What
Does Your Future Lifestyle Hold?
How many bedrooms will you one day require? Your preschoolers
will be teens some day. Are you planning to stay in your
home that long? Perhaps your teens are ready to move out
on their own. What will you do with all the extra space?
When you're thinking about accommodating your family's needs,
think of things like parking. How many cars will require
space? You'll also want to consider proximity to -- and
the reputation of -- schools in the area.
How
is your work situation? These days people tend to change
jobs frequently, and sometimes the best way to get a promotion
is to move to another company. If you might be transferred,
will you be able to sell quickly? Keeping work in mind,
how long do you want to spend commuting? Do you drive or
rely on public transportation?
As
you can see, you will want to give some thought to how long
you intend to stay in your home. It may be difficult to
answer before you've even found your home, but if it's your
first home give some thought to the resale value when it
is time to upgrade. On the other hand, if you're planning
to stay in your home for a long time, consider your future
needs and purchase a home that will accommodate them.
Do
You Live a Maintenance-Averse Lifestyle?
When
you're looking at homes, consider the advantages of brick
over a wood frame house when it comes to painting. Take
a look at the garden. If you don't enjoy cutting grass,
then an expansive lawn may not fit into your lifestyle.
You can also evaluate the possibility of future maintenance
and repairs based on the age of the house. If you don't
like the idea of major renovations, a newer home may be
your best option.
Is
Your Lifestyle More Geared to a Fixer-Upper Fantasy?
Many first time buyers have them. It goes something like
this: You find a big home in a great neighbourhood that's
well below what you'd expect to pay for that house in that
neighbourhood. You see a couple of coats of paint, new broadloom,
a few repairs and voilà, a dream home without the
nightmare price.
Before
you jump headlong into this 'once-in-a-lifetime opportunity'
consider how you'll do all of the work. Will it be weeknights
after a long day at the office, or will you hire someone?
Are you ready to live in a dusty mess as you renovate? Do
a realistic assessment of the job at hand and be sure to
have the house inspected. The last thing you want is a bargain
home that turns into a money pit. You're far better to find
a house that costs a little more each month but doesn't
need much work than to buy a fixer-upper that eats up hundreds
of dollars each month. For example, lets say you could buy
a really nice house with minimal work required for $10,000
more than a fixer upper. At today's mortgage rates, assuming
you could stay within your monthly budget, that really nice
home would cost you only about $65 per month more than the
fixer-upper. If you buy the fixer-upper, you'll be spending
a lot more than $65 each month to whip it into shape, as
well as the strain your family will go through living in
an unfinished home. |