Hunting for Your New House – Will it be a Match Made in Heaven?

Buying a home is a daunting process, but have you ever thought about house hunting as not unlike dating for the purpose of finding someone special?

When we relationship-shop, we usually determine some general parameters about the people we are willing to consider - such as physical characteristics, where they reside, their (minimum or maximum) age, etc. 

When you get right down to it, finding the right home isn’t all that different.  Assuming you are purchasing a home to have and to hold (and not merely as an investment), you will no doubt take everything about it personally – akin to what you might look for in a future mate.

Where rent payments fly out the window each and every month (like dating for the fun), home ownership is a commitment to the longer term with rights of survivorship.  The common wisdom is that real estate is still among the safest investments, even when the market takes a few turns now and then.  Why?  For one reason, it’s terra firma – not an intangible stock or mutual fund – but shelter.  Land is finite – there is only so much to go around.  So grabbing for your own little slice of earth and even a modest dwelling is deemed by most to be a wise choice.

“I can’t explain why turning the key on my own front door feels so different,” says Robyn Wiley, a Novato, CA-based art curator who recently purchased a home after decades of renting.  “I guess it’s because when I walk through the door, I know everything behind it is mine – the floors, the appliances, the decorating – you name it.”

Let’s get back to relationships, though.  There are some things we can settle for and others we just can’t abide in a potential partner.  When we find just the right person – OR the right house -- however, many of us make decisions based on emotion, in the long run justifying our wisdom with our own brand of logic.

Geographic desirability. . .

Where this house “lives” has to work - for your sanity, your job and your personal life.  If you thrive on social gatherings, for instance, what’s the point of buying a place that is gorgeous and roomy but is so far out in the boondocks that everyone you ask to visit politely declines because of the distance?  True, a few tried and true folks in your life might make the trek, but that voyage to your new digs will no doubt get old fast and after a while you’ll find yourself doing all the traveling to see them.

And what about things you love to do?  If the opera, sports activities and spiritual services are so far away, how soon will you be able to find excuses to let go of some of the things that are meaningful to you?

In terms of real estate appreciation, location is, of course, everything – to the third power.  

For that reason alone, before you buy it’s a good idea to study both the present and the future of the area.  After all, even though it’s rather chauvinistic, don’t some guys actually go so far as to take a look at their girlfriend’s mom as a bellwether for aging potential?  To do this, you can ask around, go to the local Chamber of Commerce, visit the local city planner’s office or pick your real estate agent’s brain.  As with any other long-term relationship, take a good long look before you leap.

It’s all about chemistry – are you attracted?

Driving by a house can give you an instant first impression - like a glance at an attractive stranger across a crowded room.  But once you get to know it both inside and outside, many of your impressions can change.  Nowadays, savvy Realtors® “stage” homes to show off their full potential.  Staging is really merchandising – not interior decorating.  It’s the practice of presenting a property so that it attracts the widest possible spectrum of potential buyers.  Model homes, for example, portray staging at its finest.  We won’t go into relationship analogies here, but we think you might get the point.

What you must do as a savvy homebuyer, however, is separate the glitz from the reality, judging a house by its true merits while making sure it’s in tune with your own needs.  Remember to think about how your life will fit into the house.  Which rooms do you really live in and how does each property you are considering serve your lifestyle?

Excess baggage – can you live with it?

Like some people, houses can be diamonds in the rough.  Just a little attention here and there can make a HUGE difference.  But what about the house that presents endless projects in order to make it merely livable?

High maintenance houses can be like high maintenance relationships.  Is co-dependency what you’re about?  If so, there is a home out there waiting for your touch and chances are good that you’ll confront all its most serious issues within the real estate disclosure documents you’ll receive when making an offer. 

True, you can get a real deal on a fixer.  But if you don’t consider yourself a handyman/woman, you don’t like sacrificing lots of weekends or you don’t have deep pockets, you may opt to purposely forgo a few dinners out per month in exchange for a slightly higher mortgage payment on something you won’t constantly find yourself at Home Depot or Lowe’s to fix up.

TV reality shows such as A & E’s Flip This House that illustrate both the work as well as the reward in remodeling projects are great places to get an idea of this aspect of your house relationship.

There are those in-betweens, though. Wiley purchased her house with the idea in mind to remodel certain areas, enjoy it for awhile, sell it for a much higher price and then buy an even nicer one.  “I ended up staying here longer than I thought I would because I got so attached to it after the improvements were made,” says Wiley.  Does she regret spending all that money on the place?  “Not for a minute,” is her response. “I think those improvements were some of the wisest expenditures I’ve ever made.”

Long-term potential . . .

As with a person with whom we picture ourselves sharing our lives, it’s a good idea to look to the potential equity appreciation of the house you choose.  No one has a crystal ball where values are concerned, but there are a few things to think about.  Neighborhood schools, for example, may not be important to you now, but what about later?  And whether you’ve already been-there-done-that or are planning on sweet childless freedom, the quality of schools can affect the value of a home if you decide for one reason or another that you want to or need to sell, as do the proximity of commercial and retail businesses, hospitals and doctors and closeness to major thoroughfares and freeways. 

Even if you use all the criteria mentioned here to find the house you eventually purchase, it still may not be a match made in heaven.  Take heart, though.  The relationship might, after all, last a while and can become a stepping stone to greater knowledge – perhaps not about people, but certainly about real estate.

About the author:  Northern California resident Dena Kouremetis is a 21-year veteran in the real estate industry.  Unlike some real estate journalists, she not only writes about the industry but also has spent time in the trenches of real estate sales, business development, new home construction, demographics and market research.  She has written, co-authored and consulted for several books (including Dearborn Trade’s The HomeBuyers Kit and The Homeseller’s Kit), and her articles have appeared in the pages of newspapers, magazines and online real estate venues over the past ten years.

TotalMove.com invites you to share her insights, expertise, humor and common sense whether you spend time renting or purchasing real estate -- or just like spend time reading about it.