ELMS ON #HOMEBUYING:
LOCATION

Location 1: Civil. State, county, & local laws (including home purchase procedures, construction practices, & zoning), taxes, affordability, economy & jobs, infrastructure & transportation, health access, education, safety, politics, culture.

Location 2: Geographic. City/suburban/rural. Mountains/valleys/plains, coast/river/swamp, desert/forest/scrubland/farmland. Climate, weather, humidity, storms, floods, drought, wildfire. Flora/fauna/bugs. Aquifer/springs/water supply. Soils/sinkholes/volcanos/geysers/earthquakes.

Location 3: Site. Tract/custom estate/condo/historic. View. Shade/sun. Corner/hillside lot, std 1/4 acre lot, zero clearance lot. Bedrock/landfill/graded. Clay soil/drainage. Air/water quality. Commute time. Proximity to amenities/nuisances/emergency services/shopping/transport.

To research US property locations in depth, check out the US Geological Survey TopoView maps. These maps go back to 1880 & show original creeks & drainage, mountains & landmarks as they were before recent grading & leveling of the land. #realestate #land

https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/topoview/viewer/#4/40.01/-100.06

Also check Google Maps for map views, satellite photos, & street views of the prospective property. These may be several years old, but you can still investigate neighborhoods & street connections & check out a plan view of the property in relation to shopping, transport, etc.

ALWAYS HAVE TWO ROADS OUT. Don't buy the home at the head of the canyon that gets surrounded by wildfire or engulfed by avalanche. Don't buy the lowland home across the bridge from the only road out of the flood plain. Insurance is fine, but not getting dead is better.

You'd be amazed at what your real estate agent doesn't know about local geography & geology, about liquifaction zones & settling foundations, about leaky basements & perpetually soggy lawns & the Great Flood of 1952. The LOCAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY knows much; check them out.

EXAMPLE: Sacramento, current homebuying boomtown extraordinaire, was hit in 1850 by a massive flood that destroyed much & drowned the rest in 6 ft of water. Levees were built & all downtown streets were elevated to the former second story of major buildings. Ground level ain't.

Check out the story of Sacramento & it's continual rebuilding of the levees here: https://www.abc10.com/article/news/history/when-sacramento-became-levee-city/103-48d5063b-ad48-4b32-9709-c7ca4fe8ea79

Would you like to see more threads on buying a home? Check out this thread of threads: https://twitter.com/jteelms/status/1365157256627507201