Home is the most important asset a buyer will ever make. The best home for you is much more than just a home: it will be a place of peace, satisfaction, and stability. And this is why the decision is such an essential one. It should not become a reason for repentance for the rest of your lifetime. It shouldn’t act as a white elephant.
To ensure a home forever remains your haven of security, the purchase process needs to be careful. Here is a checklist you need to have before embarking on the house-hunting adventure of your life.
1. The location of the house
This is the first checkbox on our list because where you wish to live is of prime importance. Most people want to live near their workplaces or places they need to visit frequently (shopping malls, places of worship, retail shops, or friends and family). Others may want to live near main roads, or highways, and metro stations so that they can avoid an unnecessary commute. At the end of the day, this decision is up to you. You will need to consider your priorities while you’re looking – is it being close to relatives or do you need to be very close to your office?
2. The size of the house
When a group of friends discuss their dream home, we notice how differently we think about how big or small we need our home to be. One might need a castle, and someone else might require a cozy little nook. Issues that come up are the size of the house, the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, the size of the living room, or the shape of balconies. You may want to think about the size of your family, your room requirements, liking of room configuration, among other considerations.
3. The Kitchen Layout
The kitchen area is the heart of a home. It becomes a center of food, fun and entertainment for friends and family. We associate the kitchen with comfort and togetherness. Keeping this in mind, kitchen layout and sizes can be explored and discussed. A moderate-sized kitchen would be adequate for a small family, while a larger family might require a bigger modular kitchen along with a capacious storage area.
4. The price of the home
Waiting for the house hunt to begin before deciding your budget is a mistake. We should have a ballpark figure in our minds when we begin searching for a new home. We can save ourselves a lot of anxiety and disappointment if he/she is clear about the price range of the houses they have in mind and whether he/she would be able to afford it or not. You could also get a loan pre-approved if there is a lack of financial resources because buying a single family home is a sizeable investment.
5. Maintenance Mode
Unless you are investing in a yet-to-be-built property, a home buyer should make a list of all the things in the house that will require maintenance and upkeep. This is primarily important for old houses, semi-furnished apartments, or unfurnished apartments. A lot of costs will have to be earmarked for repairs, maintenance, and even replacing certain things like windows, doors, and bathrooms.
Having said this, buying a home is an intensely personal process. Even though this list is meant to be a helpful menu of things home buyers should keep in mind, it should be tweaked in accordance with the buyer’s preferences. As long as most of these items have been considered and discussed, leaving one out will not affect the whole process.
Wishing you a tremendously fulfilling house-hunting!
