When my husband and I bought the #totsreno house we were living in my mother’s basement.
We had the luxury of not needing to move out but we really wanted to move out into a place of our own.
This was not the first time we went house hunting.
While we lived in Northern Ontario we looking for houses as well.
At that time in our life, we decided to continue to rent as it was the best option for us.
We have been in the #totsreno house now for 18 months.
Time flies! Here my tips of the 5 things to know when house hunting.
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5 Things To Know When House Hunting
Start looking for houses before you have to buy.
Sometimes you do not have the luxury to look at houses before you have to buy a house.
If you can, start looking at houses when you have no desire to move.
Do not call up a realtor and have them show you houses.
I don’t want you to be wasting their time when you are not in the buying phase.
Instead look at open houses in your area and pop in on one that you think you would like.
By visiting open houses you get to see what you like and do not like without any pressure to buy.
You can also see what is available in your area in your price point.
Do you need to save for a larger down payment?
Is what you want reasonable in your budget?
If you cannot attend an open house, window shop online.
Look at a house multiple times before purchasing.
If you spend time looking at multiple houses and finally find one you love it can be tempting to put an offer in right away.
Make sure you see a home two or even three times before putting in an offer.
You will be able to see all of the little imperfections that you did not see in your excitement the first time around.
We were very excited about a house and when we went through the second viewing the house was in way worse shape than we originally saw.
If we would have put an offer in right away we would have lost 1000’s of dollars in little repairs.
Do not buy the first house you see.
Maybe the first house you see you love.
That is fine but make sure you look at other homes before making the biggest purchase of your life.
Most people do not marry their first date for a reason.
Make sure you are buying out of love and not settling.
You’re worth it.
Call to enquire about utilities before you put in an offer.
This point is from personal experience.
When we bought the #totsreno house I thought I had done my due diligence and ensured that we were moving into an area with high-speed internet.
I searched on the providers websites and they stated we did have it in the area.
But they were wrong, very wrong.
We are able to get one company to provide satellite internet.
I work at home and it is not ideal.
The internet is very slow and is difficult to go on Skype conversations which are an important part of my job.
Long story short, call and ask directly.
Do not relay that the providers websites will be accurate.
Think 5 years down the road.
Generally speaking, a mortgage term is 5 years.
Yes, you can get shorter and longer terms but 5 years is the most popular.
Will the house be adequate for your needs during that time frame?
Are you thinking about having (more) kids?
Do you want to run your own business out of your home?
You may not have all the answers right now but by choosing a home that fits how you think you will be using it will save you a lot of headaches down the road.
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