Choosing a New Home – How to Decide if a House is the Right Fit

25th June, 2018

A new house isn’t just a geographical shift, it’s a shift in atmosphere. Leaving behind a place that you’ve come to consider your home, your refuge from the trials and tribulations of the outside world, can be a very jarring sensation. However, it’s also a time of reinvention; allowing you to create new memories in an area that will, hopefully, come to be considered your new safe haven.

With all of this in mind, choosing a new home is a very important decision, and one that shouldn’t be taken lightly. This is especially true for families, as there is more than one set of wants and needs that must be acknowledged. So, what should you be looking for when choosing a new home? That’s what we’re here to discuss today.

Choosing a New Home Takes Calculations

While we’d like to believe that a new dwelling should be chosen on dreams and aspirations alone, these are rarely the only factors at play. A home, whether you’re buying or renting, is quite a sizeable investment, so it pays to keep your financial situation in mind. While this may seem obvious (you aren’t likely to end up owning or renting a house you quite literally cannot afford), there are a few more elements that fall under “financials”.

For example, when choosing a new home, look at the architecture of your rooms. In winter, heating a home that has high ceilings and little in the way of heat retention is going to be quite costly when compared with a more compact alternative. The same goes for necessary repairs or remodelling. If you have found a house that will inevitably take thousands of dollars in alterations to live up to its full potential, you need to decide if that is a viable investment.

With that said, this process doesn’t have to be one of dreariness and sacrifice. There is an enormous array of homes on the market, and whilst those in your price range may involve some concessions on your part, that doesn’t mean that you can’t find your dream home. Discovering and choosing a new home isn’t about getting the most expensive property, it’s about finding a home that you can be happy in.

Choose For Lifestyle, Not Location

We all love a stunning view and the idea of living in a sought after neighbourhood, but when choosing a new home, is that really the most important thing? When taking your work obligations, hobbies, and other lifestyle factors into consideration, will those serene surroundings really be the right fit?

That’s not a rhetorical question by any means, as your dream home doesn’t have to be either/or. What I’m trying to say is that the most important factor isn’t where you live, it’s how you live. If you’re a person that works long hours, only to come home and unwind with some video games or Netflix time, having a variety of hiking options available to you isn’t likely to hugely impact your life.

You want a place in which you’re going to be the most comfortable. So, if you’re sacrificing an extra hour of travel time from work, only for the desirable features you fawned over to go underused, it might be worth reconsideration.

Everyone Needs to Get a Say

This likely goes without saying, but if you’re going to be making a move as a family, then everyone within that family unit is going to be affected. So, it’s important to consider the concerns and needs of everyone when choosing a new home. That’s not to say that everyone’s needs are going to be fully met and realised, but it does mean having a discussion before choosing a new home.

For example, if a home’s location is going to lower the travel time to and from work of one individual, while greatly extending it for another, then that is something that needs to be agreed on. By keeping everyone involved in choosing a new home, nobody ends up feeling as if this often-scary change is completely out of their control.

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While choosing a new home can be scary, it’s also an incredibly exciting time filled with potential and a sense of adventure. If you’re looking for a way to make the moving process simpler and easier, contact Kent Removals today to discuss your next move!