Buying a house together can be overwhelming, especially if it is your first home. Knowing where to begin is the first hurdle. Then, you might both want different things out of
the home, which makes your list of priorities longer than it should be. Other than school and a car, this is the biggest investment you will ever make, so the financial burden weighs heavy. You want to make sure you’re making good decisions when
buying a house. It’s enough to make you mad. But if you just consider some basic tenants of home buying you should be fine. Here is an outline of what to consider when buying a home:
Geography
Obviously, you should look at homes that are in the neighborhoods in which you wan to live. Close to your job or the kid’s school (if you have them) is a must. Consider what the commute will be and whether you can handle it to narrow down your list of houses worth considering. Also, when considering geography, you must also think about the location. What is the town like? Would you fit in there? What are the schools like? Even if you don’t have kids, the property value is tied into the kinds of schools in the neighborhood.Price
One of the biggest mistakes shoppers do is look at houses out of their price range. It’s an exercise in futility, and it will just disappoint you. If you want to look at homes that are out of your price range, check out those that are less than what you plan on spending. That way, you will be happily surprised when you look at the homes on the higher end of your budget. Also, don’t just look at the down payment when considering your budget. Determine the monthly mortgage and find out about the property taxes and insurance to make sure you will be able to afford the home moving forward.Layout
While the individual rooms in a home might be pretty, they should also flow well together. You should have an easy time moving from one room to another. And you should be able to easily move furniture in and out and position it well. Strangely shaped rooms can pose problems.Plumbing, Climate Control, and Electricity
Before investing in a home, you should consider the status of plumbing, climate control, and electricity. Do all of these things work? If not, what needs to be done to get them in working order? Besides making the home uncomfortable, malfunctioning plumbing, climate control, and electricity can be a safety hazard. An inspector will likely give you the low down on all of these issues.Sweat Equity
How much work are you going to have to do to make this home move-in ready? Are you willing to do it all? Aside from the price, you have another cost to consider: your time. This is a subjective matter because some people enjoy working on a home to make it exactly what they want, whereas others want to move in without having to do anything more than painting a few walls (and sometimes not even that). Determine into what category you fall and plan accordingly.Worth
You, of course, need to love the home. But you also need to determine if it is worth the price you are paying, if there’s room to negotiate, and what you would get down the road should you ever sell. You want to make sure that you are getting a good deal and that your home will have value in the future. It requires a little bit of reading into the crystal ball, but that’s all right. You probably will enjoy this kind of fortune telling.
