Carefully consider the impacts!
Thinking about your future might seem obvious. I mean, just the act of buying a new home indicates that you are moving forward into some future.
But this is a large purchase and the question is, have you thought about the future both in terms of desirable things to come, as well as unplanned and potentially UN-desirable things to come?
To help this thought process, here are some questions you should consider.
How long will this house and location serve you?
That is, does this seem like your “forever” house, or would you hope to live here just a few years and then upgrade to something bigger after that?
If you have children and they are not yet in school, will school district become important to you eventually? If so – have you looked into the one for the house you want to buy?
If you think you will want to sell in the future, how easy or hard will this house be to re-sell?
You do not want to over-pay for a house that you might want to turn-around in a relatively sort time.
Plus remember that even if the housing market seems to be trending up – there is never a guarantee that the trend will continue.
Or consider the case where your idea might be to sell in perhaps five years, but it turns out that jobs or other things in life change your situation and you simply cannot sell.
How good or bad would it be to stay in this house for a longer term?
You won’t necessarily know how to answer all these things easily but it is worth thinking about some possible futures – both good and bad – and determine how you feel about living in each particular house under various circumstances.
Obviously home prices and what you can afford right now will limit your options. But even so, whatever you buy now may be yours for longer than you plan – so keep that in mind when checking out possible homes.
In summary:
Often people move to a specific location or into a house with the idea that it is “only for now.”
But as life proceeeds, “now” continues for a long time. Over time, it becomes easier to just stay where you are rather than start over someplace new.
The point is, even if you plan to move again in a relatively short time, you want to consider how you would feel if you found you had to stay in this house for much longer.
You cannot control the future but you can at least consider possible future scenarios to help guide your decision process.
Carefully think through future scenarios that are both positive and negative in your estimation. Try to guage how comfortable you will be in the house you are considering buying.
Questions?
If you are not sure about any of these points and want more information – let us know and we’d love to clarify things!
Contact us – we would love to help you understand more!