If you’re looking to buy a home this holiday season, it’s best to know what you want before you start looking. Knowing what you want beforehand will save you time and effort, but also conveying your ideal home to your real estate agent will help him or her better serve you. Much like when you were a kid, you would create a list of items you desired for Christmas. This list is an adult version of your Christmas list, but instead of mailing it to Santa, you’ll be giving it to your real estate agent. Here are a few things to keep in mind when you begin your house hunting journey.
Location
Location is probably the single most important factor when deciding on the perfect house for yourself. Once you buy a home, the location is something you can’t change. You can live with most imperfections, you can even change them, but the location is permanent. When considering location keep in mind the proximity to your work. Also the charm of the neighborhood, along with the neighbors that live there. Also to take into consideration is the ease of access to thoroughfares and other public transportation, access to parks, pets, traffic, nearby schools, and shopping.
Indoor – outdoor flow
When living in a temperament climate such as ours, it’s important to have a home in which you can easily access the outdoors from indoors. French doors and sliding glass doors are perfect for this as they can also act as windows, letting in additional lighting. In the summer, there is nothing nicer than leaving your doors open, letting the fresh breeze of the season into your home.
Curb appeal
Curb appeal is also another important factor in deciding on a home. The exterior of your home is the first thing people are going to see when they come to your home. Make sure your home reflects your personality. If you lead a laid-back lifestyle, a Victorian or Tudor style home is probably not the right fit for you. A brick style home is easier to maintain, but are not as common here in Southern California due to earthquakes. Also, is the landscaping attractive or to your liking? Although landscaping can be easily changed, you don’t want to buy a home where you’re going to have to do a major outdoor remodel.
Size and floor plan
Is your dream home practical for you? Your dream home may be a four bedroom, four bath house, but unless you’re planning on having a family anytime soon, having that many extra bedrooms are a bit unnecessary. Remember that all that extra room is just more money spent on heating, furnishing, decorating, and taxes. Also, make sure the floor plan is to your liking. Some homes have odd layouts, which you may find fun and quirky at first, but over time can become a bit of a nuisance. Conversely, a home layout that seems untraditional can, over time, grow on you. Laying out the positives and negatives of a home’s floor plan can help you decide if the home is right.
Decide what are your deal breakers
No home is perfect and that is ok, it’s the imperfections that make your home unique. Before looking at homes, know what exactly your deal breakers are. Also, when you begin looking at homes, make sure your deal breakers are not irrational. Nitpicking each home you see will get you nowhere. Unless the home has severe imperfections that will be costly, don’t write it off quite yet. Remember to keep your options open, you may never know which house you’ll fall in love with.
