Before committing to a property, home buyers in their in their 20s and 30s often need to consider how easy it would be to resell it if needed.
Many younger buyers should be especially cautious as they tour and evaluate properties because they tend to pick up and move more quickly than did their parents’ generation, says Dorcas Helfant, former president of the National Association of Realtors.
“Young buyers really want and need to be able to relocate and resell their homes quickly. This is particularly true of upwardly mobile people, who sometimes change jobs in a flash, go overseas or return to graduate school,” Helfant says.
Rational approach
Here are tips for purchasers who want to evaluate properties in an orderly, rational way:
– Take the time you need to check out a home that interests you seriously. Remarkably, many people spend less time examining a house than they devote to choosing a pair of jeans.
Although it’s not inconceivable that you could make a prudent property choice in less than an hour, it’s usually wise to move more slowly during the selection process–assuming you’re not buying in a market so hot that another bidder is likely to snap up the place.
Robert Irwin, author of “Home Buyer’s Checklist” (McGraw-Hill Trade, $12.95), a top-to-bottom guide on how to check a house before you make an offer, advises prospective purchasers to visit a home at least twice before putting in a bid.
“On the first visit, your reactions will be more emotional. The second time around you’ll catch important things you missed before,” Irwin says.
But if you don’t have the luxury of time to come back the next day, two visits in one day–one in the morning and another after lunch–can help you make a reasoned judgment.
– Use digital photos as a memory jog. If time is tight and you’ve seen a lot of properties before heading back to your real estate agent’s office to write a contract, you may wish to take some photos of the home you’re planning to buy.
That way you can review parts of the property you may not recall clearly, such as the kitchen layout or the back-yard configuration.
– Don’t be overly influenced by superficial factors when you see a home. Through her several decades in real estate sales, Helfant has observed how some home shoppers can become “obsessed with the strangest things” about a home they visit. Some focus on the owners’ unusual furniture. Others become preoccupied with an objectionable dog living on the premises.
In making a decision on home selection, whether you weigh design elements you find objectionable–such as unpleasant wallpaper or paint colors–depends on the resources you have to change them after moving in.
– Remember that a key element in home choice is its location. Of coursethe neighborhood where you buy is a key factor determining whether your home will prove a solid investment.
But some purchasers forget that a home’s position inside a community also can influence its value.
Irwin says you should take careful notice of how a home is positioned within the layout of neighborhood streets.
Clearly, many people don’t want their properties to face directly onto a heavily traveled thoroughfare.
But living on a smaller road within a neighborhood also can pose problems for owners who are located on the one street local residents use most often to enter and exit the community.
– Focus heavily on fundamentals when evaluating a home you may buy. “If the house is an older property and the listing doesn’t say it has updated roofing, plumbing and electrical systems–along with replacement appliances–you’ll probably need to upgrade them soon,” Helfant says.
Another important factor is whether the home has a floor plan that would meet your lifestyle needs.
This usually means the house is spacious enough to accommodate large furnishings (including a big-screen TV); that it has two or more full bathrooms; and that it has a large kitchen adjoining the family room.
