Buying a home is a life-changing undertaking. It involves your emotions, intellect, health, stage in life, finances, and influences from family, friends and/or your job. You live daily with the consequences of purchasing real estate. The following ideas inject some objectivity into the very subjective task of purchasing a home.
Weighing Positives and Negatives
Make charts or lists rating important factors in purchasing a home. Agree on topics each spouse or partner thinks is important, but fill out the lists individually before getting together to compare them. All topics should be on the table. After each topic make columns such as "Less important," "Nice, but not crucial," and "Must have."
- Price ranges: List your low, medium, and top limits.
- Type of home: Mobile, duplex, townhouse, condo, separate home
- Square footage desired
- Number of stories
- Number of bedrooms
- Number of bathrooms
- Garage size
- Age of home
- Condition of home: Fixer-upper, good condition, fairly new
- Septic or sewer: Verify condition
- Acceptable commute time
- Distance to schools
- Quality of schools
- Bus service to schools
- Public transportation
- Distance to health care
- Tolerance for neighborhood noise level
- Street lighting
- Yard size
- Yard condition: Poor, okay, quite good
- Quality of home compared to neighbors: Less, the same, better. For resale you don't want the best house in the neighborhood.
- Kitchen condition: Poor, okay for now, quite good
- Flooring: List types of rooms separately, and choose hard surface or carpet for each.
- Lighting and electrical condition: Poor, okay for now, fairly new
- Plumbing fixtures: Poor, okay for now, fairly new
- Energy efficiency: Request previous year's energy bills. Are walls and attic insulated? How well?
- Doors, windows, weatherstripping: Poor, okay, new
- Preferred heating/cooling type
- Fireplace preference: Don't want, want, already exists
- Fireplace type preferred: Traditional wood-burning, efficient wood-burning, pellet, gas
- Existing roof condition: Poor, okay for now, fairly new
- Preferred roof type: Shake, shingle, tile, metal
- Pests, dry rot: Insist on inspection
- Septic or sewer: Verify condition
Think of other topics related to buying a home. Compare your responses and agree on priorities. When you're seriously interested in a home, get estimates for repairs, replacement, or additions. Use these costs as a bargaining point when negotiating your price offer. For contractors who can provide an estimate, fill in contact info on this site. Happy home hunting!
