You have finally decided that moving house will be your next step, so now comes the not so easy task of finding your perfect home.
To set you up for the perfect house, we arranged our most essential tips to steer you through the property jungle and find the ideal home. This way, you won’t forget often overlooked steps or fall into any traps on your way to a successful relocation or your first step into property ownership.
What to look for:
Try to go into it with an open mind
The perfect home: a huge garden, white picket fence outside, a free-standing bath… that’s it, isn’t it? Well, it may not be exactly what you’ll find. You should explore all possibilities and approach potential properties with an open mind, even if not all the bucket list items check out.
Though you may be looking for a turnkey home and not one with a few blemishes to fix up, you should be open-minded to the possibility of selecting a house in need of some little makeovers like updating the kitchen or changing some sketchy decoration. After all, tastes aren’t all the same, and you most likely won’t find your dream house exactly as you pictured it.
This doesn’t mean you should choose a property that requires you to re-do everything and start tearing down walls. But if you end up rejecting a lot of properties and start to find your options narrowing down because you are nit-picking the type of tiles on the guest bathroom or the colour of the hallway walls, one obvious solution might be to just focus on the most important structural aspects of the properties.
You will have all the time later to deal with those minor details like selecting the right colour to uplift the hallway of your new house or choosing the right chandelier for the living room.
Major elements that may be overlooked
How many bathrooms does it have? Is the kitchen fully equipped? Can I fit two cars on the drive? Although important, all these features are easily noticeable, and the seller will be the first to point them out while some other essential details might just go unnoticed, for instance:
- Keep an eye on your phone signal
How bad would it be that after moving to your cosy new home, you find out that anytime you need to make a call, you have to drag yourself out of the house? That’s why during any property viewing you should check the strength of your phone reception signal throughout the rooms. If the house has a wi-fi connection, try it as well! You wouldn’t want your YouTube freezing or waiting minutes to see your friend’s latest Instagram story.
- Run every tap
The first shower in your new house after moving: that “job well done” feeling! Everything is in its place (ok almost everything), you’re tired and sweaty, and a shower in your new crib is just what you need to make you feel finally at home… and then, just a little drizzle drops from the shiny shower head that you love so much.
It might not be the most obvious item on your list, but try to check every tap in the house for decent water pressure because if there’s anything wrong, most often than not, it will be a costly and time-consuming issue to fix, and no one enjoys a weak shower.
Don’t be shy about asking questions
Property viewings can be overwhelming and might just make you neglect some useful information, as it’s easy to get distracted when you start picturing yourself living in your dream house.
Remember, the seller will aim to please and will answer all the questions you might have. Also, the right questions may lead to a good negotiating topic.
What to avoid:
Visiting too many houses in one day
Trust us, at the end of the day, you’ll end up with a whirlwind in your head trying to remember which house had the built-in kitchen cabinets, but only one driveway spot… or were there two?
Take all the time you need when visiting a property. Also, take notes while you’re at it, don’t rely only on memory because it may just trick you.
Making decisions based on the décor
Yes, the decoration can make or break your first impression of the space, and it won’t be easy to overlook how a house has been staged or decorated but try to see through it and don’t let that influence any decision you make.
Interior design is everywhere, and it’s a fun and unique way to make your new house…YOURS!
Focus on the structural part of the property, like room sizes, plumbing and electrics, and later re-decorate as you like! Who knows, tastes change and the items you don’t have the room for today may just be trendy again in the future. Mix new and old and store what you don’t need right now. You don’t even need to worry about space because when it comes to moving house and re-decorating your new home, U Store It is your best friend! We can store all the extra things you still want to keep, in a safe and secure self-storage unit for you!
Listening to outside noise
Moving to your dream home is a huge step which should appeal to you and the ones who will live with you. While friendly advice may be useful, the bottom line is what you need and wish, and any additional noise in your decision making won’t help. The roof will house you and not your co-worker who says that the barbecue area you always wanted to enjoy in the summer won’t matter as much as a bigger kitchen.
If you are making compromises on something that you have been wishing for years, be sure that it is really your decision and not someone else’s. After all, you moving into your dream house is the ultimate goal of all this search, and you shouldn’t give others opinions too much weight unless they are paying for it or living in it with you.
