What makes your house recession-proof

The real-estate bust has stripped all the smoke and mirrors from the housing market. In the starkest way possible, it is revealing which homes hold value in a recession, and why.

Certain upgrades can help recession-proof your house, but your home's price resilience mostly depends on choices you made when you purchased. Since most homeowners buy and sell several times in their lives, you're likely to have a chance to use these bulletproof principles the next time you buy.

Location, location, location (say like a house in Toronto lakefront community)
You've heard it before because it's true: Location matters. It matters most, in fact, when it comes to holding value under pressure. Why? Because houses are replaceable, but land is not. If you've got a spot everyone wants, your place will sell faster and for a better price than a similar house elsewhere.

Schools and safety. These make or break values. In some Bay Area communities, overseas investors buy homes sight unseen based on the value of the city's public-school rankings. Questions about schools and safety are the first out of buyers' mouths, says Furhad Waquad, an agent in suburban Detroit. He refers them to local police departments for neighborhood information and to the free Standard & Poor's school evaluation service, SchoolMatters.

Culture and public services. Buyers favor homes near libraries, parks, playgrounds and revitalized or charming commercial areas with shopping and coffee shops and theaters. An easy walk to light-rail terminals and bus lines is a plus. In communities full of retirees, proximity to hospitals and doctors' offices is valued.

One caution: Watch out for noise. It's good to be close to an elementary school but not next door, and it's good to be near a main street with bus service but not directly on it.

Infrastructure. Although the fringes of hot cities are popular locations when prices are rising, interest falls off quickly in a downturn. City sewer and water service help hold up prices compared with an identical home on a septic system and well water. Cities with fatter tax bases may boast quicker fire department response times, better-maintained streets and stronger schools, all of which sustain demand.