Buying Smart
Before you begin the house-hunting process, remember to consider your lifestyle needs to ensure the best outcome.
Location, Location, Location.
Drive around various towns to decide which location best suits the needs of you and your family. Get out of the car and walk around. Get a feel for the vibe of each town and the types of houses in its neighborhoods. What speaks to you?
More importantly, do you need to be near a train station or major highway? If commuting is a factor, make sure the daily round trips won’t be too onerous before you fall in love with a with a particular house or community. And commuting aside, do you want to live somewhere where you can walk to town, or that’s close to your child’s school? What about the views, or surrounding trails and parks? Lots of factors need to figure in to this very important decision.
Window shop!
It’s not hard to find an open house on any given Saturday or Sunday afternoon. Visiting properties in person allows you to explore different styles and layouts, and help determine which features are important to you—and which aren’t so desirable. Online photos of individual rooms can’t give you the real sense of what it’s like to move between their spaces and truly “feel” their size. Standing in a room will help you consider how you might use it, or improve it.
Do you need more room for family space? Larger and more private bedrooms? How will the bathrooms be shared? Is the driveway wide enough for multiple cars? Is the yard pet friendly? Is the kitchen the type of space you’ll want to spend most of your time in? Answering these questions at the beginning of your search is crucial to avoiding an expensive mistake. Most homes on the market hold open houses on the weekend. It’s a great opportunity to check out the available options, explore different neighborhoods, and help determine what’s important to you and what isn’t. If you share a The Liz+Vikram Team members business card with the agent when you arrive, you’ll likely be able to look around uninterrupted until you have any questions.
Consider your timeline.
The average time homeowners spend in one residence is seven years. Some trade up to a larger home as their family grows – and then downsize as they get older. Others move for a new job or when life circumstances may change for a host of other reasons. Such factors explain why you might not be in this house for your entire adult life, as many of our grandparents were. That’s why it’s important to think about how much time you might be spending in a house and plan your purchasing and renovation investments accordingly.
Our agents can help you work through these difficult decisions, ask key questions and prompt important conversations to help you choose the home that’s best for you right now.