class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 6.25pt 0.95pt 0pt 0in; line-height: 12pt; text-align: justify; mso-line-height-rule: exactly; mso-pagination: none; mso-layout-grid-align: none">One way to help determine the quality of a location is to check to see how much graffiti there is on neighborhood walls and fences.

Some graffiti is to be expected in almost any neighborhood. But if the fences and walls of nearby homes and parks are covered with it, it suggests a num¬ber of ominous things. First, if the graffiti stays there for long without being cleaned up or painted over, it indi¬cates a low level of neighborhood pride.

In strong neigh¬borhoods, homeowners are out there right away to remove the graffiti. And studies have shown that in areas where it is rapidly removed, it tends to stay away. Taggers who paint it really don’t like to see their handiwork cleaned up quickly and will often go elsewhere. Lots of graffiti may also suggest a criminal element is at work in the neighborhood. Some neighborhood gangs do good work for their community.

But others are composed of gangster types who inform others of their illicit activities through graffiti. In order to successfully rent out your home, you might have to come to some sort of accommo¬dation with them. Is that something you’re prepared to deal with? If not, then check out the “graffiti index” and stay away from locations where it’s high.