Broadband is becoming a big factor home values

If you’re planning to buy a home now may be a good time as the market may be at its bottom. Before you sign a contract, consider this: The broadband in your new neighborhood will be just as important as good schools, shopping and other amenities. My advice is shop where there is fiber to the home if at all possible. Next best bet is in a municipality planning fiber to home. Forget promises for the duopoly about future availability. The Telcos and the cable guys promised we’d all have fiber in place eight years ago.  Fiber will maximize the value of the home in the future.

In less than a decade, broadband has gone from a luxury to a must for many people, and for some of them, it’s started to influence their real-estate decisions. Homes that have broadband are winning out over more remote ones that don’t. Areas with better and faster broadband are becoming more desirable than ones with slower access.

Edward Redpath, a real estate broker in Hanover, N.H., said he has seen deals fall through once the buyer realizes a home doesn’t get broadband. Across the Connecticut River in Norwich, Vt., only the center of the village has cable.

“We have a lot of people that don’t go into the rural neighborhoods or consider the rural neighborhoods because they need the broadband,” Redpath said. “Our lifestyle demands speed.” (StarTribune.com)