options for shopping, but it usually signifies an uptick in property value and residents. If you're researching an area and don't see much recent business development, it could be a sign the area is on the decline, and property values aren't increasing as much as they are in other places.
View population trends. An influx of new residents is a great sign for property values. However, what could it mean for your commute to work? If roads are already congested and the population doesn't show any signs of slowing down, you might want to consider moving somewhere a little less crowded. Or, at least you'll know what to expect when your commute takes 20 minutes longer in a year or two.
Public transportation. Make sure the suburbs you're looking at have solid public transportation. And, if it's important to you, see how they connect to larger metro areas. Especially if there are specific cities or parts of town you know and love.
Plan for Worst-Case Scenarios
Of course, we never like to think about these kinds of things. However, it's better to be prepared for the worst than to hope for the best, right?
When it comes to finding the perfect suburb for you (and your family!), you'll need to also take note of local crime statistics and the nearest hospitals.
Research Crime Statistics
Your real estate agent is a good place to start here. They can provide some data on how safe suburbs and their surrounding areas are.
You can also check out online crime rating platforms, such as AreaVibes, which rates neighborhoods based on individual crime statistics and provides an overall score. You'll see crime rates for violent crime, property crimes, and theft.
Know Where the Nearest Hospital Is
You never want to think about rushing to an emergency room, but sometimes emergencies happen. This is even more important if someone in your home has a serious medical condition or is elderly and could need swift medical attention.
Look up where the closest hospital is so you're fully aware of how long it takes to get to one during an emergency. With some suburbs, hospitals could be a good 20 minutes away, with specialty hospitals being even further.
We recommend finding out:
The closest hospital you could go to in an emergency
How long it takes to drive to the nearest hospital
The local emergency response time
The closest urgent care center and its business hours
Need Help Picking the Perfect Suburb?
We've been helping clients move into suburbs in Central New Jersey for over 25 years. Safe to say, we're a team of experienced realtors ready to find your perfect suburb!
Contact us today for a FREE consultation!
