Finding the Perfect Forever Home for your Future Family.
Choosing your forever home is a huge step in every person’s life. If given the choice, most of us will try to pick out the perfect home for our future families before or shortly after starting to have children. Nobody can anticipate everything that will happen in their life, but it’s easy to imagine what you want your dream home to look like.
There may be a location that you are already familiar with, and are hoping to grow your family in. For example, if you’ve lived in Santa Fe your entire life than you may want to look at real estate in Rancho, Santa Fe. Maybe you already have family in a certain area, or likely you already have a job or career that you don’t want to move away from. Most parents find themselves making at least a few sacrifices for their future children when choosing their forever home.
Of course, staying in an area where you have a village of family members and friends that can help raise your children or staying close enough to continue on in your career, are not sacrifices that you want to make. It is much more common to sacrifice a man cave for a playroom, a kid-friendly yard for a master bath, or a good school district for a happening downtown area.
Yes, the school district will play one of the largest roles in this decision. Many choose to move to an entirely new location just for the school district, sacrificing current and loved surroundings. Finding a home for a family comes down to location, location, location! Other than schools, parks and safe spaces for children (such as youth centers) to keep them out of trouble are crucial, along with nearby shopping for home goods and groceries. Moving to a new area before settling down can be very scary, but can have enormous gains in the long run.
Once you have narrowed down the locations, the trick will be to balance what you want with what you can afford. Find out your current home’s worth and get as much information as you can on your credit, to start with. Make sure your credit report is accurate and current, and check to see what changes you can make to improve it. Look around the market in your chosen location and see what you might be able to afford, and don’t forget to look at cost of living when moving to a new district.
It’s very important to balance how much your current home is worth; particularly keeping in mind how much is still owed on it. If you are a first time homeowner and are ready to be done renting, there are specific loans that cater to new homeowners. Try these first, as they will often have better rates for you. All of these factors will determine your budget.
Once you know the approximate amount you have to spend, see what is available in your budget that meets your needs. Again, it’s impossible to predict the future, but having an idea of how many bedrooms you need, or other specifications like a home office and storage, will help you make up the list of must-haves for your new home.
All in all, it takes a lot of work and research to find your forever family home. Finding the right balance of your needs, wants, and budget can and will be a long process, but creating memories in your new family home will make you glad you put as much into the process as you were able.
