• Would you like a swimming pool? Enough that a home without one will not be looked at? • In what areas or neighborhoods might the home be located? Where do you want to live? Where might you have to live for work commute or home price reasons? • What features would make it unique? • What can you afford, and what is out of your budget? Budget usually constrains us most when selecting a home. While some things are necessary for any home (e.g., a good roof and working appliances), others will stay on the list of desires for now (e.g., the sauna).
MAKE A LIST-CHECK IT T -CHECK IT TWICE
You may have an impression of what you want in your new home. Writing that down and having a complete checklist can be helpful. Before starting your hunt for a new home, it’s advisable to list all your basic needs and desires, then prioritize the desires, figuring that all needs must be met in any house under consideration. This will make the search easier and help weed out the ones that don’t meet the basics. Realize, however, that it’s nearly impossible to find a home that meets all requirements. Compromises will be necessary. It’s a good idea to work from outside-the-house factors to inside- the-house. For example, location is perhaps the primary concern and both “needs” and “desires” factors might be involved. A “need” would be “within 25 miles of work.” A desire might be “would like Westwood” (a favored neighborhood), while a need might be “on the west side of the city” (because work, family, friends, and recreation activities are all located there).
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