If you’re like me you’ve seen a LOT of people who are buying houses this spring! Apparently all the millennials (like me!) who were waiting to buy houses are doing it this year. My husband and I close on our first house in a few weeks and are so excited to have our own place. The house hunting process is exhausting and today I wanted to share some super easy tips to limit your stress and make is easier.
Have a Budget
First things first. You NEED to know how much you can spend on a house. In this crazy market it is to your advantage to be pre-approved for a mortgage so you are a competitive buyer. But what the bank approves you for is not always a realistic number! What are your current housing costs? Do you want to spend the same amount, more, or less? We wanted to have our monthly payments be close to our rent so that dictated our mortgage. There are so many handy calculators you can use online to figure that out. Also don’t miss this post and this post where I talk about budgeting!
Sometimes you start house hunting and realize your budget won’t get you what you want. You can either re-evaluate your wish list (next step) or spend more. That’s a super tricky question and will be up to you to figure out. My husband and I realized houses that were lower in our budget were flying off the market too quickly for us to even see them. By increasing our budget a little bit we were able to see houses and find one we liked. But we did talk this through before telling our realtor we could spend more.
Make a List of What You Want
Right after making a budget you should make a list of your wants and needs. This will help you quickly eliminate houses if they won’t work! I’m sure you have an idea of what you like just based on going into people’s houses your whole life. Beyond the basic size questions – bedrooms, bathrooms, etc – I’m sure there are other items you want in your house. Have a list of things you can’t live without (or won’t buy without!) and other items that would be a perk.
My non-negotiable items were simple: central air conditioning (no window units – they’re the worst!) and more than one bathroom. Those were the two items I would not compromise on. My husband had to have a garage but we were flexible on number of stalls, whether it was attached, etc. After that everything else was flexible. We obviously had things we wanted (like no carpet in the dining room, etc) but those wouldn’t be deal breakers.
Having items we want allowed us to quickly know if a house would be a fit just looking online. No garage or a window AC unit in the pictures? Not interested! Icky carpet but it’s under our budget? Definitely worth a look. This saved us time and we knew what was important to us when looking at houses.
Find a Realtor You Trust
After you’ve made your own list you should send that list to a professional – your realtor! We were so lucky to be connected with an amazing realtor via USAA. Since we’re relocating to a new city we had no recommendations of who to use. Luckily USAA has a realtor placement service where they match you with someone based on a detailed questionnaire. We were nervous about talking to someone we had never met, but it was the best decision ever.
Bryan & Steve at Bluegrass Sotheby’s are amazing. They are responsive, kind, and flexible! They gave us advice without being pushy and answered all our questions. Since we don’t know much about Lexington we needed advice – and we were even given a personal tour of the whole city on our first house hunting day.
You need someone who you can ask questions and trust their answers. No one wants to feel like they are being tricked or something is being kept from them. Basically, find someone you can trust and value their opinion – especially if relocating!
See Enough Houses, But Not Too Many
We found a house in only 2 days of looking, only seeing about 12 houses. Sure we could have looked longer and seen more but would we have found a house that we liked more? I don’t know! We were on an accelerated timeline and needed to find a place in a weekend, so I know we’re unique. But I personally don’t think you need to look at 100 houses to find something.
Seeing houses quickly allowed us to easily compare and remember what we liked. Since we saw the houses within 24 hours we didn’t have to worry about not remembering the details, location, or how we felt. If you’re in a super tight market it might take time to find houses that you can see or places that are in your budget, but always looking for the “next one” will burn you out. I was even exhausted after 2 days – I can’t imagine doing that for months! I’m not saying you should settle for something you hate, but I am saying that you shouldn’t keep looking just to look.
Trust Your Gut
There were some places we visited that met all our criteria but something just felt off. I couldn’t imagine us living there, the space was odd – it just wasn’t right. My advice is to trust your gut in these situations! Even if you find a place that meets every requirement you still need to live there day in and day out. Trust how you feel and don’t discount it! Buying a house is a massive personal and financial decision and you shouldn’t feel pressured or stuck in what you choose.
Having a plan will make house hunting SO much easier and organized! You don’t want to feel more overwhelmed than you have to – trust me. I hope these 5 steps will be useful as a guide when you’re house hunting. Good luck!
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