7 Tips To Help Choose The Right House For You

Real estate is an art in its own way and buying a perfect house takes so much more than collecting funds or simply visiting the house. Hand-picking the perfect house for you can be a petrifying task with numerous questions running on the back of your mind. It doesn’t matter if you are a first-time buyer or an expert, it is a crucial decision which affects your entire life. Yes, it is very exciting to move to a better or a bigger place, but it can also get a little terrifying at times. It is not just about buying a house which you can financially support, but it also about supporting your emotional needs and thinking about long-term investments. Here is a quick guide, covering some major points about how to choose the right house for you!

1. Fix a Budget

You should always fix a budget before starting your quest for your dream-house.  Several mortgage lending companies are there that allow you to borrow up to four times your gross annual income. Nevertheless, don’t over-budget your expense and take this decision wisely, thinking about every aspect. There is no meaning in living in a house of your dreams which can later turn out to be a financial nightmare for you. The amount of your repayments should not exceed more than 40% of your monthly income and ideally considerable less.

2. Neighborhood

Choosing the right neighborhood can often be the most tedious task. It can be a deal-breaker, as for a lot of people the neighborhood matters as much as the house itself, for one can improvise the property afterwards but can’t move it to a better place. To make the entire process easier, make a list of all the preferred neighborhoods and rank them according to your priorities. Think about the community and how it would affect you in the long run. Ask yourself if you are familiar with the place and will it be accessible to your work? Look out for all the facilities in the respective areas, with the amount of shops, restaurants, and parks. Keep your distance from the noisy or unsafe areas and find out about the crime-rate for a particular locality. But most significantly, look for a place with a scope of growth and better sustainability rate.

3. Home Amenities

Try to make a list of all the basic features and essential amenities you want in your house – from the number of bedrooms, requirement of a yard, kitchen counter, the size of the living room, and then list them according to your priorities.

4. Reach Out!

When you are done with listing out your preferred neighborhoods and essential home amenities, it is time to do the actual work. You should do an extensive research about the property availability in your most preferred areas. Try to make contact with the local real estate agents and read local property listing. Take recommendations from your friends, colleagues and family members, and try to come up with as many alternatives as you can. Don’t hesitate in visiting open houses and never stop looking for a good property. Look for different home types in your preferred localities, even if it doesn’t qualify all your requirements. If you have a realtor, ask them as well to provide you a checklist, as with their experience in the field, they can suggest important points to help you in your home purchase.

5. The Quest!

It is all about the quest of finding that one house which you can make your home, which might get a little tough at times. Lower your expectation about the overall state of the place at the time of your visit. While a move-in ready house is always preferred, you might get a better deal on a place that requires some minor changes or repairs. Nevertheless, try to inspect the house thoroughly and decide if the place matches the your demands and the asking price. Moving walls or adding a segment can cost a lot more than painting or replacing an appliance.

6. Price Check

To ensure that the price offered to you is reasonable, research and compare the prices of a few properties in the same locality. If you like a particular house, visit the nearby places and try to get a taste of the locality. A higher price listing for a particular property can be caused by better transport accessibility, opening of some new restaurants and bars nearby or any other recent development. Also, you should have a separate fund for some unexpected cost that might arise during the time of buying the property, as the final cost is often calculated by adding bank points, taxes and down payment.

7. Making the Final Call 

It is believed that most people decide on the back of their mind in just a few seconds after they walk into a house, if it’s meant for them or not. Every place speaks in itself something unique, and it is a righteous call to believe your heart and to go with your instincts. When you inspect a place, try to imagine yourself living inside the house, as if it is already yours, in order to get a better picture of it. If you are really interested in buying a certain house, you can always ask to spend a night at that place to get a better feel of it. This might help you in reaching a final verdict. When you know that you have found the right place and you are good to make a final offer, asks the seller to consider financial inducement, and you might end up getting a better rate of interest for some initial years.

In the end, try to be flexible. There are chances that you might have to compromise on some or other aspect in order to get the right house. But there is no harm in making a slight change in your priorities if you have found that perfect place for yourself – a place where you can see yourself content. A place to call home!