Location, Location, Location!!

You may have heard this title before as an age-old expression for quality real estate. Buying a home is likely the largest purchasing decision of your life. It’s stressful, exciting, and yes, it’s supposed to be fun. When it comes time to buy your first, second, or ~insert number~ home, you want to be sure you’re judging more than just the structure. Today’s newsletter will review 7 crucial aspects a homebuyer should consider when purchasing a new home. Enjoy!

7 Crucial Tips for Prospective Homebuyers

Check the School Districts

The area you buy your home is extremely important. When I say area, I’m talking about the portion that sits outside your parcel of land. If you’re young, one often overlooked aspect are school districts. Having kids may not yet be top of mind, but when that day comes, you’ll want to ensure your children have the ability to receive a quality education. One website you can use to check school districts is Niche: K-12 School Ratings and Statistics

Crime & Police Reports

One topic that real estate professionals won’t speak on are crime rates. It’s taboo in the real estate world which leaves consumers to fend for themselves when determining if they feel safe in a certain area. Checking with online crime maps, your local police station, and traffic reports is another huge tip you need to factor into when searching for a home.

Work, Traffic, & Distances

How far away is your job? Are you going to be commuting every day? How bad is traffic at rush hour? If you’re dead set on a certain area, drive home from work to your potentially new neighborhood and see how traffic moves. Is it something you are willing to deal with every day? Consider the mileage on your vehicles if your commute is significant.

Get a Home Inspection

When you make an offer on a home, you can make the contract contingent on a quality home inspection. Even if the market is tough for buyers, like it has been in recent years, you are still allowed to get a home inspection even if you waive that contingency. Whether the home is a new construction, 100 years old, or the seller won’t accept an offer with contingencies, GET A HOME INSPECTION.

For a couple of hundred bucks, it is worth the peace of mind before you move in. If you’re using a Realtor, ask their suggestion for an honest and ethical home inspector. They will know who to call to ensure the home is up to par.

Don’t Count on Selling, Refinancing, or Moving

Life is hard. Plans fall through and choices made years ago often turn out differently than we could have ever imagined. Homeowners often get caught up in selling or moving in X number of years only for their life plan to get thrown off for a multitude of reasons.

When you go to buy a house, don’t plan to live there for a set amount of time. The same holds true for your interest rate when getting a mortgage. There is a quote that says, “date the rate and marry the home”. It’s decent general advice, but just because someone tells you rates will drop this year doesn’t make it true. If you overextend your budget on day one just to buy the house, don’t fool yourself into thinking the payment will go down just because it “looks that way”. The truth is you never know when rates will drop, and you may be stuck with your payment for years to come.

Be Patient and Don’t Settle

I worked as a realtor for a handful of years. I had a woman who lost out on over a dozen homes because she needed a mortgage in a town that was flush with cash buyers. Over time she became discouraged and wanted to buy a home just to get it over with. I did my best to bring up her spirits saying she is moving to the place she loves and knew as a kid. In a tough market, buyers will get discouraged and settle for whatever they can get. Stay true to your standards and keep offering until the right one comes your way.

Create a List of Must-Haves and Dealbreakers

Oftentimes prospective buyers have no clue what they want. They may scroll through beautiful homes on Zillow, but they never put much thought into what they need in their home. Take some serious time before viewing homes in person and create a list of 3-5 must haves and deal breakers. This will get your creative juices flowing opening the door to important aspects in your future home. Remember, without a plan you’ll be aimlessly scrolling listings and open houses never understanding why you can’t find “the one”.

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