Differentiating Your Wants and Your Needs When Buying A Home
Anyone who has spent a lazy afternoon watching any variety of house-hunting shows on TV has watched potential home buyers struggle to compromise between what they would like and what is a necessity when they are looking at homes for sale. So how do you save yourself the headache that inevitably comes with purchasing your dream home in Las Vegas?
Buying a home, whether it is your first-home or your forever-home, can be a stressful process. But that’s alright! Buying a home is an important milestone in anyone’s life and it should warrant the extra time spent dwelling on that decision. Before you head out and start looking at homes, it is helpful to already have an idea of what you are looking for in a home. Listing out your needs and your wishlist will help you sort things out early and it can be a lot of fun to do! Once you have this, your Real Estate Agent can use that list to isolate homes that meet your needs and create a personalized shortlist of listings for you to check out.
Where to start your list?
Start by closing your eyes and picturing your dream home. Is it a home in Summerlin, Henderson or another beautiful suburb, with a yard where your pets and children can roam around? is it a condominium or highrise closer to the bustle of the Strip or Fremont? Las Vegas has such a wide variety of homes for sale that you could really find available homes in any style.
Deciding on what kind of home you prefer is a huge factor because it will impact other factors such as how big of a yard, if any, would you need and are you happy sharing communal areas such as pools, grills, and other communal spaces.
Once you have that down you can begin to expand on your dream home. How many bedrooms will you need? The size of your family or your desire to start one in the future will probably be a factor when deciding how many rooms you would need. This goes hand-in-hand with the number of bathrooms you would need. Sharing one bathroom between a family of five may not be the ideal situation!
Finally, look at amenities that you consider must-haves or deal-breakers. This may be the hardest part because you must differentiate between wants and needs. Do you need the kitchen to be fully upgraded with a specific granite countertop or can this be put off until later?
Treat this list as a live document
Your realtor will take your list of needs and priorities those when they create your personalized listings. It is unlikely that any home will come with all of your wishlist, so it is important to recognize what features you are comfortable compromising in exchange for other features that you feel you can not live without. Your list may change, grow, or shrink depending on the homes your agent finds you and that’s okay! Contact the Arbuckle Group today to start searching for your future home.
