How to check a neighbourhood before buying a house in Austria

You check the neighbourhood of a house in Austria in three steps: analyse the address online, read the official maps for what may be built nearby and which natural hazards apply, and visit at different times of day. Wohnprobe does the first step in a minute: enter the address and see what daily life around the house is like, measured from the front door.

Step 1: Check the address online

A listing shows the house. It rarely shows the area. With Wohnprobe you check any address in Austria before you book a viewing. The report answers the questions every house buyer asks:

• Daily life: how far are the supermarket, bakery, pharmacy and post office, on foot, by bike and by car?
• Family: which nurseries and schools are within walking distance, and which doctors are nearby?
• Transport: where is the nearest stop, and how long is the walk?
• Environment: how much green space is there, how loud is it, how clean is the air, how much sun and heat?
• Risks: is the address in a flood or hazard zone, on a landslide slope or near a contaminated site?
• Internet: what speeds reach the address over fixed and mobile broadband?
• Prices: what do flats and houses nearby cost per m², and what is being built close by?

Each category scores from 0 to 100, with the measurements behind it. The area score for any address is free. The example report shows a full report.

Step 2: Read the official maps

The map shows what stands around the house today. What may stand there tomorrow is in the plans of the municipality and the state.

• Zoning plan and development plan: they decide whether the field next door stays green land or is building land, and how high anything there may be built. How to read both is in the guide Zoning plan in Austria: what can be built next to me?.
• Hazard zones and floods: red and yellow zones, HQ30 and HQ100 areas and landslides affect insurance, mortgages and price. How to check them is in the guide Checking an address for natural hazards.
• Cadastre: the BEV cadastral map shows plot boundaries and plot numbers. You can view it online for free.
• Land register: an extract from the Grundbuch shows who owns the plot and what burdens it carries, such as a neighbour's right of way across your garden or a mortgage. You get it for a fee at the district court or from an online land register service.

Step 3: Visit at different times

Go at least twice: once on a weekday during the day, and once in the evening or at the weekend. Only then do you hear whether the street gets loud at night, notice whether a business nearby smells, and see where the cars park.

• Walk the routes yourself: to the stop, the supermarket and the school.
• Talk to the neighbours: people who live there know whether the cellar has flooded, whether there are disputes and what is being built.
• Ask at the municipal office: it knows whether rezoning, a bypass or a large building project is planned.

What to tick off at the viewing is in the location checklist.

What matters most with a house

With a house you buy the plot, and with it its surroundings:

• Empty plots nearby: if the field next door is building land, a block of flats can go up there.
• Slopes: look for cracks in the walls, leaning retaining walls and damp patches in the cellar.
• Access: if the drive crosses someone else's land, you need a right of way in the land register.
• Edge of town: business parks, railway lines and bypasses are often planned right there.