Assess Your Needs
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Here we are in Step 3 of Buying 101 and we still haven’t looked at a single house. If you’re like most people, you would probably have sat down at your computer and started scouring the internet for houses or have grabbed a home magazine on your way into the Starbucks to start looking at homes. Slow down there, Cowboy… there’s more to it than that!
Sit down and really sort out what it is your looking for. Be honest and don’t hold back. Write them down and rank everything in order of importance. Get to the core of what is most important to you in a home and work out from there.
For instance, a family with two children, one boy and one girl, would probably require at least 3 bedrooms. Losing a bedroom would not be negotiable. At minimum, they may need 2 bathrooms but would prefer at least 2½ -3 baths. That extra bath may be negotiable if they were to find the right home had only 2 bathrooms.
The reason it’s important to know what your non-negotiable and negotiable needs are is so that you can be as specific as possible and understand up front what you are willing to give up and what you are not should you come across the right home. This will also assist your agent better in narrowing down your home search so you only see the homes that are truly suitable, saving you time and energy.
Some items to consider and rank:
- Neighborhood/Area
- Price
- # of bedrooms
- # of bathrooms
- Square Footage (don’t get all wrapped up in literal square footage, a 2000sf with a older, compartmental plan with low ceilings can look smaller than a 1500sf with an more modern, open plan with high ceilings. )
- One-level versus two-level
- 2-car garage
- Bonus Room (could you perhaps settle for a 3 bedroom with a bonus room or do you strictly need a 4 bedroom house?)
- Condition of home (are you up to remodeling and updating? It’s not for everyone.)
- Age of home
- Floorplan
- Maintenance (Are you up for maintaining that wood siding? the large grassy lawn?)
- Proximity (Do you want or need to be close to work? close to schools? close to medical facilities? close to recreation/shopping/other friends and family?)
- Lot Size
- Privacy
- Amenities
- Storage (How much stuff do you have and do you need special room for it? Might I suggest a garage sale?)
