What to Look For in a Home Today

Published by julia | Filed under Communities, Market Trends, Miscellaneous, Real Estate

The housing market has so many homes for sale; it can be difficult to find the right home.  There are some great homes on the market, but which one is great for you?  Here is some advice for finding the best home for you in this market full of great house sales.

1.  Write down everything you want in a house.  Do you want a large kitchen?  Do you want a basement, what about an attic?  Do you need a backyard with a fence or would you prefer a backyard without a fence?  What about a driveway and a garage?

2.  Write down what you don’t want in a house.  Do you really not want the concrete slab of a porch?  Do you not want wall to wall carpeting or do you not want hard wood floors?  What about the number of bedrooms, are you unwilling to go below a certain number of bedrooms?

3.  Write down what style of home you want.  This may seem like a non-point, but there are many people who are partial to a particular style of home and may try to press that style on you.  If you want a house with more than one level, write it.  If you want a ranch house write it, if you really don’t care, write that too.

4.  Figure out where you want to live.  The location is the one thing that you cannot change about a house once you buy it.  You can add rooms to a house; you can add a fence or remove a fence.  You can open up the kitchen or add a new bathroom.  There is so much you can do to a house.  What you cannot do is move the house.

5.  Start looking in the newspaper and online for homes in that area.  These homes may or may not be what you are looking for, but by actively looking at homes, you are moving in the right direction.

6.  While you are looking for homes, get a pre-approval for a mortgage.  Today’s housing is geared towards the buyers, but since the lending facilities are being burnt on foreclosures, they are shier about lending money.  Having a pre-approval can ensure that you have the money when you find the house you want.

7.  Do not ignore the foreclosed homes.  Foreclosed homes are homes that the original owners simply could not afford to keep.  There is typically nothing wrong with the home, but at other times, there can be a lot wrong with the home.  It is important to have any foreclosed home inspected before purchase.