Should You Investigate Neighbors Online Before You Move?

Are you moving to a new neighborhood? Before you make a purchase, you may want to take some time to explore your potential neighbors online. As a home buyer, there are many important decisions to make. The neighborhood, the school district, and the proximity to parks or grocery stores are all points of interest when looking at a home to purchase. In addition to determining those aspects before you buy your dream house, there is one other thing that is important that almost no one considers: Who your neighbors will be.

Buying a home is one of the biggest decisions you’ll ever make, so it’s important to investigate your neighbors and the neighborhood before purchasing a home. People often withhold information that makes them look bad. Investigating your neighbors will give you a full picture of what living in the area is like. Neighbors can make or break your happiness, so it’s important to know who will be living near you.

Public records search

To start your investigation, you want to make sure that you have accurate information. If you can get information on neighbors by speaking to them personally or through your realtor, that is a great start. If you aren’t able to directly obtain information on the neighborhood, start your search by going to the County Clerk or Recorder of Deeds website in the county where you reside. In these databases, you can search the address you’re planning to purchase along with the other addresses in the neighborhood. The Recorder of Deeds typically can provide the property ownership history, current property owner, property values, deeds, and other important documents pertaining to the property.

Once you have the information on the property owners in the neighborhood, you can use that information to check other government databases. Using your county or state judicial website, you can also search for public records such as criminal/traffic history, judgments, marriages, vital records, and other information depending on the jurisdiction.

Keep in mind that some counties provide this information as a free service to the public, while other counties require a fee to access the information.

Social media investigation

After you’ve obtained the names of your neighbors, you can use that information to search for them on social media. By conducting the public records search first, you can verify the names and addresses of your neighbors to ensure you’re searching for the correct people. Check through multiple social media platforms, including, but not limited to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and LinkedIn.

In addition to searching for individual neighbors on social media, search the neighborhood for online groups to learn about community happenings.

Remember, when people post on social media, they’re intending for it to be seen by others. If you come across a post that seems troublesome, ask yourself, based on how they are portraying themselves, do you want to be neighbors with this person?

Having good neighbors can make your life easier and more enjoyable. By doing your due diligence and learning about the people who will share the same neighborhood with you, you’re already taking a proactive step towards making sure your time as a homeowner is a satisfying one. And that’s always a good idea!