You may have heard before that having a sex offender living near your home can decrease the value of your property. Is that really the truth? There is plenty of information out there that can give you a bit more information and context regarding the correlation. Here are the actual elements that will make an impact on how sex offenders impact your home retail value.
How Much Is Real Estate Value Affected by Sex Offenders? Created By: PeopleFinders
1. How Close the Sex Offender Is to the Home
If the sex offender is more than about 0.1 miles away from your home, it’s unlikely that you’ll see a reduction in value. However, the closer the offender gets, the more significant the reduction. Homes within a 0.1-mile radius see a 4% reduction in value on average, while homes right next door typically see a 12% reduction on average. With some estimates suggesting that your likelihood of living next door to an offender is as high as 1.8%, it’s always a good idea to check.
2. What Type of Sex Offense Is on the Record
You should also check what type of sex offense caused the individual to have to register. Registration requirements vary dramatically from state to state, with some states requiring significantly more violence associated with a crime before someone has to register. In some states, an offense as insignificant as public urination can end up snowballing into a sex offense that requires registration. Less violent and more insignificant offenses typically have a different impact.
3. Whether You Need to Sell Immediately
The impact of a sex offender on your personal home value can hinge on whether or not you need to sell as soon as possible. It can be more difficult to sell a home next to a sex offender, as anyone who looks up the home may be able to find out that it’s right next to a sex offender. Additionally, the value reduction may make you less interested in selling. If you’re able to wait until the offender moves out, the value of your home should bounce right back up.
4. What Other Crime Risks You Have in the Neighborhood
One of the most important elements to consider is not sex offenders in the neighborhood, but rather the overall crime risks of your neighborhood. In at least one study, homes with very high crime risk indexes were significantly more highly valued than homes with very low indexes. High crime risk indexes resulted in a median home value of $157,844, while low indexes resulted in a median value of $512,841. That’s 3.2 times as valuable in areas with very low rates of crime.
Conclusion
Although a sex offender can have a negative impact on a home’s value, this negative impact is usually transient, and the home will typically bounce right back to market value once the offender moves away. It’s important to remember that even if you do have someone on the sex offender registry living nearby, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re unsafe. Your best bet will always be to use a public records search engine to find out more concrete facts, rather than just worrying about whether you’re unsafe.
