Choosing the right tree for your family's nest

It’s an age-old adage. You know the one: location, location, location. Switch on any of those home buying shows and you’ll probably see a happy couple calmly sorting through three charming but uniquely different homes in three different neighborhoods in the same city and picking one by the end of the half hour. Oh that it were so easy! Not that it sometimes isn’t, however. I just had the pleasure of helping a couple purchase their first home right here in Maitland, and it happened to be the first home we saw. There are many so-called lucky buyers like that in today’s market. Only luck doesn’t have much to do with it. While we are still in what is considered by most to be a “seller’s market” with about four and a half months of available housing inventory in the greater Orlando area, rates are still relatively low and buyers do have options. So how does one end up as “lucky” as my aforementioned buyers, and how to determine where to buy?

The questions are directly connected, to each other and to the success of buying a home that is right for you and efficiently. I’ve heard it a great deal in my decade in real estate, “We’re not in a hurry. We’d like to look all over the Greater Orlando area and we’ll buy whatever the best deal is. We don’t have a particular neighborhood that we favor and can take our time.” Taking your time when buying a home is important and perhaps not in the way most homebuyers initially consider. Another familiar request is “What is the best neighborhood for my family to live in?” The answer is specific to your family and your needs. There are fair housing regulations that prohibit Realtors from steering consumers toward certain areas or scaring them away from others by proclaiming neighborhoods to be either “good” or “bad,” and I think that’s a good thing. Today the data consumers want is available on the World Wide Web and I think it’s a great idea for anyone buying a home to do some digging online.

What I also advise my buyers to think about when picking a location is what they will want from their neighborhood. Create your own personal wish list and go from there. Do you want a short commute? Is walking to the park and the grocery store a priority for you? Google Maps and ZipMap.net can help you see the surrounding towns near your office while WalkScore.com ranks areas by their walkability. Is your child in a particular school and you would like to keep them there? The school they attend or the county it is situated in will have a website where you can enter your potential address to check if it’s within range. Your agent can also assist you in learning the current boundaries for your child’s school. Once you have a location wish list, make one for your future home. Focus on the big picture items first such as one story or two, house or condo, pool or no pool, garage and square footage. Once you have the more permanent feature requirements out of the way you can focus on the finishes such as cabinetry, flooring and paint. I personally love Pinterest for creating “boards” where I pin architecture, home décor and design ideas. Remember, cosmetic items are far easier to change than adding on a room, so don’t pass on a great find because you don’t like the paint color or carpet.

Knowing exactly what you want increases exponentially your odds of finding it and prevents time being wasted looking at homes you would never consider. A little forethought goes a long way here. Finding a home is much like finding a partner or success. The luckiest people are the ones who do their homework and know what they want. I’ll end things with another famous quote from the philosopher Seneca, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”