• What features would make it special? • What can you afford and what is out of your budget?
Budget usually constrains us most in selecting a home. While some features are necessary for any home, others will just stay on the list of desires for now.
MAKE A LIST; CHECK IT T ; CHECK IT TWICE
You may have an impression of what you want in your new home. Putting that to paper and having a complete checklist can prove useful. Before starting your hunt for a new home, it’s advisable to make a list of all your basic needs and desires, then prioritize the desires, figuring your "wish list" in any house under consideration. This will make the search easier and help weed out the ones that don’t meet the basics. You need to understand that it will be nearly impossible to find a home that meets all requirements. Compromises will be necessary. It’s a good idea to work from outside-the-house factors to inside- the-house. For example, location is perhaps the primary concern and both “needs” factors and “desires” factors might be involved. A “need” would be “must be within 15 miles of work.” A desire might be, “would like Westwood” , while a need might be “on the west side of the city” to easily access, family, friends, and recreation activities. Location needs may include proximity to work, schools, family and frequently used recreation facilities. Whether an item is a need or a desire depends on circumstance. Closeness to family might be a need for a couple with young children or elderly parents to care for—or a desire if those factors aren’t involved. It’s items like these that make a checklist most 25
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