Don't Let Today's Dream Home Become Tomorrow's Nightmare!
It's LOVELY! It's got EVERYTHING you want in a home, but is it REALLY the right choice? A home purchase is obviously a huge financial AND emotional investment, and making sure you get it right is critical. What are some of the key factors to consider to help make sure today's dream doesn't become a future nightmare?
- How long are you planning to stay in the home? And understand life changes and often with little notice. Health, job, relationships, all in a blink. Ownership of a few years or a decade? The shorter your time frame the less "different" you may want your home to be from the average home.
- Are you pushing your financial envelope to the limits? Just because the mortgage specialist says you can afford $xxx,xxx doesn't mean you should use every dollar of that allowance. Factor in the unexpected costs of home ownership to make sure you have a comfortable cushion. Plumbing breaks, appliances quit, roofs need reshingled. Will you be able to have savings, or scraping by paycheck to paycheck? And don't forget the HOA fees!
- Schools. We can't stress enough that schools drive home values. Whether you have kids or not, or plan to use private or home schooling, bad schools drive home values down. While great schools can't stop an overall area slide in values, they certainly lessen the impact.
- The home itself? Is it one of those truly unique homes? That can be a double edged sword when it's time to sell. Unique homes have a smaller pool of available buyers. Does the home have a love/hate feature? Pools and ponds for instance.
- Location. Perhaps the builder is offering a great deal on the lot to finish out a development...but stop and think, why has no one else bought that lot already? Is it an odd corner lot, high power lines or retention pond behind it, or some other potential negative? If you get a good deal to buy it, chances are you'll have to give the next buyer a good deal too! How do you feel about firework booms? Think about that when choosing how close to live to Kings Island!
- HOAs. The home may be perfect, but if the rules and regs for the communities make you feel like you're in a straitjacket, can you be happy? Rules regarding Fido and Scratchy? Got a big RV and the rules say it can't be parked in the driveway or on the street? Your kid has a garage band and the only time they're allowed to play is from 1 to 1:05 p.m. on Saturday afternoon? Wait a sec....maybe that's a GOOD thing!
Obviously we could take this list of possible considerations MUCH further! As your Warren County buyer's agents, we've got YOUR best interest in mind, and the ability to resale that home will just one area we'll be providing advice. The decision is ultimately yours, but we don't want you to be surprised later! After all, when you ARE ready to sell some years later, we want to be your listing agent!
Serving Warren County's residential real estate needs,
Liz and Bill aka BLiz
Comments(16)