Location is Actually Very Important in Home Buying

The process of moving all of your things in and out of the house and acclimating is no small feat. It is not uncommon for a lot of homebuyers, especially several who have purchased a home in the last few years to not love the location that the home is in.

This could be partly due to the fact that home inventory was so low even though historically low mortgage interest rates created the ability to afford a higher-priced home. This led some buyers to quickly purchase a home that looked nice without necessarily researching its location.

Before you purchase a home, make sure that you are thinking about the future and how long you would really like to stay in the location that the home is in. There’s so much involved in making a house a comfortable place that you actually want to call home.

When you purchase a home you’re not only purchasing the property but the atmosphere of its location. It’s very important to do as much research as possible about where you are interested in living before going home shopping. In the past, the home location was mainly a choice that was grounded in where a person worked and how far they were willing to travel every day to get there. With many more people working remotely, this opens up a wider world of location options. This has also led some homebuyers to purchase in more rural areas without necessarily truly thinking through what living a more rural lifestyle would look like.

Some tips for researching a location to move to that you will love

Think about the things you love to do every day

Walk yourself through a week in your life and ask yourself what are activities that you and anyone else living in your home most enjoy. Do you have kids that love to play sports? Do you like to go out to certain activities? You want to make sure these things are readily available and at the level of quality that you expect.

For example, you could move from an area with a very high level of competitive sports that one of your children really enjoys into an area that has sports but the teams are not quite at the competition level that your child has come to really love and thrive in.

Or maybe you are a foodie who loves to experience the highest quality restaurants. Moving into a new area, you may be longing to get back to your favorite taco spot from your previous home.

Ask yourself if you are ready to adapt to a whole new lifestyle

If you were thinking of picking up and moving to a completely different area than what you currently live in ask yourself what your motivation for doing that is. Will there be things that you love about your current everyday life that are comfortable? For example, if you move from a more urban area to a rural area are you ready to get used to a very quiet lifestyle? Will you be willing to drive long distances to get to community activities? Or just to get to daily everyday needs like school or the grocery store?

When you find a home that you are seriously considering, it is a good idea to not just look at the home, but to park the car somewhere and walk the neighborhood. What is it that you love about the neighborhood? Does the atmosphere seem exactly how you hoped? Are you hoping that there will be businesses within walking distance? If so, it is a good idea to try and walk from the home to nearby businesses. When you’re walking through the neighborhood try and imagine yourself living in it. Envision taking a morning walk or taking a trek on a summer day to the store or a nearby restaurant.

Know what the plans are for development

You may really love the neighborhood now, but it could quickly change within just a couple of years depending upon the ability to develop in the area. Maybe you’re hoping to move to very quiet and peaceful surroundings, but there’s a lot of potential and vacant land ready for a real estate developer to come in and put up a large number of homes. It is a good idea to ask about current building permits in the area and what might be coming in over the next 5 to 10 years. In some areas, more development means rising property values which mean higher taxes.

For more information on purchasing a home on the Forgotten Coast please contact us anytime.