Real estate can be a risky business to go into. It requires a lot of money to start investing, and you’re gambling with quite a lot, but if it pays off, it’ll often pay off significantly. When it comes to real estate investment, there are many things that can impact your investment. If a sex offender moves into the area, you might worry that your real estate investment will go down the drain. Here’s what you really need to know about sex offenders’ impact on your home value.
How Much Is Real Estate Value Affected by Sex Offenders? Created By: PeopleFinders
The Real Financial Impact of Sex Offenders
The numbers are pretty simple. Homes within about a 0.1-mile radius of a sex offender tend to see some kind of impact. On the edges of this impact, homes will see only about a 4% drop in value. As the home gets closer to the sex offender, the impact gets steeper – homes right next to a sex offender tend to see about a 12% drop in value.
Do Homes Continue to Appreciate Near Sex Offenders?
Despite this drop in value, it’s important to remember that it tends to be a drop from market value. That means appreciation can still exist in these areas. For example, say you bought a home at $150,000 and over the years it would appreciate to $200,000. If a sex offender moved in next door the day you bought the house and dropped the value 12% to $132,000, it would appreciate to $176,000. Consider that home devaluation as a bit off the top, not a stagnant issue with the home’s value.
Can a Home Go Back to Market Value After Being Near a Sex Offender?
The good news is that the impact of a sex offender on real estate value is extremely transient. Almost as soon as the sex offender moves out, your home will jump right back to market value. There’s no “lingering” impact – as soon as the sex offender moves in, you’ll see that impact, and as soon as they move out, you’ll stop seeing it.
Can I Sell Real Estate Next to a Sex Offender?
What if your investment is right next to a sex offender, but you want to sell it off as soon as possible? You can still sell real estate that’s right next to a sex offender. However, you might have to lower the price even further than the current valuation for someone to take the shot. This isn’t usually the best option, but it’s definitely one you can take if you have to.
How Can I Know Whether a Sex Offender Is Near an Investment?
Before you buy a home, you definitely want to know whether a sex offender is already living nearby. A public record search engine can help you find that information. Additionally, you can run a search on all your current real estate investments every month or every few months to see whether any sex offenders have moved in since you last did the search.
Conclusion
Real estate investments are definitely tricky, but the presence of a sex offender doesn’t have to make your real estate investment useless. It’s likely to have an impact, but that impact is transient and doesn’t have to completely remove your investments overall. Instead, keep yourself educated with a public record search engine and ride out the value changes unscathed.