We all grow up dreaming of one day living in our perfect home. Everyone’s dream home looks different, particularly when we’re young. Our dream homes as children often include brightly colored slides and a firemen’s pole – thankfully, most of us grow out of that phase.
By the time we’re adults, our vision for our dream house has been tweaked and changed several times until we’ve settled on a version that we are sure will calm our souls. If you’re in the market for buying your dream home, here are five tips that will help you along the way:
1. Choose a Location
Your dream house will quickly turn into a nightmare if you don’t buy in the right neighborhood. Be sure to do your research on an area and ask the locals for advice. Just because an area was a good one when you were a kid doesn’t mean that it still is.
Things change over time and you don’t want to get stuck with a house in a dodgy area just because you didn’t ask around. Location is everything and often the cheaper houses are only cheap because the neighborhood isn’t great.
2. Set Your Budget
Be realistic when setting your budget for your dream home. You need to ensure that you have a little wriggle room to work with; estate agents will often show you houses that are just outside of your budget in the hopes to get you to spend more.
When letting agents know what your budget is, knock it down by a few grand to allow for this sales tactic. This will also save you money to furnish your home.
3. Set up Viewings
Once you’ve chosen a country and a location to begin your search, set up house viewings with your agent. Look for property for sale in Benahavis, this quaint little village in Spain has all the makings for a dream house area.
You must view potential houses in person; it’s the only way to know for sure if they have the makings of being a dream home.
4. Make a Reasonable Offer
Making an offer can be tricky; you need to be honest about how much you can afford to spend, or else you will be setting yourself up to fail. The only thing standing in your way of buying the house of your dreams will be the asking price.
Sit down and go through your finances – that way you’ll know exactly how much you can offer the seller.
5. Be Prepared To Lose
Buying the house of your dreams doesn’t always work out. Sometimes we set unrealistic expectations for our budgets, and they fall short of the asking price. Instead of overstretching your budget, you should rather be prepared to lose.
Just because it doesn’t work out with one house doesn’t mean your dreams are dashed. It just means that you need to be a little more realistic about what your dream house could look like. Keep a positive attitude; the dream house that you can afford is out there waiting for you to make an offer.