Using Zip Code Filters Can Mislead House-Hunters

One way to start the hunt for a new Shepherdstown house begins with writing out the Checklist. It starts with the features you know you must have, followed by those you’d like but don’t really need, followed by features you wouldn’t tolerate in a thousand years.

In addition to your features checklist, another factor that is just as important revolves around location. Especially if you will be dealing with neighborhoods in a new town, you might think that using the “zip code” filter to narrow listings is practical—but beware: what might work in one place isn’t always useful in others. The way zip code boundaries are determined can provide surprising results:

• Especially for those whose professions don’t lend themselves to a virtual workplace, commute distances are becoming a key economic concern. But using some zip codes as a proximity gauge can be misleading. For instance, if you specified “89049” because you have accepted a job in Tonopah, Nevada, you might be surprised to find that it covers an area of 10,000 square miles. Fortunately, there are a fair number of gas stations in 89049—although yelp!.com’s ‘Eric B.’ warns that “the nearest fill-up is often more than 100 miles away” (it’s anyone’s guess what the electric car charging situation might be).
• There can also be so many zip codes within a single town that limiting a search to just one of them would eliminate many perfectly viable properties. Most web listing zip code filters don’t accommodate multiple entries.
• There is also a further complicating factor called “overlays.” Often, multiple town names are located within a single zip—even though it might not contain any one of them completely.

A last observation on house-hunting that’s not related to zip codes. Remember how well-organized house hunters start out by noting on their checklist any features they don’t want and wouldn’t tolerate in a thousand years? It turns out that an appreciable number of buyers wind up owning properties with precisely those features. They changed their minds because everything else was perfect. The takeaway is to include a bit of open-mindedness in your house-hunting arsenal. Sometimes a once-hated feature winds up being prized by its new owners: it’s strange but true. Ask any Realtor—or better yet, a Coldwell Banker Premier one!