Buying a home includes many critical decisions, from finding the right mortgage to hiring a real estate professional, but locating the right neighborhood could be the most important decision of all.  Yes, the buyer will have a long term relationship with their mortgage and hopefully, with their real estate agent, but the neighborhood and its location will affect them in some small way each and every day.

It is very common for a prospective home buyer to check on the quality of the schools nearby but what about the rest of the neighborhood?  Is there a nuisance nearby that might affect their decision to purchase or invest?  There are some things that cannot be changed once the purchase is complete, so some questions should be asked up front…

 

A screenshot of Suburb Scout results

Is there a landfill nearby?

Is there a sewage or wastewater treatment plant nearby?

Is there an airport nearby?

Is there a prison or jail nearby?

Is there a nuclear plant nearby?

There are a couple of ways this information can be discovered.  Talk to the neighbors, get in the car and drive around or search the internet.  Unfortunately, there is a problem with all of these options. Who has the time?  How long will it take to locate a willing and knowledgeable neighbor to interview? Hunting with the car will take a keen eye and quite literally, driving in circles.  Finally, there is the internet, which is a great repository of information, but where to start?  Most cities are not going to advertise the locations of their jails and sewage plants.

Suburb Scout can help the buyer find these kinds of nuisances and best of all, it saves time.  Suburb Scout is a real estate application for Android smartphones.  It utilizes GPS and a map to display the current location as well as nuisances nearby.  Suburb Scout can calculate the distance between the home and the nuisance instantly. It can also map the nuisances near any address in the United States, and store those addresses for later use or comparison. All of which helps the buyer make an informed decision.

Suburb Scout is a great tool for home buyers, real estate agents and investors. By gathering a lot of hard to find information, placing it directly in their hands, the buyer can make an informed decision about every neighborhood under consideration. Suburb Scout is only $1.99 and available in the Android Market.

Contact the author:
Scott Kersey
contact@915software.com
Twitter: @realtorapps
Web: Suburb Scout

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