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CHOOSING YOUR HOME PRIORITIES

By
Real Estate Broker/Owner with Nations Princeton-Nassau Inc. d/b/a NATIONS

When first starting to look for a home many homebuyers have asked me what they should focus on first....every one knows the old saying.."location-location-location"...but there is much more than that.

MY RESPONSE HAS BEEN PRIORITIZED IN 3 KEY AREAS OF IMPORTANCE:

.........LOCATION

........TYPE AND STYLE HOME

........PRICE AND TERMS

Think of it this way....I found a really inexpensive house with great terms....BUT I don't like the area and it's not the type of home i want to live in.....who wants to go home to a house they don't like, in an area they don't want to live in?

Second scenerio....I found this beautiful home but I don't like the location....the daily commute to work is 3 hours.... almost a 130 miles-ONE WAY.....you would be spending so much time on the road commuting you woulld have less time home to enjoy the home....not to mention the price of commuting at $3.00 a gallon for gas?

Third scenerio...I found this beautiful home....in an area I love....BUT it's $200,000 more than I can afford or qualify for in mortgage financing.....that doesn't work either.

1. Focus on an area you like....that readily works for you...including proximity to work

2.See if a home that is the "type and style" home you would like to live in is available in that area.[i.e...ranch,townhouse,colonial,condo,cape cod or split-level]

3.See if the home you want....in the area you want to live....is available...within your "price and terms"

When buyers achieve these three objectives they are pleasantly surprised at how happy they are in their housing choice.

 

Ronda Myers-Waters
Willems Realtors, Principal Broker - Chesterton, IN
This is definitely a great post to give indecisive buyers.  Using these objectives will make both the realtor and the buyer less frustrated in the home searching process.  Thanks for the information.
Apr 01, 2007 04:12 AM
Keith Jeppson - Salt Lake City Real Estate
Everest Realty Group - Holladay, UT
Great point Maurice.  I always try and get buyers to determine an area before I'll get to invloved in their search.
Apr 01, 2007 04:16 AM
Debi Braulik
www.roundrealestate.com - Maple Valley, WA
Selling Maple Valley to Fife WA Homes For Sale
Good points Maurice. I always have my clients focus on price first. In my area simply moving one block (or even one street) in a direction, will price people out of the search. So I encourage price first. That way we all know the correct parameters up front. I learned this lesson with one of my first clients. We found a house they loved, but it was like $50k more than they could afford. And so every other house was "ho hum" compared to their dream house. It was very frustratind and challenging to say the least.
Apr 01, 2007 05:53 AM
Cynthia Sloop
Community Association Manager - Indianapolis, IN
Don't you find sometimes that it's tough to get a buyer to be realistic?  I been with some buyers that want the location, the type of home and also the price.  Often the case being that what they qualify won't by them everything they want.  So then the buyer wants to really under bid the home to a price they can live with.  Don't we need to find out what's most important and then work towards neighborhood and size, style and year of home?
Apr 01, 2007 11:50 AM