One piece of advise a good friend gave me was to visit the neighborhood at different times of day (and night) just to get a feel for what it is like. TALK to the neighbors all around you, on both sides, across the street, and even behind you. Ask if there have been any problems with the house that they know of? You would be surprised what neighbors will tell you. Very valuable information. And also you get a feel for the neighborhood. If the neighbors are super weird, for example, do you really want to live next door to them? Or if they had 4 pit bulls that were getting out of the fence regularly? (Just an example, I know that there are good pit bulls out there).
You can also go to
https://www.crimereports.com/ and type in the address and look at crimes that have been reported there in the last year or so. If you had little kids, for example, you wouldn't want to buy a house with a registered sex offender next door.