Achieving such a tremendous and important milestone is something to be proud of. If you are at that point where you are browsing for your future dream home, then congratulations are in order. While you are driving or browsing around and trimming down your list, we would like to offer a bit of useful info to keep in mind. Simple tips and tricks can help you to nail down the desired solution while keeping within the budget, and improving the overall experience.
There is no denying that there is a great deal of stress involved in the selection process, but that is nothing compared to finding out you made the wrong choice. Imagine buying what you thought was the perfect haven, only to be blindsided by several unexpected problems. To avoid doing so, here is what you should look for during the house selection process:
1. Find a trustworthy sales agent.
If someone that you know or a close relative was in the process of buying a home, great! Ask them out for a cup of coffee and talk about the experience and for more contact info about their agent. Have a knowledgeable person who is working in your favor can mean all the difference. He can save you valuable time and money because, besides being contractually obligated, he does this for a living and has access to a wider range of information about the market. This means he can show you even better offers according to your wishes.
2. Trust your gut instinct.
There is a reason things like gut instinct happen. Let’s say that you find your dream haven or have narrowed it down to two choices. You are in front of the ideal future house, but something is off. You can’t quite put your finger on it, but you can sense something is off here. That’s when you should pay attention to your surroundings. Look at your future neighborhood. Is it close to a train station or a train track? How close is it to schools (if you are planning for a family)? What do the other houses look like? Are there major intersections nearby or a road bustling with traffic? Things like these don’t seem like a dealbreaker at the start, but nagging little things can add up over time, and you should keep an eye out.
3. Pay attention to the woodworks.
Wooden stairs, doors, windows, or furniture bring a level of class to your future home. They do look amazing, and with a bit of maintenance, will last you a lifetime. What you don’t want is to for it all to fall apart. Termites and other pests can chew through your furniture and destroy them without you noticing. And while it can be easy to spot them in some cases, sometimes they can hide pretty well inside walls or hard-to-reach places, build their nests and eat your woodworks for dessert. Scheduling a termite inspection can make all the difference and buy you peace of mind. You want your home and furniture to last, and pests should not put holes in that dream.
4. Don’t rush it.
Desperation can be smelled, especially by experienced sellers. Don’t break your budget or back with overestimated offers. If your agent, common sense, and friends tell you it’s not worth it, then maybe you should take a second look at the house you are so dead set to buy and reconsider. Houses don’t have legs, and they can’t run from you, now is there an endless stream of cash-ready buyers lining up behind you.
Take your time, analyze the situation and your budget. Weight the pros and cons, and always have in mind that you will be doing some redecorating. House exterior is almost always an item, with a bit of refurbishing. One more thing to keep in mind here for the future is that you don’t have to remodel everything the moment you move in. Some things need immediate attention, some you can postpone.
With all of the above, your budget expands and gets less stressed during this period. Stress is commonly associated with house buying, but it doesn’t have to be this way. A cool head filled with information can land you a dream house in no time. And then all that is left is to sit back and relax, enjoy a refreshing drink inside your dream come true.