When I meet with new buyers for the first time, we discuss price range, type of dwelling, number of rooms, bedrooms, baths, size of property, etc. But the most important question I ask is WHERE do you want to live?
This question encompasses not only city/town but also specific location…. Cul-de-sac, near the highways, wooded land, near schools, work, etc.
I also want to know about your lifestyle. What do you enjoy? The beach, golf, swimming, restaurants, sports, rural or urban, etc.
The lifestyle question is a big one. I want to recommend locations within your budget that I know from living in CT all my life will best suit you.
If you like going into New York City, then you should live in Fairfield County.
If you like Long Island Sound swimming and boating, there are many shoreline towns that would be good candidates.
If you like homes with a lot of property and privacy, I have suggestions for that.
The point is that buyers just shouldn’t just look at houses online and fall in love with them solely based upon the house itself. Just WHERE is the house? Will the location suit you lifestyle? Is it close to family… or not.. Is it a reasonable commuting distance? There are lots of questions to answer.
I put a lot of emphasis on the location because you cannot change it.
You can do most anything to a house once it’s yours, but if you don’t like where the house is, you are stuck.
A while back I wrote a blog post about a young couple I had met at a party. They had just relocated to CT from New Jersey and they told me they loved their house but hated where it was. They fell in love with all the bells and whistles in the house and did not give much thought to its distance to work and its distance from the conveniences they enjoyed and were accustomed to.
So to all my future buyers: I will ask about your lifestyle and interests right up front so I can target areas for you using my lifelong expertise as a CT resident and knowing the details of a wide variety of cities and towns in Fairfield and New Haven Counties in CT and beyond.
Then I will match you up with a town where I know you will be happy with your purchase. Once we zero in on the right location, we can work on the finding the house or condo that checks most or all of your boxes.
And…… if you’re interested in a town that is perhaps in upstate CT or one that is many miles away that I may not have intimate knowledge of…. I can easily refer you to an experienced local agent who will know exactly what you need to know.
Remember ---- Shop the location first and always consider what you need around you to live comfortably and be happy, and you will purchase a home that will truly be the RIGHT one ... with no regrets!
Contact me, Barbara Altieri, for a lifestyle/location consultation today at 203-520-6930.
Want to Buy a House or Condo? Tell Me a Little About Your Lifestyle.
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