10 Things To Consider When Purchasing a Home

There are 10 things to consider when purchasing a home.

1. The location. What are the other homes like? Are they well maintained? What’s around the home, is there a school or a church? If the answer is yes, the street may be busy at certain times or different days.
2. How much parking is on the street? And if there is parking on the street is it restricted at certain times of the year?
3. Who are your neighbors? Great neighbors make a street wonderful, bad neighbors can drive you crazy.
4. Inside the home, what are the age of the mechanics, and the appliances? And when are you going to have to replace them? Buying a 15-year-old home could mean you’re in for some hefty maintenance costs. The furnace, the roof, and appliances could all be on their last life if they’re still original.
5. Also, when you’re looking at the exterior of the home, look for shifting. Are the window seals cracking? Are there exterior cracks that are more than just cosmetic? If there are those things, it could be an indication that there are structural issues. Having a reputable person do your home inspection can alleviate these concerns.
6. Buy a home that fits your lifestyle. Even though you love those lush gardens and they look beautiful, if you have a long commute and you work long hours, you may not want to be a slave to those gardens on the weekends.
7. It’s also important to buy a home within your budget. But if you can, you may want to buy something slightly bigger than you need today. You want to buy a home that will meet your needs for at least the next five years. If you’re single, that could mean that your married and have children in five years.
8. It’s also a great idea to visit the street at different times of the day, and during the week as well as the weekends. It may seem wonderful to back on to that schoolyard, but if Friday night it’s the local hangout for teenagers, might not be so great.
9. Google the address, see what comes up. You can even go to a website called housecreep.com, to see if the house has any bad stigmas, like grow-ops or murders.
10. Do a search with the city, to see if there are any outstanding work orders on the home.

Doing these things can help ensure you get a home in an area that you’ll be happy in.