How to find the Perfect House. How to know what I want.

Purchasing a home is a pretty big commitment. It can be a pretty time consuming and stressful process if you do not know what you want, and if you have a bad Real Estate agent. I will talk about how to choose a Real Estate agent or what to look for in a later blog. I'd recommend having a general idea of what you want before choosing a Real Estate agent. I help many friends find their homes and figure out what they want. Here are some questions you can ask yourself to get you started.

INTIAL QUESTIONS

- Do I plan on living in this house long term or short term?

This is important because if you only plan on being in the house for a few years you may find a house you love but have to compromise on a must-have.  

-           What areas am I willing to live in? (Call the local police departments and see what the crime rate is. If this is important. In some cities you will pay more for a better neighborhood.)

-           Are schools and rankings of schools important to you? (Finding a home in a neighborhood to a specific school will decrease the area you are looking at.)

-           How far am I willing to drive to work?

-           How far am I willing to live away from easy access to things (Major roads, beaches, grocery, hospital, shopping, children’s post school activities, etc.)? (In many areas you are going to pay more money for smaller plots of land and smaller houses. If you look for acreage within the city you will be paying a great deal more for the land. If you look 20 minutes outside the city limits you may often find larger homes with larger pieces of land for a lower price. You just have to be careful. If you order a lot of pizza you’ll be driving instead of getting it delivered.)

HOUSE SPECIFIC QUESTIONS

At this point you should have your areas narrowed down. Now you are ready for your next set of questions you should answer prior to looking at houses and selecting a Real Estate Agent.

-           How many bedrooms do I want?

-           How many bathrooms do I want?

-           How large do you want your bedrooms and bathrooms?

-           DO you want a large kitchen or living room?

-           Do you want one story or two?

-           Do you want a den/family room?

-           Do you want your bedrooms together, or a separate master bedroom?

-           Where would you like your laundry room? (Some are in the house, some are in the garage, and some are in the kitchen.)

-           Is square footage important to me? How many square feet do I want?

-           Is a garage important? (A one care garage is not ideal if you really want to park a car in it. It is useful for storing stuff, motorcycles, and other items. If you own a Mini Cooper it might be alright.)
 

-          Do you want block or frame? ( I highly recommend block if houses are built from block in your area.)

-           Do you want a crawl space or slab?

-           Do you want a big yard? Can you handle the maintenance of a big yard?

-           Do you need a great deal of parking?

-           Is this a home my family can grow in or will we grow out of it?

-           Do you want a pool or hot tub? (These types of items come with maintenance.)

-           Do you want a Home Owners Association? (Keep the monthly and annual fees in mind. These will be additional on top of your mortgage.)

-           Is additional storage important to you?

-           Do you want a basement or attic room?

-           Do you want to have an office space in the house?

-           Do you want a formal dining room?

-           Do you want trees?

-           What kind of community do you want? (Kid friendly, more adults)

-           Do you want ceiling fans or high ceilings?

-           Would you like a sunroom?

-           Do you want a fixer upper or do you want a turn-key house? (When looking at fixer uppers you need to remember, there is more to fixing it than what you see. Not everyone takes there time to fix things properly. Also reference any additions to the house. Was the work done with a permit? Was the wiring done properly? There will be hidden issues not even the inspector will find.)

-           Does the exterior matter? Do you want Brick, stone, Vinyl siding?  (There are many different exteriors.)

-           Is a fenced in yard important to you? (An important thing to remember is that fence can be just as bad as good. Some neighborhoods will not appreciate a 6 ft. privacy fence. If a neighborhood has multiple fences then it won’t be a big deal; however, some neighborhoods will feel more like a prison if only a single house has 6 ft. privacy fence. I have heard that this minor thing can actually affect price.)

-           Do you mind being on a main road or do you want to be off the main road?

-           Do you want hard wood, carpet, and tile?

-           Is an efficient use of space important to you? (What I mean by this is the flow of some homes does not make any sense. You walk from one room to another and it just is not laid out conveniently. If my explanation is crap, you’ll see it when you walk through the house.)

-           Will I rent this house out, sell it or stay in it for decades?

WHY ARE THESE THINGS IMPORTANT

Some of these things may seem funny or not important; However, you’d be surprised at how much many of them begin to matter when you are looking. Some will occur to you once you live in the house. There are a great number of houses and only some of them will be right for you. These questions are only to help you narrow down your search. It gives you a place to start. Once you begin to look, you can change your mind on some, maybe something that seemed important became less important because you find better qualities in a house that you did not anticipate.

The way you look at a house should also be influenced by the long term intended use of the house. I am going to use my houses I have in Alabama as an example. I purchased a 4/2/ 2.5 plus bonus room. I bought this house because I was pregnant and I wanted my son to grow up in a stable environment with a large yard. I did not buy the house with the intent to rent; however, it is rentable because I bought it with all the right things in mind (rooms, bathrooms, yard, schools, and crime). I moved out of the house when I lost my son to natural causes. After a short period of time of renting in a condo I decided to purchase again. This time I knew it was a rental. I wanted something inexpensive. The important things for me were a large kitchen, a garage and close to everything. I only planned on living in the house for a year. I considered renting a house but I can’t see spending $800 per month on a rental when I can just buy a rental property with a retirement fund that wasn’t doing squat. I figured putting the money into a house was not a bad route. Now I pay $175 less than the cheapest house that fulfilled my needs. Now I have a second house in a prime neighborhood, close to schools, with three bedrooms, two baths, and a large two car garage. I am not a big fan of this neighborhood, but the house will fulfill the needs of the family I rent it to. They will have three large bedrooms, open concept, large kitchen, easy to maintain yard and a two car garage.

Honestly, I really enjoy living outside of the city. I can have bonfires and a garden in my back yard; I have room to run around. I just feel more comfortable there. For me, this second property was just a means to an end. In March I will get to move back into a house that I love. I realize that most of you that read this will not be doing what I did, but I just want the readers to understand the difference.

When I first started looking for houses a friend of mine gave me a great piece of advice. When you find a house that is right for you, you’ll know it. It’s a feeling, kind of like when you meet a right person for you. You just know it is a fit. The other thing to remember is there is more than one house that will be the right fit. You may run into making an offer just an hour too late. Do not get disappointed by this. It happens often. If you know it is good, someone else will know it is good. I’m not saying jump on the first one, but you will feel it. If your realtor has ten houses to show you in one day and you love the third one, look at the rest and decide towards the end. You may just be mesmerized by one room.

When talking to people I compare house hunting to dating, mainly online dating. Pictures will only show you so much, if it falls within what you want, do not be afraid to look at something that looks disappointing, you may be surprised what you get and vise-versa. When you get to the house thoroughly look at it. It might be beautiful on the outside and on the inside but if you look deeper you may find ugly secrets that aren’t for you. I will do another blog on this within the coming months.

I hope this helps you get on your way. I know that Real Estate Agents can be less and less helpful now that so much is online. If you have a question or an idea please write me and I will be happy to write about it or answer a question if I am knowledgeable on the subject.

 

Danie