Buying a house

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whiteyacht

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My husband and I are getting ready to buy our first home (YAY 10% rebate!). We thought we found the perfect place; no work to be done on it, great yard, just the right amount of space, and totally within budget. The neighborhood is a pretty good; this town is made up of nice pockets next to yucky ones. For kicks, I looked up the zip code on our state’s registered offender website, and there are TWO sex offenders on the street, but none for several blocks around otherwise. A man convicted of sexual battery last year lives one block west, and a man convicted of rape 10 years ago lives one block east. They both own their homes with their wives (according to county appraiser’s website; isn’t the Internet great?).

What would you do? There is another house that we like, although it is a little less than perfect (need to fence the yard, smaller kitchen, but no major work). It is in a FANTASTIC neighborhood, but is also out of our price range. We are only considering it because our agent knows the seller’s agent, and she said it’s overpriced and to make an offer, so we MIGHT be able to get it down to the top of our budget.

We are looking at both homes again tomorrow and bringing our parents. We plan to tell them about the neighbors on the perfect home after they see it, to get their opinions, but I wanted to ask here, too! We were just devastated when we learned about the two offenders, and have been going back and forth for a week.
 
You never really know your neighbors and how much you can trust them no matter where you live.

And sex offenders and other unpleasant neighbors can move in next door at any time no matter where you live.

I once heard someone say, “You can choose your friends, but God chooses your next door neighbor.”

Just some thoughts.
 
I would worry more about the sex offenders and other criminal types that haven’t been found out yet.

You never know…
 
I think you’d be hard pressed to find a neighborhood that *doesn’t *have at least two sex offenders living in it. My zip code has a couple dozen, last time I looked. (I wish I was kidding.)

Around here, the issue isn’t statistics, but more what smswife says: it’s really your immediate neighbors that make the difference. One reason I’ve stayed put for so long is that I have great neighbors (well, the one guy is a Baptist pastor, but I try not to hold that against him…).
 
Re: the guy convicted of rape 10 years ago.

How old is he now? It is possible he and his girlfriend had sex as teens, and the girl or the girl’s parents charged him with statutory rape. If so, he would be considered a sex offender.

Crime can happen anywhere. Be aware and smart.
 
I’d still keep the one perfect house as an option, but maybe contact the police department and tell them you’re thinking of moving into the area and will plan on having small children someday and do they think that living in the same area as these sex offenders will be a problem. It’d be one thing if they were convicted of harming small children (because then you’d worry every time your now/future kids were out of your site) but it was adult issues then, while those are still bad, they won’t be harmful to your kids.
 
smswife said:
You never really know your neighbors and how much you can trust them no matter where you live.

And sex offenders and other unpleasant neighbors can move in next door at any time no matter where you live.

I once heard someone say, “You can choose your friends, but God chooses your next door neighbor.”

Just some thoughts.
Click to expand...
Ditto.

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You don’t mention if there are any offenders near the house in the “FANTASTIC” neighborhood. Did you do a search for that address too?
 
If you are able to get the other house down to your budget give it a whirl! If that house doesn’t work out then go for the other one…I know that at any time any place there can be a sex offender or one can move in the area but look at it this way, the better neighborhood might actually give you a little more time without worrying or being a bit paranoid about when the sex offenders come out, etc… But if not then you must just be careful at all times…

I just found out that there are several around in the area where we live, and believe me the area doesn’t look like it, and I am driven crazy knowing that my kids play outside during warm days and GOD knows who’s driving around in our neighborhood…
 
I’m kinda jaded in the fact that I think the worst sex offenders never get caught. That you have two registered near your homes just means you can say “stay away from him”. The creeps in town were always well known way before regristry websites. Your second “fabulous” house could come at a greater price.

That and you never know who will move to your neighborhood or who will become an offender. There are children who start offending in your child’s lifetime who mayn’t even be born yet!

I’m a country person so I couldn’t imagine living in blocks, but I’d take the house one.
 
One of the men was charged with sexual battery only last year!!!

The other house might be out of your price range, but how much money is the safety of your family worth to you?
 
What if you buy the place you can’t really afford and then two sex offenders move in? Then you’ll have the worst of both worlds.

You know about these two. That’s two neighbors you don’t have to wonder about. In the more expensive neighborhood, you’ll have to wonder about all your neighbors.

I say, get the better place and take precautions against the two registered offenders.
 
If they weren’t convicted for pedophila, I would still buy the house. I would, however, own a large dog.

As PPs said, a lot of the time, the worst ones don’t get caught. As someone who’s been raped, I can tell you that it’s one of the worst things that can happen to you. But so is living is a life trapped in fear and “what-ifs”.

That said: are you going to constantly worry about it? If so - take the other house. Some people are natural worriers (I sympathize). If you’ll always worry about your kids being hurt by these people, then it might be better to live elsewhere.
 
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