Learn
Research a home before you buy.
A listing shows you the kitchen. It does not show you the freight line two blocks over, the old gas station that left something in the soil, or which way the flood water runs. These guides walk through the things buyers wish they had checked, and how to check them for a real address.
Home hazards by the numbers
A data study of what actually sits near homes across the 8 states we cover: more than 350,000 contamination and cleanup sites, 70,000 miles of railroad, and the full FEMA flood map, drawn straight from the public record.
Rail, roads, and runways: the infrastructure near homes
A data study of the noise and infrastructure near homes across the 8 states we cover: 70,836 miles of railroad, 68,244 miles of major road, 5,903 airports, and the pipelines and power lines that shape a lot.
How to research a house before you buy
The complete due-diligence checklist: the surroundings, the house and its systems, inspections, insurance and the loss-history report, taxes, and the paperwork that decides a deal.
Buying a house near train tracks
What living next to a railroad really costs you, from freight horns at 2am to the vibration you feel in the floor, plus how to check a specific address before you make an offer.
Should you buy a house near power lines?
The EMF and health question answered honestly, plus the noise most buyers do not expect, what an easement does to the lot, and how the line affects resale.
Buying a house near a highway
Freeway noise is constant, not occasional. What sound walls and elevation change, the near-road air question, and how to tell whether a specific home handles it.
Buying a house near an airport
It is the flight path, not the mileage. What noise contours and the 65 DNL line mean, why night flights matter most, and how to check an address before you tour.
Buying a house near a Superfund site
What a Superfund site actually is, why its cleanup status matters more than the label, and how distance and pathway decide whether one nearby really affects a home.
Buying a house near a landfill
Odor, truck traffic, methane, and groundwater, plus how an active site differs from a closed one, and how to judge a specific address.
Buying a house near a brownfield
Why a brownfield is not a Superfund site, what an active site versus no further action means, and how distance and the former use of the land decide whether one nearby matters.
Buying a house near a gas station
A station next door is really an underground storage tank question. What a leak puts in the soil, active versus closed versus leaking, and how to check an address.
Buying a home near a gas or oil pipeline
The easement that limits your lot, the safety zone kept in proportion, transmission versus distribution, and how to check which lines run near an address.
Buying a house near a factory or industrial zone
Noise, air, truck traffic, and odor stacked together. What the EPA Toxics Release Inventory tells you, why zoning is the forward signal, and how to check an address.
How to check if a house is in a flood zone
Where the official FEMA flood zone lives, what a Special Flood Hazard Area means for insurance and your lender, and why being outside the zone is reassuring but not a guarantee.
FEMA flood zones explained (AE, X, VE)
A plain-English decoding of the flood zone codes, from AE and AO to VE, X, and D, what base flood elevation means, and what each one tells a buyer about insurance and risk.
Wildfire risk when buying a home
The hazard rating and the fire history nearby, what the wildland-urban interface is, the defensible space and home hardening you can control, and the insurance reality out West.
What storm and disaster history tells you about a home
Past storm events and federal disaster declarations as a forward signal, what NOAA storm data and FEMA declarations each cover, and the gap between them.
More guides on the way
- What to check before making an offer on a house
- Questions to ask the seller before you buy
- What a home inspection covers (and what it misses)
- New construction: what builders do not tell you
Want the answer for one specific address?
Skip the reading and run a real report. ReconNest reads the public record for the address you care about and hands it back in plain English.