Quality is a matter of value, not a reflection of price. What is valuable to you may mean little to the next home buyer. Top quality in Real Estate commonly refers to lifestyle, enjoyment and suitability. Does ‘home’ conform to and enhance the way we want to live our lives? Your home’s location will certainly be a deciding factor in your quest for Top Quality.
In today’s Real Estate market, finding the perfect home might take more effort than ever before. As the current market progresses, home buyers are reluctantly embracing the necessity of adjusting expectations. You may need to settle for smaller room sizes in order to get the necessary number of bedrooms. Scoring that single level floorplan might make up for a less-than-ideal layout. You may feel that you can accept fewer upgrades or forgo your dream kitchen and bathrooms, for the sake of living within walking distance of work, church or your child’s school. Even in the most advantageous of markets, most home buyers will be obliged to find a middle ground between their wants and their needs. That doesn’t mean you need to compromise on quality. Remember, owning quality, is the principle of deciding what is valuable to YOU.
Even so, there are a few areas where I suggest postponing compromise until absolutely necessary: storage space, garage space and the biggie… location. The need for dedicated storage areas is probably unique to select locations including here in Arizona where basements are almost unheard of. The need for Garage space will depend largely on the weather. But nearly every corner of the US has ‘weather’; heat here, snow there, hurricanes somewhere else. So ample garage space remains a practicality. Then, of course we come to location.
According to Wikipedia, the cliché “the three most important factors in determining the desirability of a property are “location, location, location” appeared in print as early as 1926. For good reason, it still applies today. You can change the layout of your home, adjust for storage space, add a garage. You can remodel the kitchen and baths. But it is laughably unlikely that the location of your home will ever change. (yup, I did see that article and I know it can be done) If you have the leeway to set aside location or it’s just not important to you, you are not only rare but very fortunate. Yes, “location, location, location” is still a thing.
So how do you find the top quality home? The one that will suit your needs in the place you want to be? With the right tools there’s no question, you can do it!
In light of the real estate market’s current shortage of available inventory, Meghan Belnap’s article below ‘4 Ways Homebuyers Can Find Top Quality Real Estate‘ proves to be both timely and helpful. All good advice, but I would especially endorse #4 – the advice to consider future plans for your neighborhood and surrounding area.
4 Ways Homebuyers Can Find Top Quality Real Estate
By Meghan Belnap
When buying a home, one of the biggest challenges is finding a selection of quality houses to choose from. Since homes can vary dramatically, even those that are in the same neighborhood, it’s important to have a method to separate the good houses from the best houses.
Fortunately, whether you’re buying land or a pre-built home, there are steps you can take to prevent buyer’s remorse. To help you make a wise purchase decision, here are four ways that homebuyers can find top-quality real estate:
Check Out the Neighborhood
One way to find top-quality houses is to investigate individual neighborhoods that you’re interested in. It’s a good idea to visit potential neighborhoods at different times throughout the day so that you can discover if there are any major annoyances that would make a specific home a no-go. Plus, checking-out a neighborhood will give you a good idea of the friendliness of the neighbors, as well as provide insights into how well people take care of their properties.
Work With Your REALTOR®
Buyers of all experience levels can do themselves a huge favor by asking their REALTOR® for advice on a potential purchase. Keep in mind that your REALTOR® likely processes dozens of real estate transactions every year. This experience gives them unique insight into the best neighborhoods in the area. If you take the time to trust their wisdom and listen to what they have to say, you might find that you end up with a great piece of real estate.
Look Up Statistics
Once you choose a specific piece of real estate, you are, in a way, “married” to the neighborhood in which that real estate resides. Therefore, it’s important to look up various statistics about that neighborhood to ensure it’s a good place to live. Information on crime rates, income levels, school locations and much more is all freely available online. To help save yourself some time in your search, it’s a good idea to look up these statistics before taking any further steps in case the statistics reveal something that disqualifies the neighborhood from your search.
Editor’s Note: Your contracted 10-day inspection period is the ideal time to research the neighborhood. Your inspection period is not limited to the Home Inspection as many home buyers would assume. There are a wide variety of investigations that warrant consideration, both professional and self-guided including pests, schools, environmental hazards, crime rates and proximity of sex offenders, property documents and permits, easements, utility providers. Anything that pertains to or affects your ownership in the property is of significance.
Research Future Plans
Another piece of hard data you should consider is any plans that are proposed for your neighborhood. After all, you don’t want to move into a new home, only to be surprised when a warehouse is built across the road. Use the website of your local property administrator to look up building permits to see if any are filed for your potential neighborhoods. If you do find permits, but they’re for developments that add to the neighborhood, consider whether the temporary inconvenience of a construction site is worth the long-term gain of the new amenity.
In many ways, buying a home is a very emotional decision. It can be easy to envision all the memories you’ll make in your home as you look at potential properties. However, it’s important to stick to the hard data when choosing a home, as this will help prevent a rash decision that you might regret later. By making the wise decision to do extensive research, you may become emotionally attached and be confident that you won’t be heartbroken.
Meghan Belnap is a freelance writer who enjoys spending time with her family. She finds happiness in researching new topics that help expand her horizons. This article first appeared on RISMedia’s blog, Housecall. Reprinted with permission from RISMedia. ©2020. All rights reserved.
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Bill Salvatore / Arizona Elite Properties
Your Valley Property Team
Residential Sales, Marketing, and Property Management
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While you’re deciding if it’s time to make a move, let us help with our Moving On Advantage Discount! When you list your home with us, and buy another, we’ll contribute $2,000 toward your closing costs!
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New Construction, Heroes Home Advantage and Moving On Advantage discounts are in the form of a cash-back credit to be applied to closing costs, and must appear on Arizona Settlement Statement at close. You must be a client of Bill Salvatore, Arizona Elite Properties. Cash back credit amount is based on a portion of Realtor’s single client-side commission and will be disclosed by signed contract in advance. Realtor discounts can not be combined, only one Realtor discount may be applied each transaction.
Note on introduction: Bill Salvatore is a Realtor in the Phoenix Metro region of Arizona. All commentary on the real estate market pertains to conditions in Phoenix Valley area markets. Local Author/Editor’s comments inserted into existing articles are clearly identified as Editor’s Note.
