Choosing the right home could be an exciting undertaking, but there have also been cases of regretful home-buying mistakes. What, then, should a prospective home buyer take into consideration to avoid these mistakes and choose the right home?
1. Location. A buyer should pick a neighbourhood that fits one’s lifestyle. It is also worthwhile to know whether a buyer has commonality with the neighbours. Another thing to consider would be the closeness of the house to the places that are important to the buyer. Those places could be the nearest grocery store, the gas station, school, or place of worship. Most importantly, the distance of the house to one’s workplace.
A buyer should look at other homes in the neighbourhood. Some of the things to look for are signs of renovation (good) since they indicate that people are committed to the area; play sets on neighbours’ yards (good) if there are children in the picture; and disabled cars in driveways or curbs or old appliances and other junk behind fences (bad).
2. A vision of the home. What is the home’s first impression? What kind of vibe is the house conveying? Happy or depressing? A buyer’s intuition or gut feeling is often correct and should not be ignored. Is the buyer starting to imagine where to put furniture? This could indicate that the buyer has intuitively started “living in the house” and has unconsciously chosen the house. If there are problems, are they fixable? Focus on what the house has that can accordingly contribute to the lifestyle. Think about how the space will be used and the “must-have” and “nice-to-have” attributes in a new home. \
3. Size and storage. Will the furniture fit? Is the house big enough for the unexpected? A person should buy with the anticipation of growth. Ample space and storage is imperative.
4. Affordability/Budget. The buyer has to determine if he/she could afford to buy the house with the cash down payment he/she has and pay the monthly mortgage payments. A loan lender or mortgage broker like North Brisbane Home Loans could help the buyer in this matter.
Will the house needs work? Can it be carried out easily? It is important to figure out whether the renovations are worth the time and expense. Everything has to be tried out as if the house is already occupied – flush the toilets, turn on the lights, climb the stairs, check water flow in sinks and showers, etc.
A prospective buyer could hire an inspector who could uncover reasons why the particular house shouldn’t be bought. In addition, a good inspection can tell what the major problems are behind the walls, the condition of the roof and water damage. Getting a year’s worth of utility bills from the current owner would give an idea of the energy expense.
A buyer could also bring an expert contractor for a second look at a house he/she likes. The vision of the house applies to other things like the layout of the house, kitchen and bathrooms. A contractor could tell if it would be easy to take down a couple of walls here and there to create a more functional space. Without his expertise, one could miss the potential of a new home.
5. Investment. When buying a home, a mortgage lender or broker is needed at look at the values of comparable homes near the prospective house. They can advice on whether it is worthwhile to invest in renovations, adding that amount to the sale price and seeing if it matches up with the comparable homes. This is to avoid investing money in a home and jacking up its price when the selling price of others around is lower.
