So now what? You have been looking at potential new homes for what seems to be forever, you have seen so many that you cannot keep them straight in your head, you have wandered through homes that you REALLY don’t like, homes that you like but are missing that pull that lets you think of it as your new home, and then it happens….you walk into a “house” that feels like it could easily become “home”. Yikes! What next? Read on, we’ve got you covered.
Welcome back to our “Home Buyer” blog (and video) series. If you have been following along, we love having you and hope you are enjoying them, for those of you who are joining us for the first time, we are thrilled you are here and hope that you will follow along.
Today’s topic is: When you Think you’ve Found the ONE!
Do you feel like you are standing on a precipice? You have been searching for the right home for you and your family for months, you have done your research, you have been pre-approved for your mortgage, you know this is the right neighborhood. Maybe you still enjoy the thrill of pulling up to another house and wondering before you walk in the door – “Is this the ONE?”
Now you have walked in the door and as soon as your walked in it felt right, you went all the way through the home checking out all interior spaces, enough bedrooms, enough bathrooms, enough garage spaces, it checks all the boxes on your “Must Have” list, most of the boxes on your “Like to Have” list and even some of the boxes on your “Nice to Have” list. You like it, it works, maybe you found yourself a little defensive or dismissive when your REALTOR® or your partner pointed out something wrong. Hmmmm, you think, “I think I’ve Found the ONE!”. Now What?
This is an awesome place to be, and an awesome feeling, and we want this for all our buyer clients, but we will also want you to take a very practical step back. Remember, buying a home is one of the largest decisions you will make in your lifetime; it’s worth taking a moment to make sure you are on solid ground.
If you are going to spend the foreseeable future in this home, we want you to visit it at least twice and at different times a day, preferably one of these visits will be at night, particularly if the night view or the night lighting is important to you. During your second visit there are some important things you can do that you may not have done at your first visit, we have set it up as a checklist for a reason, just do it!
- Walk through EVERY room, poking your head around the corner is not enough, get in there and look around, this includes the garage and, where applicable, the basement. While you are in there:
- Turn on every faucet
- Turn on every light switch. Are you going to be able to see at night?
- Open every closet door
- Examine the floors
- Examine the ceilings (including the light fixtures and fans) do you see any sprinklers and/or smoke and/or carbon monoxide detectors?
- Check out all the walls
- Turn on the fireplace
- Turn on the food disposal
- Check out the sound system
- Check out the appliances
- Be mindful of the temperature in the house, does it correspond with what the thermostat says it should be?
- Get into the backyard, check out all the things that are important to you:
- Landscaping
- Built-in Barbeque – turn it on!
- Exterior walls of the house
- Pavers and concrete patios
- Look over the fences at the neighbors’ yards
- Listen, what can you hear?
- Check out the neighborhood:
- What is happening with the neighbors
- Are common areas maintained?
- Are common facilities maintained?
- Any traffic noise or traffic flow problems?
- Walk around, are the neighbors friendly?
- Find out all you can about the nearby schools if that is important to you
- Check out the crime rates and if there are sex offenders nearby that will cause you to worry or worse, cause sleepless nights.
- Make a pros and cons list – Do the pros outweigh the cons?
After you have a signed contract you will hire an inspector to catch problems with the home so if you miss cracks and ineffective HVAC systems, your inspector will catch those things for you, but they cannot move the home to a new neighborhood, change the view or prevent traffic noise, these things are up to you.
We at Wise Move AZ will never pressure you to buy and home and will always encourage you to do all the above before you make this important decision. We will even walk through it with you (it’s our favorite thing to do).
That’s it for today’s post, so, if you want to stay up to date on all things Anthem, make sure you like our Facebook Page at ‘Wise Move AZ’ or subscribe to our Wise Move AZ channel on YouTube.
Do you have a question you would like us to answer? Have something awesome that you’d like to share about Anthem? We want to hear from you; leave us a note in the form below.
Remember, if you or anyone you know is looking to buy or sell their home, please give us a call! It’s always the right time to make a wise move with the Wise Move AZ Team.
