Every day, a family moves into their new home, and every day, such families hope that this will start a new, positive chapter in their lives. Of course, you don’t occupy a home by accident, it takes real help, or real autonomous decision-making to find yourself a place to stay.
For many families, moving into a new home signals the beginning of their home ownership. As such, they hope their ability to get onto the property ladder proves useful.
Yet it’s not just a game of financial value and investment, but also a means of acquiring a new lifestyle you hope to lead. After all, one family may have different priorities to another. For example, one specific family may have disabled children, and as such may hope to move within the catchment area of a local special needs school, as these are not as common as standard public schools.
As you can see, no choice is “right” or “wrong,” only “more suitable” for your means and needs. In this post, we’ll discuss eight metrics that can help you on that home-buying path.
- Location & Lifestyle
Ultimately, where you live helps determine the kind of lifestyle you lead. Sure, you may be able to enjoy a great deal of fun activities anywhere, and you can always adapt. However, if you love fishing, living near large rivers, lakes, or even the coastline can be nice. If you love sailing, the latter two are even more important.
Of course, we all know that the location of your property can also determine price, and the potential investment in your home’s value over time. Sometimes, it’s worth purchasing a cheaper house in a developing area if the location promises to change for the better as time goes on.
As mentioned in our introduction, the location you choose to live in may also grant you certain privileges. For example, a tight-knit community that cares about the local area can be a real virtue, especially if they have a tight neighborhood watch program. Alternatively, you might be able to secure a place at a certain school for your children, as depending on how far you live, the public schooling system may guarantee you a space. Touring round the local school may be as important as looking around the house.
If the location and lifestyle don’t match your needs, it’s worth continuing your search. Sometimes it’s worth moving further out for a longer work commute if it saves you $50,000 on your property value. With services like Raleigh Realty, you’ll be able to search through every option on your doorstep.
- Community Life
While not everyone chooses a house based on how close its local community it (after all, no neighbors can be much better than nosy, interfering neighbors), it is nice to raise your family in an area with nice people around.
Of course, even the nicest area can change over time, but if you feel good about meeting the local neighbors, see that community events are regularly run in the local town, and you care about contributing to the area, then that’s a good sign you may wish to situate yourself here.
In some cases, the scale within which this community might interface with one another can differ. A suburban area may give you access to some of your local neighbors, or those at the back and front of your house, while living in a rural area may help you know all fifty people that live in the village. Keep that scale in mind, because it can determine how close you are within community living.
- Investment Value
A home is an investment, too. It might be worth purchasing a home you have the chance to renovate over time, as this could help you sell for more than you’re currently buying. For instance, if there’s a good chance you could get planning permission to extend the property, to add a conservatory, or even an outhouse structure for a home office, then that might be worth the effort, and gives you room to grow as your family grows.
Investment value may also come via scarcity. For example, if the local area has been determined an area of natural beauty and protected as such, then that will mean no new builds will go up in the green space around your home. That means house prices are less likely to drop.
Of course, the housing market is its own beast, and seemingly unpredictable for anyone who actually wants to try it. Still, you can certainly invest in your house if you select a smart opportunity.
- Storage & Space
The number of bathrooms and bedrooms really does matter, and those tend to be the main metrics, outside of location, that people rest on. But it’s also worth considering if you have space to convert rooms, like an attic or basement, into functional spaces.
On top of that, a large master bedroom could be converted into two rooms if you have more children, or perhaps you could renovate a garage as a living area or gym. Storage and space can expand over time, but it’s essential to make sure you have everything you need to begin with.
- Safety & Comfort
Everyone with a family and a sane outlook wishes to keep their loved ones safe. Depending on the house and area in which you live, the ability to not only be safe but to feel safe, can differ.
Of course, nowhere is 100% safe at all times and forever. We all deal with probabilities. But a well-curated community that looks out for one another, a strong house with good fittings such as doors and window locks, and room to install your own solutions, like home alarms, motion-sensitive floodlights, and privacy fences or gates can make a big difference.
Safety and comfort is also affected by other variables. How well lit is your local neighborhood? How private is the road? Do you have many alleyways or ginnels around your household? Is the area safe in general? What’s the crime rate? Does the home enjoy a certain level of privacy, or can you implement that yourself by planting a hedge line or installing fences? Answering these questions helps you understand what you’re dealing with, or encourages you to make changes where appropriate.
- Noise Levels
This might not sound too crucial to consider to begin with, but if you purchase a home in a student area where parties go on all night, near an industrial area where heavy noises are heard during the day, or main roads or highways, then you’ll know how much of a factor this can play.Tolerable noise levels go from “peaceful” to “acceptable.” Anything more than that can have an effect, particularly if you have small children or live with elderly relatives. Sure, sometimes new neighbors can move in with a new sound system, and you can never really tell who on your street will purchase a new motorbike, but selecting a location in a quiet area can often be a big bonus. Managing noise levels is crucial for maintaining a peaceful living environment. Even with a quiet location, unexpected noise can disrupt your serenity. To mitigate this, incorporating Quality Cedar Products into your outdoor space can be an effective solution.
- Job Opportunities & Transportation Links
When you move, you’ll likely do so knowing that you have the chance for work, or to pursue a career with a certain opportunity to hand. Families rarely take on a new mortgage without solid income, after all.
Of course, it’s always good to live somewhere with at least a few opportunities for better work, especially as your children grow and may wish for their own part time jobs. Transportation links play into this too, from bus routes to train stations and even having an airport you can drive to within a reasonable timeframe (living under a flight path may seem loud at first, but you quickly get used to it).
Rural living can be beautiful, but the one downside is that these opportunities for work are limited. As such, it’s always good to find a worthy balance.
- Exterior Property Characteristics
It’s nice to look at the exterior of the property and what it offers. Do you have access to a beautiful, private garden? If so, even a small plot of land can be worthwhile.
If you have room for a staging area such as decking or a patio, that can be a nice opportunity. It might be that you purchase a property with a huge garden quite cheaply due to how steep the hill it resides on may be, in this case you can weigh up if that’s worth it to you or not.
It can be worthwhile to consider how safe this all is for a child. An uneven garden that may require landscaping and fencing from a stream is important to consider. Exterior property characteristics can add a great deal of value to your home, but also your lifestyle, as implementing climbing frames, trampolines, and even playhouses can be lovely for parents to take part in.
With this advice, you’re sure to use capable metrics to decide on a family home. Searching can be tiring, and not every home is a winner, but keep focused and you’ll find something wonderful eventually.
