How Are Homeowners Coping With ‘Neighborhood Regret?’

Over 30 percent of home buyers experience "neighborhood regret," according to a study from Trulia. The site found that, according to data from Wakefield Research, of the 1,000 Americans surveyed, 36 percent of homebuyers who recently moved would have moved to a different neighborhood. Additionally, the survey found that most Americans, 77 percent, do not believe there is a reliable way to find complete neighborhood information in order to find the perfect neighborhood.

"Neighborhood regret" is highest for homeowners in the city. According to the survey, 46 percent of city dwellers would have moved to a different neighborhood, compared to 31 percent of buyers in rural areas and 30 percent in suburban neighborhoods. Almost half of these buyers, 48 percent, cite “vibe” as the most important deciding factor on their neighborhood choice, followed by commute time (37 percent) and crime rate (37 percent). Lack of social activity in an area, as well as street noise, frequent traffic, and lack of public transportation, were cited as reasons for resident unhappiness.

"Trulia wants to empower homebuyers and renters with both neighborhood data and authentic input from locals on the overall atmosphere of a neighborhood so they can make the best home and neighborhood decisions," said Tim Correia, SVP and General Manager, Trulia. "Trulia Neighborhoods shares crowdsourced local knowledge, original photography and drone footage, information on local safety, commute, and parent reviews of nearby schools. The more information we can provide in one source the less likely people will experience home and neighborhood regret."

Though buyers have said that they want reliable sources of information on a neighborhood before purchasing a home, according to Trulia, only about 38 percent searched for photos of other parts of the neighborhood. Additionally, even though safety was noted to be highly correlated to neighborhood regret, a majority of homeowners (74 percent) alike did no research on crime statistics or police reports before moving into their home, and around 47 percent never visited their potential new home at night before moving in.