I remember my first visit to a Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream store when I was a child. There were more flavors than I had ever seen before all at a price my parents were willing to pay! How could I decide which was best? I was used to vanilla, chocolate and strawberry, but now there was mango, peach, caramel and cream, and about 27 other flavors to choose from. What was I to do?
Today’s real estate market is kind of like that. There are so many homes and neighborhoods available at great prices. How can a person decide on what to choose? If you are in the market for a new home, how can you avoid being mesmerized by the 33 flavors of homes available to you? Before you start looking, know what you need! Answer some questions before you go. The first answer you need is to the question of what you can afford. Here are a few others to consider:
- How big of a home do we need?
- Will three bedrooms and two bathrooms work? Or do we need more?
- How many square feet of air-conditioned space do we need?
- What size lot do we need?
- Do we want a large lot?
- Are we interested in a small lot?
- How much yard work am I willing to do?
- Are we interested in a townhome or condominium?
- What schools are nearby?
Once you’ve established your needs and balanced them with your wants, your Realtor® can focus the search on that target. Your Realtor® will preview a selected group of homes before spending your time in actually visiting everything in the mix. You should be able to find your home within 5 to 10 homes that you visit.
Remember Baskin – Robbins? I got sick sampling as many flavors as I could and never bought one scoop. Avoid the stomach-ache in your search by knowing what you want before you go to market.