House hunting can be enjoyable but becomes overwhelming pretty quickly. After looking at many different houses, they can all start to look the same. It’s hard to remember what homes had what features. In order to make a right decision on which home to make an offer on, you’ll need to remember the details of each house. Read on for tips to help you house hunt like a pro.
Keep Track Of The Homes You Have Looked At
Whether you’re doing simple online searches or touring open houses, it’s easy for your mind to get jumbled as to what you have seen. It’s a good idea to keep a record of homes with their addresses as to where they are located, the color of the house, and the desirable features contained within the home. This way, you can have an overall picture of what you want.
Know What Features Are Important
You should make a list of everything you’re looking for in a home before you even start searching. Include things like:
- The price range
- How big of a house you’re looking for
- How many bedrooms
- How many bathrooms
- Additional features like walk-in closets
- Eat-in kitchen or dining room
- What type of home you’re looking for
- How many stories you want the home to be
You can then branch off from the essentials on the list adding other desirable features in a property like a pool, a jacuzzi, a large backyard, or a fireplace. Then, you should make a list prioritizing what is the most important to you in your home search. Things like the number of bedrooms and the size of the home will be a higher priority than a jacuzzi tub.
Look At Your Commute
One of the most significant factors in finding a home is how far it is from your workplace. The closer you are to work, the less stressful your life will be. If you take the train or a bus to work, it may be easier to live close to a station or stop. On the flip side, to be closer to work what are you sacrificing? Are you close to schools, parks, stores, and other regularly visited spots? See what locations suit your lifestyle.
Review What You’ve Looked At
Once you have done your research and decided what you need and want, it’s time to make comparisons. Look at the prices of each home and see what they have to offer for the money. Once you decide the price and amenities are on par with your original wishlist, the house is a good candidate to put an offer on.
16 Morrill Dr, Wayland, MA 01778
Single-Family
$872,500
Price
Virtual Tour
7 Concord St, Natick, MA 01760
Rental
$2,350
Price
In the real estate market, the value of your home depends on several other factors, other than the price you paid for it. For one, the price buyers are willing to pay for it at any particular time may depend on prevailing economic conditions, mortgage rates, the season of the year and a host of other things affect the value of your house.
- The price of other homes in the neighborhood is way lower than yours. Buyers usually know what the general sale price of houses in a location is, and when they notice yours is way over that, they get the impression that you are unreasonable and might not even bother to see the property. Real estate agents often go through a comprehensive process before advising clients on an appropriate price range so don't unduly pressure your agent into raising his estimate.
- You haven't had many showings or offers made since the listing. If you haven’t received any offers after about 3 or 4 months and no prospective buyers have come to view the property, there might be a couple of reasons responsible. Ask yourself if your agent is trying his best to promote your listing and if other houses in your neighborhood are moving. If both answers are yes, then it might be a likely fact that your home is overpriced.
- Other similar houses in the community are selling, and yours is not. There are different reasons why this may be so, are those houses newer, larger or have better features? And sometimes the reason theirs is selling, and yours is not is because it is overpriced.
- Expired listings. Real estate agents often state the listing period on the listing agreement, and if this period expires without being sold, you might want to review your price downwards as it might be an indicator that your house is priced too high. It doesn't mean there are no buyers; it just means the buyers who came were not willing to offer that much.
It's critical that you ask for feedback from your agent as to why your house did not sell. That gives you the opportunity to correct things that certain buyers didn't like.