How to create a realistic home-buying wishlist:
1. BRAINSTORM
Think about your current home — what you like, what you wish was different, and what you couldn’t live without. By asking yourself questions about your current home, you’ll start to get an idea of what features you want your next home to have. Here are some questions to get you started:
– Do you have enough space? Do you have too much space?
– Do you like your neighborhood/the area you live in?
– Do you have enough bedrooms? How about bathrooms?
– Do you like the style of your home?
– Do you have a nice backyard? Do you use it?
2. CATEGORIZE YOUR LIST
Once you start creating your home wishlist, it can be hard to stop. Before you know it, you’ll be touring homes that are triple your price range!
Separate your list into categories: most important, kind of important, not preferred, and big no-nos. Here’s a cheat sheet
1. NEEDS: non-negotiables
2. WANTS: features that would be great to have, but they are not a necessity
3. DON’T WANTS: things you would rather not have, but it wouldn’t automatically rule out a property
4. DEAL BREAKERS: features you wouldn’t be able to live without — you shouldn’t even look at a property if it has one of your deal-breakers (unless it’s easily fixable)
3. DISCUSS YOUR LIST WITH YOUR REAL ESTATE AGENT
You should have your realtor review your home-buying wishlist to give you their honest opinion on if they think you are being realistic (based on the current market trends and what you have on your list). Your real estate agent can also use this list to set you up on an MLS search to look for properties with your specific criteria!
