What To Look For In Your First Home

Good Layout

With the exception of location, the floor plan of a home is one of the most expensive things to change. A livable layout that makes sense for your lifestyle is going to be one of the most important aspects of your home search, but it’s often overlooked in favor of easily-changed aesthetic factors. If you find a home you really love, imagine going about your daily routine. When you come home from work, do you want to have a foyer with a closet for your purse or a mudroom where you can keep shoes? When you’re doing laundry, wouldn’t it be easier to have the washer and dryer upstairs near the bedrooms, so you don’t have to carry it up and down steps? Thinking critically while you’re still in the searching phase will save you a lot of heartache (and money!) in the long run.

Sound Major Systems

This is where a home inspector will be able to help you out! While you’re viewing homes, you can certainly note down the serial numbers of the appliances and look up their ages but an inspector will be able to better evaluate what condition they’re in and their life expectancy. Try to make sure the appliances are either still within their warranty or have a good couple years left in them! After putting down that big down payment, the last thing you’re going to want to shell out for is a new water heater or dishwasher. Ask about the efficiency of the HVAC system and make sure that the home is well-insulated so that you’re not going to be paying exorbitant heating and cooling bills!

Home Resale Potential

We get it! You’re excited about moving in and selling the place is the last thing on your mind. But it’s smart to be cold and calculating when you’re making such a large investment. This is where your agent can help out—look at the comps for the surrounding neighborhood. Even if you really remodeled and updated your potential home, is there a max upper limit on how much homes in that area sell for? What’s the average price per square foot, and would a different area have a better return on investment? Analyzing all these factors in an unemotional, quantitative way before you make an offer could help you protect your investment in the long run!

If you think you’re ready to start looking or you’d like some helping narrowing down your choices, drop one of our fabulous agents a line! We’d be happy to help, even if you’re not quite ready to buy–no pressure!