Once you’ve determined how much you can afford to spend, concentrate your search in areas that have houses in your price range. You can find these areas by:

• Working with a qualified real estate agent
  
  
• Checking out the real estate section of the newspaper
  
  
• Searching online at various real estate sites
  
  

You can find out the demographics for a particular community, as well as information about housing and employment opportunities, by conducting an online search for websites hosted for local municipalities.

Take a test drive, starting from each of your top two neighborhoods to your place of work, during both morning and evening rush hour. How long does it take you? Are you willing to live with the time commitment? Are there alternative forms of transportation (bus, ferry, train) that you could use?

When you’ve chosen your favorite neighborhood, drive through at different times of the day and at night (especially late night if you’re a light sleeper) to check out traffic and noise levels. Listen for:

• Airplane traffic/noise (This information is available on a hazards report if you decide to get one.)
  
  
• Foot traffic
  
  
• Trains
  
  
• Car traffic
  
  
• Is it quiet/peaceful?
  
  
• Look at nearby businesses. What places are open at night that you wouldn't notice during the day (dance clubs, late night restaurants).
  
  

Think about this: what are your chances of staying in the job you have now, for the length of time you’ll be living in the house? If changing work locations is a possibility, you won’t want to pick a house just because it’s near your current job.