Buying A House Checklist- What Features Should I Look For?

When you’re searching for your dream home, chances are you’ll have a wishlist of features that you want as long as your arm. However, in reality, there’s generally some compromise that needs to be made- unless you have a limitless budget that is! The good news is that through renovations, you can adapt the right property for it to fit your needs. However, there are some things that you shouldn’t compromise on or should be particularly keen on getting right. Here are a few of them.

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The Area

You might find the most perfect house ever, but if you’re not keen on the area, it’s never going to feel like home. A run down house in a nice area is far better than a nice house in a bad area. You can make changes to your property, but there’s not much you can do about your surroundings. If you’re a little iffy about the neighborhood, then think long and hard before accepting the house as you don’t want to regret your choice later down the line.

The Garden

You can change the size of your property by extending, but you can’t change the size of the garden. So this needs to be something you’re happy with when you decide on the house. If you’ve always wanted outdoor space to throw garden parties, sunbathe and plant flowers- will you come to resent a small concrete yard? It’s tempting when you find the perfect house to overlook the garden, but be sure to take it into consideration. Does it allow you enough room to extend your home in the future, and give you the space that you want?

Eco-Friendly Features

We all know the importance of reducing our carbon footprint and being kinder to the environment. And once way we can do this is at home. Features like a private water well for example will give you your own fresh, safe water source without any of the fossil fuels needed to get water from a treatment plant. Solar panels are another good feature. If you look into solar panel costs, you’ll see they can be a little pricey to buy up front, but the good thing is they save you money on your energy bills as well as helping the environment. So a home which already has them installed is a good selling point.

Plumbing and Electrics

Even if you’re planning on completely renovating, you will still want good plumbing and electrics in place. These are incredibly expensive to have fitted, so if they need to be replaced, then the price of the house should reflect this. As well as the cost it can be messy and time-consuming putting these things right, so if you don’t want to be stuck with the hassle then do your research before putting in an offer.

What kinds of things do you advise homebuyers to look for when they’re purchasing a property?