Interest rates are low, and you’re deciding that now is the time to make your first home purchase. Or maybe you’re ready to move onto a different adventure by selling your existing house. Whatever the case may be, there are always things that you need to look for in your new home.
While many factors go into a great house, it all boils down to one thing: preference. Some people might value location, while others might value a backyard. The best way to determine your preferences? Asking questions. How do you figure out what questions to ask? The easiest way is to look back in time. Many people try to look forward to what they think they will like in a house. However, you might not realize that you already know exactly what you do and don’t want in a home.
Clearly, you are moving, so there are some things that you want that you can’t have in your current residence. For example, ask yourself what you love and don’t love about your current place. Maybe you lived near the beach growing up, but now you’ve been living in the big city. You might want to live near the beach because you loved that atmosphere growing up. Or maybe you like living in the big city, but just want somewhere with more space.
Make a list of all of the places you’ve lived in your life, and write down the things you liked about that house and the things you don’t. Remember to include not just the house itself, but things like the area and weather. Shortly after starting, you will find repetition in the things you don’t like and the things you do. This helps narrow down your search by giving you criteria backed by previous experience. You can even use this method to prioritize the more important likes/dislikes by noticing the more commonalities. For example, if you find that in the residences that you’ve lived in that had a pool, you consistently added it as a plus to the property and found it as a negative in residences that lack a pool. You might put a pool as a high priority on your criteria.
One thing that you should also remember is the price. Most people think about price in terms of how much they can afford. However, you don’t always have to spend as much as you can afford on a house. Think about how much the things on your likes/dislikes list cost to you. For example, a pool might be worth an extra $50,000 to you, while a large backyard is only worth $20,000. Putting a price tag on your likes/dislikes also helps you determine if the property you are looking at has good value.
The last thing to consider is location. This ties into the likes/dislikes list. Especially if you are moving to a completely different region, do your research. One recommendation might be to rent an Airbnb for a month in the neighborhood you are planning on living in. This helps you get a feel of what living in that area would be like in terms of climate, stores, etc. This can cost a lot of money. However, the cost for many people might be worth the assurance knowing they will love the area they plan to live in. The last thing you want is to spend a fortune trying to find the right house, spending the money to purchase it, and suddenly finding yourself stuck in a place where you hate to live.
Overall, there are many things to consider when making your next home purchase. However, a good real estate agent, such as those at the RFC Group, are specifically trained to ensure that we find the best properties to suit all of your likes and dislikes.