During our office meeting today, one thing became clear as we were discussing statistics. There are more homes on the MLS (907 active properties) than any other time in the history of our area.
This doesn’t even include for sell by owner homes. What does this mean to you as a home buyer trying to find the right house?
It means you have a lot of homes to choose from, and at times it can be overwhelming. When I work with home buyers that are having a hard time deciding on the right property, I use these exercises to help them make the decision easier, and now you can too.
Start With Location
The first step to picking the right home is the location. Once you know what neighborhoods you want to be in, you can start to narrow down the specifics characteristics of homes you may want to buy. 
Neighborhood Checklist:
- Quality Of Schools
- Property Values: Declining or Increasing?
- Traffic
- Crime Rate
- Future/Planned Developments
- Proximity To Local Amenities: Schools, Work, Hospitals, Shopping etc.
If you find a neighborhood or an area that meet these personal requirements of yours, you’re on the right track. Next you’ll want to get the statistics from your Realtor on home prices in the area. Are homes selling close to asking price? Is there a lot of inventory? Is the neighborhood full of foreclosures and short sales?
If the neighborhood you want to purchase has negative features like foreclosures, poorly maintained homes, or lots of stale inventory be wary. You don’t want to purchase a home that will decline in value because of a declining neighborhood.
Even though the neighborhood might be perfect for your needs, these negative features could drastically affect your pocket book over the next couple years as we slowly recover from the recession.
What Type Of Home Do You Want?
There are many types of homes out there which include single family, condos & town homes, and multi family properties. Here are some advantages and disadvantages of each:
Single Family: Advantages of owning a single family home is you own the property out right. You can also choose how close you want your neighbors. A disadvantage would be the maintenance. All repairs would have to be done by you.
Town Home: Advantages of owning a town home less exterior maintenance as your home is attached to one or more homes. Town homes usually have community amenities, and you can usually get more house for the money. Disadvantages include the proximity of neighbors, home owner association fees, and a small parcel of land.
Multi Family Properties: Advantages of multi family properties include paying less in mortgage payments by renting out part of the home, help with maintenance if you get a descent renter, and can later become an investment property. Disadvantages are dealing with renters, property damage caused by unsavory renters, and the noise of sharing a home with someone else.
Define Needs And Wants Than Compromise
Now that you have an idea of the neighborhood you want, the type of home you’re comfortable living in, it’s time to determine what your needs and wants are. You also have to realize what a need is and what a want is. Most home buyers will have to compromise their wants in order to meet all their needs.
For example: 
Needs Include –
- # of Bedrooms
- # of Bathrooms
- Square Footage
- Garage
Wants Include –
- Updates such as granite counter tops, wood floors, new cabinets etc.
- Views
- Fenced yard
- Location near prime amenities, golf courses, on the river etc.
Once you identify your absolute must haves (your needs), you can narrow down the homes that have the most of your wants. Your list should be getting smaller.
Check Price And Condition
With your smaller list in hand, which homes are priced the best and in the best condition? These two options should be your last consideration before buying your Logan Utah home. The reason they should be last is, the price of a home doesn’t really matter until you know you can live it and be happy.
The condition doesn’t matter until you know the home meets your needs. You can determine the best priced homes via the amount of square footage, the location, and the year the home was built. Newer homes will be more expensive, but may require less work.
Older homes may require more work, but you can get more house for your money. The only way to determine proper condition is to view the homes in person.
This should be your last step, and once you’re at the condition stage of your property search, you know you’re ready to go look at homes in person. You now have the tools to wade through excess inventory and if you follow these steps, you can make the home buying process less stressful. Have fun shopping!
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