Top 8 Buying A House Checklist

1.Indoor-outdoor flow.

The ease with which you can move from indoor to outdoor living areas and back again can make a huge difference in your day-to-day experience of living in a home. If this is important to you, look for French, sliding or accordion glass doors leading from the main living spaces to the outdoors.

2. Size of rooms.

Who doesn’t want a big room? Look for a house who’s room is Not too big nor not too small. Channel your inner Goldilocks to nail the just-right room size for your lifestyle. Imagine setting up your own furniture in the rooms as you walk through — bring measurements the day before closing.

You may be thinking about buying your dream home. But is your dream home impractical? Do you really need 4 bedrooms and 4 baths when you live alone? A large home can give you the extra space you’ve always wanted for a extra office space or crafts or art projects. But you’ll pay higher heating bills and have higher taxes. It will take more furniture to furnish and money to decorate. Think about how the new home space will be used and whether it will fit your lifestyle now and in the future.

3. Interior layout.

Like indoor-outdoor flow, the interior layout, or floor plan, can have a big effect on your daily life. Walk through the rooms, imagining your typical day. Are there sharp corners and narrow passages to navigate, or is there an easy, natural flow from one room to the next?

4. Window size and placement.

You can of course can add and modify windows, but it’s not the cheapest change to make to a house. Changing windows can cost anywhere for $250- $300 per window. Ideally, look for a home with well-placed windows before purchasing the home.

5. Amount of natural light.

This is a big one, yet it’s surprisingly easy to overlook when attending open houses. Once you have a few homes on your list that are strong contenders, make appointments to give them a second look at a different time of day. This will give you a fuller picture of what the light is like in the home.

6. Driveway length and width.

It seems silly to even consider this — until you buy a house and realize your car won’t fit in the ridiculously narrow driveway, or you have to shovel that extra-long driveway after a mega snow storm. (The too-narrow driveway? Yep, that happened to me.) Look for a house with enough driveway length so when guest arrive, they won’t have any issue parking.

7. Closets and Storage

Older homes tend to have little closets and not a lot of storage space. If you have lots of sports equipment, craft supplies, out-of-season clothes, and holiday decorations, be sure you know where it will go in your new home. Newer homes tend to have big closets and lots of storage. You can always add storage space, but you might have to sacrifice living space in your rooms.

8. THE LOCATION:

You can live with almost any imperfection in a home if you love the neighborhood and your neighbors. You can change almost everything else. But, once bought, you cannot change your home’s location. When you go house hunting, consider any potential home’s proximity to your work, the charm of the neighborhood, how the home is situated on the lot, ease of access, noise from neighbors, traffic, or pets, and access to parks, shopping centers, schools, and public transportation.

Writer:
Joan James – buying, selling and investing homes in Broward county Florida

Things to look for when buying a house.
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Credits:
RCN homes/ 754-245-0282/ www.rcnhomes.com