Buy A House

Step 2: Choosing your Home

Now that we've looked at making a budget for buying a home it's time to move into the next phase, choosing your dream home.

Before you set off on finding and buying a dream home that fits your budget, make certain that you establish a specific set of criteria and organize your priorities. Click here for printable worksheets that you can bring house hunting to compare homes.

You have to decide what you are willing to sacrifice and what you absolutely will not budge on.

Location

Location is one aspect of home buying that you must focuse a great deal of attention on. The city offers a large range of housing styles, developed transportation systems, and a vast choise of amenities and activities, while the suburbs can offere greater land and more affordable properties.

Here are six questions outlined by Desjardins to help you find your ideal location:

1. How much time can you devote to getting to work? What means of transportation will you uset to get to work?
2. What local services (daycare,schools, hospitals, banks, parks) are available?
3. What is the value of neighbouring homes? Have they gone up or down?
4. Is the neighbourhood safe and quiet?

Type of Home

There are many different kinds of homes, take the time to find which style best suits your needs and wants. There are:

• Single family homes (one-storey or two storey home)
• semi-detached homes
• duplexes
• townhouses
• condominiums
• undivided co-ownerships

Again, here are five questions Desjardins provided to help you select the right type of home for you:

1. Do you need a lot of privacy? Do you mind sharing space with neighbours or renters?
2. How much time will you have to devote to home maintenance and up-keep?
3. Do you need large rooms?
4. Do you want a big back yard?

New or Existing home

let's look at the advantages of both

New Home:

• you can upgrade or select features like siding, flooring, plumbing, and electric
• they are built to current code and meet building, electrical and energy efficiency requirements
• they should have builder's guarantee

Existing Homes:

• mature and developed neighbourhood
• landscaped yard (hopefully!)
• may include some additions like a pool or basement

Hope this helps you find your dream home. Stay tuned for Step 3 Your allies in home buying.