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You'll enjoy your new home even more if you find a neighborhood that fits your lifestyle.

What good is having your dream home, if you don't like the community where it's located? Before shopping for a home, shop for a neighborhood. Make sure it's a good fit for your lifestyle -- figure out how long you want your work commute to be, how close you want to be to amenities like shopping and nightlife, and which school districts are the best. Even if you don't have children, living near good schools raises your property value. Visit the neighborhood several times and at different times of the day. The biggest incentive for finding a quality community: a great neighborhood will increase your home's value, while a bad one will drag it down.

• Learn how to choose a neighborhood

• Find out which of the 12 kinds of neighborhoods is right for you

• Explore cities across the country in FrontDoor's City Guides

• Get tips for buying your first home in FrontDoor's First-Time Buyer's Guide

• Learn what moves to make and what mistakes to avoid when buying a home

NEXT: #7: Buying a foreclosure or fixer-upper without doing your research >>