Providing information to clients about an area is an important part of the professional services a quality Realtor provides – and something my buyer clients expect. That said, many would-be buyers enjoy personally diving into the details of a neighborhood – from the demographics to school districts to crime stats, and more.
For the “detail detectives” out there, here are some comprehensive and FREE internet resources to help do your investigative work:
Neighborhood Demographics
There are two excellent websites to discover the area’s demographics. First is the U.S. Census Bureau Quick Facts page on the website. The info is broken down into Colorado cities and counties, for a wide variety of answers to questions such as population characteristics, family and living arrangements, education, etc. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/CO/PST045218
At HomeFair you can select from schools, city reports, cost of living, climate, incomes, ethnicity and other categories that are specific to a zip code. https://www.homefair.com
School Districts
The National Center for Education Statistics is a good place to start. Go to https://nces.ed.gov, and click on the “Data and Tools” tab at the top of the page. Select the topic you want to follow for more info.
Another excellent source is Great Schools, providing detailed info on individual schools related to performance on state tests, classroom profiles, facilities, academics and arts, special programs and student body diversity. You can even compare schools. Go to https://www.greatschools.net
To drill down on the Denver metro school districts, check out https://k12.niche.com/rankings/public-school-districts/best-overall/m/denver-metro-area
Safety of the neighborhood
The Family Watchdog website allows you to enter a street address to see if there are any registered sex offenders in the area, including the offender’s photo. Info is updated daily: https://www.familywatchdog.us
For info on crime incidents in the area: https://www.crimereports.com
How walkable is the area?
Is the ability to walk to stores and services important to you? Check out the Walk Score website: https://www.redfin.com/how-walk-score-works
Enter the city to find a walkability score.
