Just like making your toy wish list for Christmas as a kid, you can make a home wish list as an adult on your home-buying journey. Using your life priorities as your guide, making a wish list will make your search a lot easier.
Prioritize your needs first. Needs are absolute. For instance, you MUST have 3 bedrooms. It MUST be within 10 minutes of your job. Or, you MUST be in a certain neighborhood for your kids’ school. Know what these things are, and that you cannot live without any of them. These items are your main search parameters.
Then, prioritize your wants by dividing them up into big wants and little wants. You want them, but if you don’t see them in this house you can see the possibility to add them later. It doesn’t have a pool, but it has the perfect backyard to add one. It doesn’t have a new refrigerator, but you can easily replace the old one. If a home has all your needs, and most of your wants, you’re all set.
There are many variables to consider when you’re looking for a home: your budget, the location of the home, how long you expect to live there. What’s important to you is not necessarily important to someone else, and the more you can define your needs and wants, the easier it will be for you and your agent to locate several “perfect homes” for you.