| You have lived in rented accommodations long | | | | neighborhood, walk over to the local market place |
| enough. You want to buy a house and make it a | | | | and see what sort of crowds you see. Drop in on |
| home for you and your young family. You consult | | | | some neighbors just to say "Hello!" and you sure |
| your friends, you consult property agents. You | | | | will learn a lot of the local gossip and atmosphere |
| consult websites and go through property | | | | too. You will also get an idea of the local crime |
| advertisements. And all along you feel uneasy that | | | | scene if you steer the conversation in the right |
| you are missing out on something. | | | | direction discreetly. |
| It gradually dawns on you that you are missing | | | | Drop in on the local police station to get a feel of |
| out the element that matters the most - the | | | | the security angle. |
| feeling of belonging that you would want in the | | | | You would also like to know about the public |
| new environments. All your talk with the agents, | | | | transport facilities in that area, the local GPs, the |
| all discussions on budgeting, all the viewings are | | | | banks in the vicinity. |
| very superficial. | | | | By now you would have been able to size up that |
| Once you have chosen the area in which you | | | | environment of the locality that you would never |
| would like to live (convenient for commuting to | | | | have been able to do by talking to any umber of |
| work) and have started considering some houses | | | | agents. You could repeat the routine until you feel |
| in that area, you would like to get a feel of the | | | | comfortable with the locality. After that the rest |
| neighborhood, see the civic amenities existing in | | | | of the issues related to the property would be |
| that area. You would like to be sure your family | | | | easy to deal with. |
| will not only be secure but feel secure too. You | | | | A word of caution: do not disclose your findings to |
| would like to know what sort of neighbors your | | | | the property agent; he will not lose the chance to |
| wife will have - friendly, helpful, snobbish, snooty, | | | | use your satisfaction about the locality to your |
| garrulous, intruding or what... | | | | disadvantage in price negotiations. |
| Why don't you take a stroll down the | | | | |