Be Realistic About Your Desired Features
It ' s important to go into your home search with clear priorities . This includes knowing which features and amenities you need your home to have versus the ones that are nice perks .
Bucketing features into different categories and priority levels can help you as you review available listings and decide which homes to tour and in what order . Here ’ s a great way to help you think about it :
• Must-Haves – If a house doesn ’ t have these features , it won ’ t work for you and your lifestyle .
• Nice-To-Haves – These are features you ’ d love to have but can live without . Nice-tohaves aren ’ t dealbreakers , but if the home hits all the must-haves and some of these items too , it ’ s a contender .
• Dream State – This is where you can dream bigger . Again , these aren ’ t features you ’ ll need , but if you find a home in your budget that has all the must-haves , most of the nice-to-haves , and any of these , it ’ s a clear winner .
As you kick off your homebuying process , share these things with your real estate professional so you ' re aligned from the start and know how to focus your home search .
Danielle Hale , Chief Economist for realtor . com , explains it like this :
“ Focus on the goal you set out for yourself , like your list of must-haves and nice-tohaves and your budget , . . . Stick to that . Be persistent .”
Bottom Line
As a first-time buyer , it ’ s especially important to carefully consider what ’ s truly essential to your lifestyle . Your first home doesn ' t have to be your forever home . The most important thing is taking the first step toward building a brighter , more stable financial future . Let ’ s connect so you can achieve that dream .
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