Cool Tools: Neighborhood Scout

Say you're looking for a new home and you find the perfect house...the right number of bedrooms, the paint on the walls is perfect, and it's only 15 minutes from work! But...you're not familiar with the area. How are the schools? What is the crime rate? What are the neighbors like?

Some of these questions a real estate agent can answer for you, but sometimes you want to see the information yourself. I recommend a website called Neighborhood Scout...you can enter the address and it will tell you all sorts of information about the area. You can compare crime rates of the neighborhood vs. the rest of the state, get school ratings, and see appreciation rates. You can also search but items such as the Best School Districts or the neighborhoods with the most families.

Some of the information is free, but some you must pay for. At the time of this blog, the pricing is all the way from $39.99 for a monthly plan to $19.99 a month for 6 months. But it's a great tool, especially if you are moving here from out-of-town or an area you are not familiar with.