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Here are some safety tips I have learned when it comes to buying a house. My goal is to buy a house within 18 months or so. My priority is to live in the safest neighborhood I can afford, even if it means living in a small 1 bedroom condo.
Some tips that I have learned over time include. And feel free to add your own:
Check zoning laws if you can and drive around the area to check for homeless shelters. I don't know how to check zoning besides googling it. Some areas are allocated for things like homeless shelters, oftentimes industrial areas. I don't care if I sound "not in my backyard" (NIMBY) because if I am going to live alone, I don't want to live next door to a shelter or rehab. I have seen some very fancy apartment complexes less than half a mile from a homeless shelter in an industrial area.
Also research to see if your city allows for houses to be converted into rehabs or sober livings or sex offender houses. An acquaintance's brother lived in a house where sex offenders and felons would live after getting out of jail and it was in a decent neighborhood. Avoid that as much as you possibly can. Imagine being a single woman or a single mom with kids living next door to a house filled with ex felons and sex offenders or people in rehab. You would be surprised that these houses even exist in upscale areas. Even if your future neighbors are currently just families, if they sell their house then a company can take over and make that house a rehab. So I would do everything I can to avoid cities which allow those things entirely.
Avoid having a backyard that is adjacent to a parking lot, park or a large amount of empty, unused, unowned land. People do shady stuff in parking lots and parks late at night.
Avoid having a backyard that faces a busy street. See number 3. It's best if your house is surrounded by other houses. Your neighbor behind you is less likely to jump the fence into your yard than a random person wandering the streets
Avoid living super close (like next door? to churches and temples. Why? Because it's very hard to regulate churches/ temples and if that church decides to become a shelter then the city doesn't have much power to stop them. I know I am NIMBY and I donate money to these services and appreciate them. But I will not live next door to it.
I think living near a police station is 50/50. Sometimes police stations are located in bustling areas where a there's a lot of activity so you want to avoid them. Sometimes they improve the area.
Look at the elementary schools in the area. In safe neighborhoods, you can play on the school playgrounds after hours and people will take their kids there on weekends and summer evenings to play. In unsafe areas, the playgrounds are fenced off after school ends.
If a city can give out free newsletters or magazines with city events and stuff on them without fear of someone taking the entire stack of newsletters, then that is a good sign
If the parks have bathrooms that are relatively clean and not disgusting then that is a good sign. If they have bathrooms at all and not porta potties, it's a decent sign
Gated neighborhoods are 50/50. A random nice gated neighborhood in a rough area? No. It sticks out and can be a target for thieves as the "rich area" to steal from. A gated neighborhood in an already fancy area for even more fanciness? Sure.
Feel free to add more.
Get a large dog, or preferably two. German Shepherds make excellent companions if you're an active person with a large fenced yard. Great Danes are highly intimidating to bad guys but somewhat lazy and content to veg out with you at home with regular walks.
Install cameras outside every entrance. Install motion-activated floodlights on each corner of your house and also your garage. Your porch lights should stay on all night; thieves and home invaders love a darkened entry. Install a home alarm system that can be activated remotely through an app. I have Simplisafe and swear by it. Put the alarm company sign in a visible spot near the house or gate. Add interior cameras to cover your main living areas.
Trim back bushes that would give someone a place to hide outside your door. Don't provide cover for burglars and home invaders. Entrances to your home, including windows, should be free of shrubbery and furniture that might provide a hiding place. Plant thorny or spiky plants like roses or holly bushes under your windows to make them more difficult to access. Spotlights on your shrubs are beautiful and also provide an extra layer of security. Criminals want darkness in which to operate; don't give them any.
A tall privacy fence will do more to protect you from harm than just about anything else. The initial investment is well worth it when you can enjoy your yard safe from prying eyes or wandering offenders.
Shred your documents before they go in the trash. This isn't just to prevent financial crimes, but also to keep criminals from knowing who lives in your home. If your mail is only ever addressed to you and not a male resident, that's helpful information for a bad guy. Protect your privacy.
Buy a house with a garage. Evil people can't learn nearly as much about you if they can't see what you're carrying into or out of your home, or who is coming and going in the car. The less they know, the safer you are.
Keep OC spray by each door to your home (POM and Sabre are the two most reliable US brands recommended by law enforcement and self-defense instructors). If you are able, take a gun safety class with a reputable instructor and consider buying a rifle or shotgun for home defense. A pistol is great for carrying concealed or in the car but you want as much firepower as you can get in a gunfight, so take advantage of your ability to store powerful long guns at home--and learn to use them. Having access to and knowing how to use an AR-15 rifle or 12 gauge shotgun could very well save your life, especially against multiple attackers.
Keep a pair of extra large men's work boots on your front porch by the door. This $10 thrift store investment may make a rapist think twice about breaking in.
Stay safe, queens.
