Evaluating Your Housing Needs

Things to Consider Before Shopping for Your Home

You've made the decision to buy a home. Before jumping in the car to go house shopping it's best to put some thought into what you're looking for. There are so many different types of homes on the market that you can get easily overwhelmed if you don't get your ducks in line.

Start off with a list of priorities you definitely want in a home. Next, rank them by importance. Keep this list handy and use it as a guideline when looking at homes. Make sure the houses you look at satisfy the items highest on the list.

One of the most important decisions should be the location, especially if you anticipate reselling the home within a few years. Consider the distance to your place of employment, shopping and public transportation. If you have children you will want to check the location and academic quality of schools. The surroundings should fit your lifestyle.

Other home features to decide on is how many bedrooms and bathrooms are needed. Full basements offer the opportunity for a recreation room, family room, hobbies, workshops or storage area for seasonal clothing and household decorations or outdoor summer furniture. If you are 2 car household and the home you fall in love with has only 1 car garage is there room to add a garage or carport. Consider the size of a back yard needed for children or pets and expansion possibilities for future needs.

You might want to think about the style of a home. Do you want or need a single floor or two floor home? Consider the following home styles:

• Ranch: A single floor residence is desirable to all ages for many reasons. Seniors and empty nestors who are downsizing like the convenience and workability of everything on one floor. As we get older we start to pamper ourselves and facing up and down stairways isn't feasible for health or disability issues. A ranch style is great for full time working professionals. It eliminates the time spent on dragging the vacuum, cleaning products, laundry, etc. up and downstairs leaving more time for relaxation after a weeks work schedule. A ranch home is compatible for the handicap. However, don't rule out the other styles if an elevator or chair lift can be installed.
• Colonial: This style home is very popular with young families or couples starting out with considering their future needs.. It's a 2 story home with the majority of bedrooms and main bath(s) on the second story. The main floor generally consists of a kitchen, dining room, living/Great room, bathroom and generally there is a 4th bedroom/den, office, child's playroom, etc. Basements come finished or unfinished.
• Raised Ranch: This style home is a 2 level entryway and no basement. Upper level is generally an open floor plan of the kitchen, dining area and living room, bedrooms and main bath. Lower level usually consists of a family room, bedroom and 1/2bath with laundry area and entrance to the garage. If a family room is your favorite hangout with the kitchen upstairs it may be a problem with having to climb stairs for snacks or entertaining. Storage areas are limited. This style is easily converted to a small or in-law set-up.
• Cape Cod: Is basically the same as a Colonial except that the second floor ceilings are slanted at the top. Therefore, furniture height is important. Some capes have been updated with dormers to create full wall height. The main bath could be on the first or second floor. Basements come finished or unfinished.
• Two-Story: Offers double living space on the same size land. Features can vary from home to home. Will you need a bathroom and bedroom/spare room on the first floor if someone is ill, has recent surgery or became unable to climb the stairs? Older homes tend to have smaller sized bedrooms. With a lot of king & queen size bedroom sets, will your furniture fit? Two story homes do have the advantage of providing you with some exercise going up and down the stairs.

There are other styles of homes such as Victorian, bungalow, farmhouse, contemporary, log cabin, custom, arts and crafts, condo, townhouse and chalet which individually can offer a different variety of features, yet still be called by the same type of home.

There are some many things to contemplate when shopping for a home. Make the most of your time by planning ahead. But most of all enjoy the process and savor the reward.

Copyright© 2008 FSBO Publishing Group, Inc., All rights reserved. This material may not be republished without written permission.