Imagine a buyer has found their perfect home. It has the hardwood floors they wanted, the front porch that is just perfect for those two antique rocking chairs, and a finished basement that is ideal for little Joey and Sally’s playroom. It even has a spot above the fireplace that looks like it was tailor-made for their collection of Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls. But as spectacular as the house may be, there are some factors it might not be able to overcome.
Realtor.com has created a list of the elements of a neighborhood that drag down the value of a home the most. By looking at appreciation rates for U.S. zip codes where typical “drag-me-down facilities” were located and then comparing the prices of homes near the facilities with the prices of the other homes in the county, a list was generated.
The number one thing that makes Raggedy Ann’s new home less than perfect are bad schools, which drag down the value of homes located near them by 22.2 percent. Strip clubs, a high renter concentration, and homeless shelters followed bad schools at 14.7 percent, 13.8 percent, and 12.7 percent respectively.
Elsewhere on the list are cemeteries and funeral homes, because, despite Edgar Allen Poe asking who shall say where life ends and death begins, cemeteries are a pretty visible representation of the answer to that question that many people would prefer not to be reminded of on a daily basis when they look out their windows.
It should be noted that correlation is not causation and some of these facilities and businesses may be drawn to the area because of the already cheaper prices, and are not responsible for dragging them down.
For Realtor.com’s full list of neighborhood features that drag down home values, follow the link below.
