Prioritizing Your Home Search for Buying Success

“You can’t always get what you want…..but if you try sometime, you just might find….. you get what you need.”   Rolling Stones.

I work with a lot of first time home buyers.  I love the reward of having someone realize their dream of home ownership.  I also enjoy explaining the home buying process  because it involves so much more minutia than people anticipate.   My back ground in mortgage lending taught me to be detail oriented, and that helps me help my customers sort through their own details in the home buying process. 

Many potential buyers are not aware of the right questions to ask during a home search, or they may forget because the list is long and personal to each buyer.   This is completely normal.  

To begin, buyers needs to come up with a realistic wish list of what they seek in a home.  Your agent will work with you on this list to help narrow down the home search within a few key categories, as follows: 

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1.      Location. 
Think about 1) where you want to live, visually;  2) where you would want your children to attend school;  3) how far you are willing to commute to work  and;  4) how available you would like shopping to be.  Do you need school busing or public transportation?  Prioritize what’s most important in this list.    Visit town websites to get a feel for the community.  Take a drive.  Ask your agent for school information.   If commuting is key;  do a ‘dry run’ during rush hour before you settle on a town.     A Sunday drive to look at homes is not a Monday morning commute.

2.      Space and amenities.   I ask my customers what is most important to them in a home and the answers vary as the dialogue progresses.    Your agent will help make a list of what you want and then prioritize what matters most.    For example, I discovered in conversation with a customer that her sons visited often for dinner.   For her, having a place for a dining room table was on the top of her list.   She also needed a double width area to park cars.   In fact, the ability to park was more important than having a garage.   Our discussion helped narrow down the home search, which saved us time.   In fact, in this case, my customers bought the first home I showed them because it fit their criteria and they were ready to buy.

3.      Condition.   Do you want a home in move in condition, or are you willing to live with an outdated home and work on it over time?   There are loans available that allow a buyer to finance the purchase price plus the cost of improvements in one mortgage.    You may have more options than you think. 

4.      Style.   Does it matter if the master bedroom is on a different floor than the other bedrooms?   Do you prefer one-floor living?   Knowing this upfront will help your agent select appropriate homes for you.

Be realistic.    Unless you have unlimited resources, you will need to prioritize your wish list.  Your agent’s job is to provide you with a reality check of what you can afford versus what you desire in a home.    I use a questionnaire to help my customers prioritize their housing needs so that I can make the home search as efficient as possible.   Also, with today’s technology, I can videotape the inside of a home with my phone or IPAD and send it to my customer in advance of a showing.   This minimizes their need to ‘drop everything’ because I can literally bring the house to them.  In fact, I have had buyers make offers on homes based upon what I could show them using my IPAD.   The bottom line is, a good agent will conduct a home search in a manner that works for you, so communication is important.  

Financing.    Unless you are paying cash, this is actually the first and most important step any home buyer should take before house hunting.   Rely on your agent for a few referrals for mortgage lenders. You must be pre-qualified for a loan before you can make an offer on a home.  Therefore, you need to be pre-qualified for financing before you begin your home search.  At the same time, you don't want to visit several lenders who will pull your credit without having a sense of the type of property you seek.   What you can afford is largely determined by the real estate taxes you will pay, so start with your agent and allow him or her to guide the process.

The home buying process is often emotional and can be stressful, so rely on your agent take the stress off of you.   Be honest about the things you like and don't like.    Be realistic about what you can buy based upon what you can afford.   Let your agent know how you prefer to communicate (email or phone) and your availability to see homes.    Finding your first home does not have to be a strenuous process with the right agent and an organized home search.

Annmarie Cristiani

Sales Associate

REMAX Traditions Real Estate

201-815-7861 cell

www.househunter99.com