Decide Before You Buy

Choosing and buying a home is the second most important decision of your life, second only to choosing your partner!

It is also the most expensive decision.  You may move on over time, up sizing and downsizing as the family or work dictate but it is guaranteed that you will know whether a property is right for you within one minute of seeing it.  Should your initial impression not be favourable, no amount of “oh, we can take down that wall”, “put a new window in there”, “convert the attic” or “built a multi-storey extension out the back” will change your view and ultimately, whatever changes you make, you will still be left with a feeling of disenchantment.

On the other hand, if you fall in love with a property no amount of re-modelling or repair work will put you off.  However, you must ensure that you budget for any work to be completed over and above the purchase price.  Obviously changes can be made in stages but then you must ask yourself “Can I live in a building site for x number of months?”.  Where x is probably twice what the builder quoted; in both time and money!!

Buying on your own is easy; you only have to please yourself.  Buying with your partner is slightly more difficult!  To compromise or not to compromise, that is the question.  Beware of compromise, it could be neither of you are happy.  Better to look until you find something you both want to live in.

It is recommended that it is best to discuss, or if alone decide, on the features that you want before you go anywhere near viewing a prospective new home. It is all too easy to get sucked into the “oh darling we must buy this” and then discover that there is nowhere for the mother-in-law to stay.  On second thoughts maybe that isn’t an issue!

Are aesthetics important? Will it be an apartment or a house?  If it is a house, single storey, two or three storeys?  If it is an apartment will it be on the ground floor or the 10th floor?  Are our cars so valuable that we need a garage?

Is the location important? Once you have decided on a general location, do some basic research.  Make sure that an oil refinery is not being built next door, or, that that a 12 lane highway isn’t going to form the rear boundary. 

Do I enjoy gardening?  No, then a small yard, preferably concrete. There is nothing worse than looking out over a garden that you have neither the time nor inclination to tend. How many living rooms?  How many bedrooms?  This may seem like an obvious question but you would be surprised how easy it is to fall in love with a property, only to discover that the children have to sleep on the veranda!  Is an en-suite a “must have”?  Are two bathrooms sufficient?  (We do have two daughters!)

These are all, and perhaps to some, obvious, questions that need to be asked but more importantly, answered, before you view a prospective new home. While attempting not to state the obvious, sometimes the obvious is overlooked and hopefully this article has helped you down the path to your new home.

It is important that that you think, before you view, before you buy.