It will negtively affect your resale, most likely. But since you own it now, enjoy it. And in time, maybe the area will improve. It happens a lot.

Is this in an area that is up and coming and being revitalized? If so, you probably have nothing to worry about. If not, then you probably should have worried about it before you bought the house because it will negatively affect your resale.

I think you did it backwards. Location! Location! Location! is the RE mantra. You should be buying the smallest or the least nice house in the best neighbourhood.

you probably should have worried about it before you bought the house because it will negatively affect your resale.

My husband just looked into new housing on the other side of town. The houses they will put up are beautiful on a nice sized lot. The problem is location; on the other side of the trees is low income housing, very small 2 family side by sides. The area is rough, no one has pride in their home.

Hubby & I discussed considering moving there. The builder says that money will be donated to clean the low income area up. To me, with a teenage daughter, I can't even consider moving there with the temptation of drugs right around the corner.

Will they sell the houses? Sure. There will be out of towners that have no clue until they live there a while. Thankfully we're local and know the problems associated with this area.

I am afraid of how this will affect the resale of my home.

How long do you plan to stay there? Is your house for sale now or are you thinking of moving?

We just sold the perfect home in the not so perfect neighborhood. Neighborhood is crime free, but some people don't take care of their house exteriors. Ours was also the biggest in the neighborhood and most updated (and most expensive by about $20,000). We hate to move, but it's the right thing to do as far as neighborhood goes. So they do sell, but I will say that realtors thought our house was overpriced and insisted on appraisals b/c of the surrounding houses. (Passed appraisal with flying colors thankfully.)

Your prospects for resale will depend on what makes the neighborhood not so perfect - bad schools? Drug or other criminal activity? Public housing? Commercial strip, highway or prison nearby? Lack of stores (grocery, hardware, dry cleaner) nearby? No public transportation? Neighbors who neglect their properties?

I'd assess your area's negatives and try to figure out which could be improved with an active community association, and which are permanent and will always affect prices in the neighborhood. Work on what you can change, not just for real-estate profit but for the betterment of where and how you live.

DH and I just bought what we think is the nicest house on the block...it is the biggest, but not by much, has the nicest yard in terms of appearance and space, and is assessed at the highest amount compared to neighboring houses, per the county assessor's website. The neighborhood is very good overall, so that's not a concern for us. We bought it because we love it and because it fits are needs perfectly. It's almost like it was built for us. We plan to live there a long time so we're not worried about resale.

The builder says that money will be donated to clean the low income area up.

Yeh, right. A one-time clean up campaign isn't going to make the underlying problem go away. Once the new homes are sold, the builder will be out of there in a flash.

The house I'm selling is one of the nicest in the neighborhood and definitely the nicest on the street. I got an offer quickly when others have been sitting on the market for months. Why? Because it's the nicest and I priced it right.

When you're ready to sell (and btw, why are you already thinking about resale?) if your house is still the newest and nicest, you will have no problem selling, if you price it right. In the meantime, enjoy your nice, new house. :)

Yeah, right. A one-time clean up campaign isn't going to make the underlying problem go away. Once the new homes are sold, the builder will be out of there in a flash.

Exactly what we thought too.

We did that.

Fast forward five years later, 8 1/2 months of selling misery, and we sold it finally for less than we bought it for.

We now absolutely believe the mantra "location, location, location."

But, since you've already bought it, telling you that you're screwed unless things change drastically probably isn't very helpful.

You can search back under my username to a few years ago where I logged my misery of selling my beautiful house in the ugly neighborhood. But I wouldn't recommend it; it won't make you feel any better...

Oh, I left off the part about my house being in a not-so-hot neighborhood. The neighborhood was ok when I bought but has steadly declined in the 8 years I've lived there. I also improved the house immensely with renovations during those 8 years.

What does one consider a not-so-hot-neighborhood? Buying into areas with older improperly maintained homes is smart. These types of neighborhoods generally look shabby, but over time these areas tend to gentrify while the older owners pass away and their children inherit the homes, sell them, or fix them up to sell, live or rent. In most instances, the newcomers improve their home and neighborhood (but this isn't always true). However, if you buy into an area with a lower income demographic, has a relatively high crime rate, poor schools, and generally bad neighbors, you're making a big mistake. These types of areas can gentrify but the chances are slim. The worst thing that can happen is that outlying areas begin to gentrify but your neighborhood doesn't. Your neighborhood becomes a magnet for these lower class individuals while other surrounding areas improve.