Home Buying Considerations – Getting Your Sizing Right
There are lots of things that need careful consideration when buying a Waterloo Region new home.
One of the things that can get overlooked in all the excitement of choosing a new place to live is size. Not to say you and your Waterloo region real estate agent will overlook the actual square footage figures, but that while you are paying attention to a dozen other things you may not realise the home you are considering may not be sized quite right for your unique needs.
Here are some things to keep in mind while house hunting to help you avoid making that mistake:
Can the Home Cope with the Unexpected?
If you are a couple with only one child, you may be home shopping primarily for two bedroomed homes. But is that really going to be enough?
Are you sure that your family is done growing? Might there come a day when one (or both) of you decides to join the ranks of those choosing to work at home and will then need a home office? And if you like to host family and friends once in a while do you really want the sofa in the living room to be the only accommodation option open to guests?
A home should be able to cope with these less expected events. which is why it is often wisest to buy with the anticipation of growth in mind.
Will Your Furniture Fit? –
Most sellers take their Realtor’s sage advice and declutter and stage their home before putting it on the market for sale. That often means that a lot of the things that may have been there before are probably in storage right now, meaning that when you come to move your things in there might not be quite as much room for them as you had imagined.
The best way to determine if all of your ‘stuff’ is going to fit in the way you’d like it to is to measure your largest pieces of furniture before you begin your home search and keep those measurements – including height – handy while are viewing potential new homes.
Then, armed with this information, you can do a few quick measurements on site to determine whether the home you are considering could accommodate it.
Storage
One of the biggest reasons that people move house is that they run out of space, not just for humans to live comfortably in but for things to be stored in. As a family grows they usually need more closet space, more storage space in the kitchen and even more space on the driveway or in the garage.
Yet when many buyers are house hunting they do forget all of that ‘stuff’ that is currently housed in their attic/basement/shed. So remember, all of those hockey sticks/golf clubs/sewing supplies/books will need a place to go unless you are willing to part with them.
Out in the open storage may be a consideration as well. If you currently have built-in shelves in your living room that house all your books, CDs, video games etc and the new home does not, where are all of those going to go? Is there room to add shelving?
The kitchen is another biggie. Try not to be so seduced by those lovely granite countertops that you fail to notice that there are four fewer kitchen cupboards in this new kitchen than the one you have right now. A lack of space in the kitchen can be maddening and, as we all know, kitchen remodels are not cheap.
Finally, although you may be initially delighted that there is a garage on the property, make sure that your vehicle(s) will fit. Garages attached to older homes were often built to accommodate smaller cars than the Texas-sized SUVs many of us drive today!