How To Meet the Neighbors Before Buying a House—and Why It’s So Important

Only you can decide whether a home is worth the investment, but one way to know for sure is to get to know the neighborhood you're buying into.

And the best way to get to know the neighborhood is to get to know your neighbors.

“I always encourage my buyers to speak to anyone they see near the property who seems approachable. We have learned about floods, robberies, and even home additions that surprised us,” says Kimberly Schmidt, real estate agent and team lead with Kimberly Schmidt & Associates in San Diego.

Clearly, just by speaking to those who live nearby, you can learn things about the home and the neighborhood that aren’t always obvious in even the most detailed disclosures and inspection reports.

How to best approach them can be tricky, but when done correctly, it's the most effective way to uncover hidden insights that can seal the deal or raise red flags on buying a home nearby.

How to connect to neighbors before buying a house

As a homebuyer, you’ll need to be proactive to find opportunities to meet neighbors near the home you’re considering. First, start simple and involve the most important members of your family.

“Bring your kid or dog to a neighborhood park. You’re almost guaranteed to meet some neighbors and get the gossip at the same time,” says America Foy, real estate professional at The Grubb Company in San Francisco. 

Foy also recommends attending all the open houses in the neighborhood for a few weeks. 

“The attendees will normally be the same buyer pool and neighbors," Foy says. "Find the neighbors by simply asking, ‘Are you a neighbor?’”

Danielle Rogers, real estate broker and owner at Oak & Prairie Real Estate in Norman, OK, suggests joining neighborhood groups on Facebook and Nextdoor to learn what’s going on and what everyone’s discussing. Here, you'll get not only a sense of the neighborhood, but also how neighbors interact with one another.

The right questions to ask

Once you’ve found an in and started chatting with neighbors, don’t be afraid to ask them about the community and even the home you're looking at.

Start with open-ended questions, including “How do you like living here?" or "How would you describe the neighborhood vibe?"

“Once you get more comfortable and the information starts flowing, you can open up and get more specific,” if needed, says Schmidt. 

As long as you’re polite and sensitive with your tone and language, inquire about anything weighing on your mind—things like crime, traffic patterns, airplane noise, dogs barking, unkept yards, and HOA fees. 

“Most people like to talk and want to be helpful, so taking just a few minutes to respectfully ask about what's most important to you can either assuage concerns or make a warning bell clang more loudly,” adds Schmidt.

Plus, on the opposite end, if neighbors are standoffish or seem cagey, that might be a sign to do a bit more research about the area and the home.

The impact of neighbor conversations

Taking the extra time to delve into an area at various times and meet nearby neighbors can definitely make or break your decision. 

“I had one transaction where the community garage sale happened during escrow, and it was a wonderful time to meet virtually everybody in the area. It was a total success, and the clients just fell in love with the community feel and the warm welcome they received from everyone they met,” says Schmidt.

That type of certainty can be very reassuring for you as a buyer and injects a good feeling into the transaction.

On the other hand, if you learn that there is something like recurrent flooding in an area and it's getting worse every year or that you’re not compatible with the neighbors, you’re likely going to rethink your purchase. 

Schmidt points out that as much as we hope every seller is going to disclose all material facts, the truth is that some sellers do not, and if information about events like flooding or fires is omitted, it's a huge red flag that can, and should, make you change course. 

“Remember, a great neighborhood can support a subpar house, and no matter how nice the house, sometimes the neighbors and neighborhood can become insurmountable problems,” says Foy.