Shopping for a new home can be an overwhelming experience at times. With such a significant long-term commitment, people sometime feel left out in the cold as they don’t know if they have made the right choice in property.
Well don’t worry we are here to help you navigate through it, and help you know when you’ve found the perfect match for you and what you need to consider when evaluating the most important elements of your home.
1. Love at first sight!
When you first look at pictures for the whole, it’s important that you love the way the house looks from the outside. Whilst the inside of the house is of course important, sometimes the outside of the house is overlooked as an important factor.
When setting eyes on a property for the first time you can tell a lot about that property. What condition is it in? Does the property look in-tact? Any repairs to the roof? Most importantly, do you love the look of it? When evaluating a property, if you love the way it looks from the outside and functionally it has all you are looking for, then you are off to a great start in picking your home.
2. The area fits perfectly
We’ve all pictured our perfect home in our mind, but what we don’t always think about is the area in which our perfect home resides which is often one of the most important factors.
Are you looking for a home close to school for your children, after a bustling city life close to the center, or even somewhere where the supermarket isn’t too far away? All these factors play a part as you want to give yourself the easiest setting and the life that you want. So, make sure to narrow down your search, firstly to the area you want, then the home you want. If the home you’re eyeing fits these criteria, you’re one step closer to determining whether this home is a fit for you.
3. Feels like home straight away
Home is where the heart is, there’s no place like home, love begins at home. Everyone has heard some of these sayings and they are sayings for a reason. No matter where the home, the size, the layout, the setting, it needs to feel like HOME. There is no tangible way in which you can define what makes a home a home, it is just a feeling you get, and when you know, you know. You get a feeling in the pit of your stomach that this home could be your castle and you could just relax and build your entire life here. If you’re buying a home, it is essential that you can picture it feeling like home.
4. Just the right size
When looking for your perfect home, it is also important that no matter how beautiful it looks or the right area, that it functionally fits your needs too. If you are looking for a 4-bedroom house but find a beautiful 3-bedroom house and you fall in love quickly and rush to a purchase, you can be left with buyers’ remorse. Something that you do not want to have as it can quickly lead you to being unhappy and uncomfortable in your home. Set a target of size and bedrooms and stick to it, no matter what.
5. Bedroom fit for a king!
A person’s bedrooms is where they will spend on average, 1/3 of their entire lives as its where we go to completely relax and sleep as well as get ready for the next day. So, it’s extremely important that the bedroom layout satisfies what you need. Is it important to have big windows for natural light, no windows at all so it can be pitch black for sleep, or even big changing area where you can try on all your days outfit choices? It’s critical that the bedroom is right for what you are looking for so that you feel relaxed enough to drift off every night.
6. Perfect Garden
The garden is an area that comes down to complete personal preference. If you need a huge garden for your family to play sports on, or you might prefer to keep a lawn small so that there is little maintenance for you. Keep in mind that you can change the garden substantially according to your taste. If you are looking for a pool or hot tub, remember that whilst these are attractive and useful features for some, others see them as potential problems in the long run. So, keep in mind whatever you are implementing now needs to age well.
So, when considering what sort of garden would be good for you, make sure you think about size, maintenance requirements, what features you’d like in both the front and back.
7. The Bathroom
It’s very common for buyers to feel uncomfortable spending time in a bathroom of a home they are looking to purchase that they might not even enter. They simply open the door and have a quick look in for a few moments. If this is your ideal home, you should feel comfortable to be able to walk in, have a look around and enjoy the space and even open the cupboards or shower doors to see if it’s to your liking. Your bathrooms should feel comfy from the first moment.
8. You begin to rearrange the furniture
It’s a very positive sign that you’ve found a perfect match for your home is when you start re-arranging the furniture around and picturing how you would set up the space. You can envision where the Christmas tree would go and where you would set up the TV for those cold wet winter days where you are curled up on the couch. If you start to picture all the above, then its highly likely that you’ve found your perfect home!
9. You want to tell your friends all about it
One of the most exciting times in a person’s life is when they are searching for their perfect home. So, if you find yourself speaking about a specific home to your family, friends or even co-workers then you may have found your ideal home. Many first-time buyers are excited to share pictures and videos of their potential home over the internet, even if the home is not theirs yet. These are very strong signals that the home could potentially be yours.
10. There is a “way out”
Although you might be hopelessly in love with your potential new purchase and you never want to imagine leaving, it’s important in the long-term to have an exit strategy in place. Will it be easy to sell the property should you need to? Could you maybe segment the house and rent one of the rooms? It’s important to think about these small questions for the future, as it will give you more peace of mind when moving forward to purchasing your perfect new home.