New Yorkers know as well as anyone that buying a home is stressful, time-intensive, and above all, expensive. Amidst all the research that prospective buyers must conduct, it’s often easy to overlook some of the most important aspects of the process.
Once you’ve found the home of your dreams, it can be easy to let your guard down — people tend to enter a mindset where they’re completely blinded by desire and will do anything to land the perfect home.
But before you pounce, it’s important to take the time to assess your surroundings and get to know your future neighbors. Though your big plans may seem more important, you have to make sure they won’t get derailed by bad circumstances.
An Unfamiliar Situation
While anyone looking for real estate should exercise caution when it comes to their neighbors, this is especially true for those looking to join a co-op or buy a condo. According to a recent column in the New York Times, the recourse one has against neighbors, who have committed a crime, is often extremely limited.
In most cases, the crime has occurred without relation to the person’s building or home, making it very difficult to institute boundaries or even push them out.
Although co-ops reserve the right to evict their residents in certain cases, it’s more or less impossible to get rid of neighbors whose seedy past unfolded outside of their present home. According to Manhattan real estate lawyer Adam Leitman Bailey, “Conduct not related to the building or home, no matter how horrible the person’s conduct outside the home, would not be grounds for an eviction.”
Even if someone has done something morally reprehensible — and may even do so again — they are not technically a bad neighbor and cannot be told to leave.
While anyone can understand that the idea of real estate boards policing the private lives of their residents is a bad one, this potential situation still offers ample cause for concern. In short, you should want to know when someone with a checkered past may be looming nearby.
How to Take Action
The best time to consider a potential resident’s criminal history is when he or she submits an application to buy an apartment. Although many co-ops and real estate brokers take a serious look at the past lives of these applicants, not all of them do. If you’re looking to avoid awkward or even dangerous situations, sometimes it’s necessary to take these matters into your own hands.
If you are forced to handle things yourself, you should be looking into the past of your future neighbors early on in your purchasing process. Before making as large and important a decision as buying a home, you should have a good idea of what you’re getting into.
In order to save yourself time, money, and uncomfortable future interactions, invest in a comprehensive background check. And retaining the services of a private investigation agency like Integrated Security Services is your best bet if you’re feeling curious about whether your possible neighbors will be safe to live by.
Integrated Security’s team of private investigators is familiar with these types of situations, and can cater to your specific needs and wishes. We’re able to provide detailed, thorough, and discreet reports, and with a quick turnaround to match.
Our PIs will also be able to conduct their work in a respectful manner, without intruding on the lives of those they’re researching, so that your relationships with your eventual neighbors can develop and flourish without any hiccups. In order to confidently reach this domestic tranquility, look no further than a preliminary background search.
