Anyone who has ever bought a home—or rented one, for that matter—has likely heard this standard piece of advice: Don’t commit to more than you can afford. True, heeding that warning is wise. Just ask anyone who spent too much on a house at the market peak and lost it to foreclosure. Reuters The listings site Trulia reports that 50% of homeowners have regrets about their current home or the process of choosing it. But there are other questions you should be pondering before and during your home search to find a place that’s best for your needs. Housing designer Marianne Cusato wrote a whole book, “The Just Right Home,” about how people can search their souls to find a home that’s a perfect fit. To avoid buyer’s remorse, Cusato said she recommends considering the following: 1. What is the home’s proximity? As the adage has it, the three most important considerations when buying real estate are location, location and location. After all, you can change much about how a home functions and looks after you purchase it, but you can’t change the location of the lot on which it is built. But there’s more to it. “Proximity is where the place is in relation to what you do every day,” Cusato said. “Think about where you have to go to take the kids to school, where you go to work, where you get groceries. What do you want your lifestyle to be in your free time?” 2. What hidden costs are in store? Perhaps your list of must-haves includes a large yard for the kids to play in. But before buying all that land, Cusato said she advises considering whether it’s worth the expense of keeping it up. 3. Ask yourself: Is it what you really want? Or is it what someone is telling you that you want? It’s easy to go with the flow and do what you think most people do: rent after college, then buy a starter house, then a move-up house, then a retirement home in Florida. Instead, focus on meeting your needs, Cusato said. Don’t worry too much right now about the resale value of the home. “Worry about the next owner later. When we actually meet our needs, there are a lot of people who have those similar needs, too,” she said. 4. Ask yourself: Is this what you really need? Take a reality check. Will it be enough space for your family a few years down the line, or will you have to move if your family grows? Can you afford this home now and in the future? Don’t stretch, figuring you’ll have a bigger income down the line, Cusato said. If you get a raise, it should make your budget that much more comfortable. 5. Have you mastered the balancing act? Buying a home is a balancing act among function, cost and delight, Cusato said. A home isn’t sustainable if you can’t easily live in it or can’t make the payments, or if you simply don’t like living there. But “there’s no such thing as the perfect house at the perfect price in the perfect place,” either, Cusato said. You’re best positioned to meet your needs if you can articulate them from the start, she said. That way, you’re not wasting time seeing places that are too expensive or just don’t fit your desires. And don’t rule renting out, either. Amy Hoak is a MarketWatch editor and columnist based in Chicago. Follow her on Twitter @amyhoak. hollisterhomeguide
Posted on: Fri, 05 Jul 2013 22:44:50 +0000
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