"Try On" Your New Home Before Buying
It’s normal to try on outfits, clothes, trousers or shoes before thinking about buying them. Individual automatically know they must try on dresses to be certain they fit perfectly, feel relaxed and also are attractive to them. Can we say the same thing about a home? It’s possibly the most costly purchase you’ll ever make. Isn’t it even more important to “try on” a home before you purchase it?
What on earth do I mean? Well, it’s usual to look for a home in places that are convenient to work and schools. Most folks take the daily commute into consideration when shopping for a home. Why not take the daily, weekly, and even monthly activities of family members consciously into account, too?
I once helped a young, single woman named Jen to find and buy her first home, a Wal-Mart employee, she was doing very well in the company and needed a personal home and the tax break homeownership affords. She requested my advice about selecting, and we had a discussion in which I stated numerous of the kinds of things I’ve said here. We made a list of what mattered to her. Then we went shopping. We looked at a lot of houses. After we came out of each one, we had a talk about how it measured up to Wendy’s list.
One of the houses we looked at belonged to the young woman who later became my daughter-in-law. It was brick; all on one level had a fireplace in the living room, and had patio doors from the master bedroom and dining rooms to an enormous deck with a hot tub. It was beautifully decorated in a sort of “pared down Victorian” style. In was a bed of brass, some wickerwork, various healthy houseplants, as well as a few Victorian pieces of furniture that were really old, family pieces. Silver framed family photos were assembled on top of the piano.
After we leave the house, Jen started down the two steps to the car and then froze in place. She had the weirdest expression on her face. I enquire to know what wasn’t right, and she started to look sheepish and admitted, “That house is so beautiful and decorated nicely, I just liked looking at it and didn’t give any thought to how I’d live in it. I just wanted it.”
We went back inside. Jen still admired what had been done with the house, but decided it wasn’t right for her.
Knowing what’s important to you can save costly mistakes. The process of “trying on” a house helps you evaluate what’s important. I think you’ll find it’s worth the effort.