It can be challenging to decide where to settle down and plant your roots. If you're considering moving but can't decide where to start, you've come to the right place! 

Everyone has different priorities. What is important to a family of four might be drastically different than what a single bachelor might want from a home. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to finding the right neighborhood, but we can give you some standard tools that prospective homebuyers use to find their ideal location. 

We developed a list based on common factors that homeowners use to find the right location. First, you'll want to prioritize these categories to determine which ones are more important to you. 

• Crime Rating
• Entertainment/Night Life
• Quality of Education
• Cost of Living
• Access to Restaurants and Grocery Stores
• Activities and Fitness

Most of these factors directly impact the price of the home. A friendly neighborhood with quality education and tons of nightlife will likely be more expensive than a smaller area with little access to grocery stores and restaurants. Finding out which category is most important to you is a good start to finding a great home that fits your desired lifestyle. 

If you're still stuck after reading through this list and can't figure out what you want from a neighborhood, you can take a quick and fun quiz to figure out which neighborhood fits your vibe.

Crime Rating

One of the most significant factors home buyers consider is the safety of the neighborhood. Naturally, they don't want to move somewhere that they won't feel comfortable. So, check out the area's crime rating to see if you'll have any cause for concern. Most popular listing sites will include information about the crime rating in that area. If they don't, a quick google search will do the trick. You can also read a few local newspaper segments to get a feeling of what kinds of things are going on in that area. 

Entertainment/Night Life

Entertainment is especially important to younger generations and single home buyers. The ability to go out and be social is crucial for maintaining a healthy life and meeting new people. Some sites will offer a general "entertainment" rating, but they might not dive deeper into the types of entertainment you can find. You might need to do some additional research to determine what sorts of entertainment and nightlife are near the location. 

Some home buyers might want a trendy, late-night pub with live music they can frequent, while others might consider entertainment to be movie theatres and game stores. This might require some extra digging to make sure the area fits your vibe. Google is a great resource, but you may want to consider driving around or even attending some of the hotspots to see if it fits your desires. For younger generations, if the nightlife is right, they will settle for less in other categories. 

Quality of Education

Parents with kids rely heavily on the quality of schools in the area when deciding where to move. School quality is also a major contributor to the cost of living and housing prices. If you're lucky, you can find an affordable home in a nice neighborhood where the property value will significantly increase. Otherwise, if you're willing to splurge, you can get a beautiful home in a neighborhood with an excellent school system. Your kids will be well-educated and live in a respected community with other families who value education. 

Be cautious when moving into a neighborhood with a good school if you don't have kids. The cost of living is typically higher because the school relies on local taxes to fund its programs. Thus, an excellent school means you're paying higher taxes. If you aren't interested in funding the school system, then you might want to avoid an area with a high-end public school system unless you're interested in paying taxes for other kids to have a quality education. 

Cost of Living

The cost of living is directly related to all the other categories. If it's a nice neighborhood with tons of entertainment, low crime rates, quality education, and easy access to stores and markets, the cost of living is typically higher. So, if you want a cheaper home, you may have to sacrifice in other areas. Otherwise, you can have the luxury of living in a great neighborhood, but you're probably going to have to pay for it. 

One way to gauge the cost of living is to research the different tax rates in the area. If you're not already familiar with the area, checking out the property tax, sales tax, and state income tax is a good start. Places with a higher cost of living are usually attributed to a higher tax rate. Also, natural and organic grocery stores will be a bit pricy, so an abundance of those will run up the food bill. Finally, look at the prices of food and drinks in some of the local restaurants, and you'll get a good idea of what you'll be paying in other categories as well. 

Access to Restaurants and Grocery Stores

Cooking all week is exhausting. Sometimes you need to be able to order in some take-out or take the whole family to a nice restaurant. Most families prefer to be within driving distance of a few restaurant choices. Local or regional cuisine is preferable, but any kind of gastropub or diner should do the trick. Whatever you're into, be sure to check out the local food scene before you make the leap. It's a real bummer if you have to drive an hour or more to get some sushi or pick up some of that BBQ we love so much. 

For the fancy chefs among us, it may be necessary that a grocery store with tons of fresh produce is nearby. If that's the case, you probably don't want to live too far from a grocery store. While food deserts are becoming less prevalent thanks to a recent push to end food insecurity, grocery stores might still be hard to find in some neighborhoods. Double-check that there is a quality grocery store within walking/driving distance from your desired location so that a quick trip to the store doesn't have to be a full-day event. 

Activities and Fitness

I like to golf, while some people like to do yoga. Whatever you're into, there's likely a home nearby. If your idea of fun is working out at planet fitness or going to a spin class, you may not want to live in a rural community. Likewise, if you enjoy long walks in nature, fishing, and camping, you probably shouldn't live anywhere near a planet fitness. Figure out what lifestyle and activities are important to you, and keep that in mind when choosing a location.