In places where the weather permits, go for a drive in the area where you’re thinking of buying a house after work. Like around 6:30 or 7 pm when people are finished with dinner. I would do this when it gets dark early, to better assess because things are different between night and day. Do you see people going for walks? Especially families with kids and women? Female joggers? The elderly? If you see women going for an evening stroll in the dark alone or families with kids in the evening then that is a good sign.
I would add that for anywhere you're thinking of buying, you should assess how much you'll stick out as a single, successful woman, and whether there are ways to minimize how much attention you'll attract. Study the demographics for that area if they're available. For example I passed on making an offer on a townhouse as my single income was the same as most couples were making on that street, and most were couples with children. I want to minimize my friction anywhere I live, and it would have been hard for me to blend in there.
I never considered some of these things when I bought my house. I was already familiar with the neighborhood. But 18 years later, things have changed for the worse. I would sell right now but have a kid close to finishing high school. The schools are still superb. Forcing a change right now could interrupt her graduation plans. I’m moving as soon as she’s graduated.
I agree with you on #1. I grew up in a nice neighborhood my whole life and still live there. However, 3 hotels have been built, and during quarantine prisoners from Rikers Island have been moved there. No one knew this would happen and a petition went around to get them out of our neighborhood. Crime also increased because in New York, we have bail reform. There are houses and cars being broken into in my and other nice nearby neighborhoods. The hotel that I mentioned is now a shelter and I hear its supposed to close down this month. I really hope so because NONE of us wanted these hotels in the first place.
Also consider a high-rise or condo building if they are available in the city you're considering buying in. My building has a 24-hr doorman(or woman) and 3 doors (with cameras) that you have to walk through to get to the elevators and/or garage, and it gives me so much confidence. I know walking around my (admittedly wealthy, but there is a homeless shelter less than a mile away) neighborhood that if some dipshit tries to follow me that his luck is gonna run out as soon as I walk into my very secure building full of cameras, with several quite intimidating looking door staff who know me and who I could easily turn to for assistance. I run into other single women of all ages in the building, so I don't stick out, and I haven't had any issues with male residents being creepy. The garage is private, attached, underground and camera'd up just as well as the other entrances. There is no street visibility so no one can see residents loading and unloading their cars. The whole setup is just a lot safer for a single woman without family nearby. I initially wanted to look at a single-family house but I listened to my Dad who asked me to consider a high rise condo building. Never been more satisfied from a safety perspective. It also helps that the building has a cap on rentals so most units are owner-occupied. I am in the SKY where scrotes can't get me.
I bought a house a few years ago. I chose to buy in a neighborhood with more shops and restaurants, because there is more foot traffic, especially in the evenings. I like to take walks, and other areas have no foot traffic, which feels more dangerous as no one is around to notice if you are threatened or attacked. Some view the suburbs as safer, but as a woman living alone, I prefer a denser area in my small city.
If there are small shops and businesses in the area they are usually a good way to get the vibe of the neighborhood. Are there strong security measures or visible evidence of past crimes (like broken windows or other vandalism)? Do the owners seem nervous or wary of strangers? When I moved from my very safe tiny village to the city I was so surprised that even normal drug stores could have security people in front of the doors and even small, cheap items could be locked up in the those anti-theft boxes.
A good sign are well-maintained community projects (my current street has a little "free library" in an old phone booth where people can take and leave books). Or "shops" with trust-based payment (e.g. people here also put produce from their gardens outside with a piggy bank next to it. You just take whatever you want und put some money in the piggy bank. It's all based on trust and there are no cameras or people selling or watching anything).
If there's a coffee shop or restaurant, just look in or sit there for a while and try to get the vibe from the neighboring tables. Do old people sit there? Families? Single women? Do they still sit there after dark? Are they full of shady looking men who go silent and glare the moment you enter?
Re: homeless shelters. If you live in an area with a significant population of unhoused people, which would you prefer - having them wandering the streets or them having a place to go? I agree you don't want to live next door to one. However if homeless people make you feel unsafe (totally valid) I would recommend you look into living in a suburb. We are having this problem in the city I live in with unhoused and mentally ill people who have nowhere to go. It's very sad. I've made the decision to move to a place where this isn't an issue (for now).
Also if there are neighborhood watch signs then that means that enough crime happened that people needed to put neighborhood watch signs up. Also if there are big, scary dogs like pit bulls standing at fences, that means people living there felt the need to get a big protective dog to stand outside and bark at them. If it’s just one person then that is 50/50 but if it’s many people then I would consider it a red flag. And I love dogs so this is not anti dog.
Other things to avoid: Abandoned shopping centers, buildings, and houses Places where a bunch of RVs and trashed cars where people sleep line up late at night to sleep (sad situation but still something to avoid living next to)
Chiming in to say these are all good tips I’ll remember in future. People that wag their fingers in judgement are typically hypocrites that practice #ConservativeLivingLiberalThinking. I’m a minority twice over I can’t afford to have luxury beliefs.
Love this whole thread. I will be looking to buy a house in the next two years. Would love for a save feature on this app
Thank you. Can you explain no. 8 for me, please?