CHAPTER 6 A Guide to Searching for the Right Home
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again — buying a home is a big deal and a major investment, and likely the most sign ifi cant investment you’ll make in your life. You can’t go about the home- search process all willy-nilly; it’s not like there’s an exchange or return policy in place like when you shop for clothing or even furniture and appliances. Once you buy a home, you’re generally in it for the long haul. So, in order to avoid expensive mistakes that could hurt you either now or down the road, you need to be prepared before you go house hunting. In Chapter 1, we discussed a few spe cifi c elements of preparation that need to be addressed before embarking on a proper home search that doesn’t waste your time or energy. To quickly recap, make sure your fin ances are in order and that you’re fin ancially prepared for homeownership; this includes overall home price, down payment, closing costs, monthly mortgage payments, maintenance costs, property taxes, homeowners’ association fees, etc. You’ll also need to be emotionally prepared for homeownership and the potential stress and challenges that can come your way, and to be ready for commitment and taking care of your important investment. Assuming you’ve got the above handled, you have now, based on the two lists you carefully put together (your needs and wants) in Chapter 4, narrowed your criteria considerably, meaning that you can begin searching for homes with a focused intent. Th is will save you a lot of time and energy, both online and driving around to 50
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