7 Fascinating Facts (or Shocks!) About Your Home

You might not have jet aircraft skimming your roof, but what about other things that can’t be so easily seen or heard? What about local crime? The risk of your home subsiding? Local rates of asthma? Or even what the neighbours earn?!!

Residz Team 5 min read

Free data tool digs into crime stats, asthma rates, and internet speeds for your address.

Darryl Kerrigan in The Castle loves his home despite the roar of planes overhead. “A man’s home is his castle,” he explains. You might not have jet aircraft skimming your roof, but what about other things that can’t be so easily seen or heard? What about local crime? The risk of your home subsiding? Local rates of asthma? Or even what the neighbours earn?!!

7 facts (or shocks) about your house and neighbours

In the past it hasn’t been quick or easy to get this information. But now everyone in Australia can instantly view millions of pieces of publicly available data for free at property platform www.residz.com. Here are just seven of the many facts (or shocks) you can find out about your home:

1. Internet speed

Home internet speed is a big deal now we’re living, working, studying or schooling at home. If you’re remote it could be a big dud! For example, comparing two properties in our search tool shows:

Tree-changers and sea-changers embracing the slow life might not embrace slow internet speeds as much.

2. Crime Near You

Crime is great in novels and on Netflix. But, it’s not as entertaining in your neighbourhood. Knowing local crime rates is fascinating and helpful. If crime is increasing you can organise community initiatives, move, or take measures to keep family and property safe. If the crime rate is dropping you can sleep easier and enjoy the benefits of living in an area with growing appeal. Using www.residz.com again, we note that one NSW home (address withheld) is seeing a rising trend in local drug offences but a dropping trend in assaults.

You might be surprised by the crime rate trend in your area. Pleasantly surprised, with luck.

3. Prevalence of Asthma

About 2.7 million Australians have asthma. You can check out the estimated number of asthma sufferers in your local area at Residz. Environmental factors (like air pollution, pollens, mould, or smoke) can bring on an asthma attack. So can thunderstorms. Asthma is highest in remote and low socio-economic areas according to the government’s asthma report. It’s more prevalent in boys up to age 14, in women aged 25-35 and also over 45, and in indigenous people across the board.

4. Average Mortgages of Your Neighbours

Forget looking over the fence. The juiciest info isn’t seen through a gap in the hedge. What our neighbours earn and spend is publicly-available data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Of course, it’s not specific to the person who brings in your rubbish bin. It’s the average for households in your area. Fascinating (or sobering) all the same! Here’s what we discover when we type into www.residz.com an address at Marine Parade, Cottesloe Beach, in Western Australia.

You can find out this information for every address in Australia, talk about an afternoon’s entertainment!

5. Subsidence Risk

Take notice if you get cracks in your walls or ceiling. It may be a sign that your land is subsiding. Subsidence is when the ground under your house drops lower due to natural or man-made causes (such as removal of groundwater). In 2020, NSW residents took action when homes in their area began subsiding. You can discover how at risk you are for subsistence by plugging your address into the Residz search tool. Advanced satellite mapping techniques are used to tell if a home is sinking. Some of this technology was used to remotely explore the surfaces of the Moon and Venus.

6. Diversity of Neighbourhood

Australia is one of the most diverse countries in the world. We are home to the oldest continuous cultures as well as 300 ethnic groups.So how diverse is your own neighbourhood? With 26% of Australians born overseas (Australian census 2016) it’s likely there are plenty of languages being spoken in the homes around you. At Residz your address will reveal which countries are represented in your neighbours. You never know, this could prompt a mini-Olympics!    

7. Bushfire Risk

No need to explain the importance of this one. Images of the devastating 2019/2020 bushfire season shocked the world. Knowing if you’re at risk of bushfire could save your home or your life. Here’s a cut-down image (from Google StreetView) of a home in a leafy area outside Melbourne.

Residz data reveals it is a 10/10 risk of bushfire (the maximum level of risk).  The impact of climate change has led to longer, more intense fire seasons and an increase in the average number of elevated fire weather days. (CSIRO).  Homeowners should get professional advice to prepare for fires and reduce their level of risk.

Bonus Fact:

8. Development Applications

Okay, so we said seven, but we couldn’t resist this one.

A common fascination for locals is: What development applications are near me? Usually a notice taped to the front fence alerts the neighbourhood. Residz goes a step further and not only lists out the development applications, but gives you the option to learn more about each application (where available).  You might be surprised by the number and scale of buildings, or any subdivisions, planned in your area.

Summary

When you start uncovering data about your home address, it’s hard to stop! Where are my  nearest pubs - and how do they rate? What percentage of locals are unemployed? How many teachers are at the local school? How did they go in the latest tests? How far is it from my address to the coast? Some pieces of information are welcome, others not welcome at all. But, no matter what Residz may reveal, you can always say your home is your castle.

Image source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Low_Flying_Aircraft_(2305171484).jpg