You may be sure of the kind of home you want now, but think about the future as you begin your search. Unless you are willing to move every few years, try to anticipate some of the changes that may lie in your future. Nature-loving newlyweds may come into the agent’s office asking for “an old house—we don’t care if it’s rundown because we can do some work on it, but it has to be in the country on five acres.” (There’s something mystical about five acres; no one ever requests four acres or six and a half.) The agent faces a problem immediately, because it can be difficult to find financing for a rundown house. And a few years later the couple may come back to the office, having found themselves isolated with two infants and nary a babysitter in sight. “Please,” they say, “this time show us something in the middle of a tract full of toddler playmates and baby-sitting teenagers.” On the flip side, Americans are a more transient bunch than ever before, with the average householder moving an average of seven times during his or her life. Seeing your home as an investment that may be sold someday will make you want to retain its desirability and broaden its appeal so that if the time comes to sell it, you can get top dollar in a shorter marketing time. Ideas about housing design can change also. The couple with the toddlers will be delighted with a family room open to the kitchen so that the tots can be supervised while the cooking is going on. But ten years later, the same parents may be longing for a family room located down a flight of stairs, around a corner, and with a soundproof door. Every house is a compromise. Before you start looking, accept that you will eventually give up something you now consider important: the mature trees, the open fireplace, the guest room. You’ll fall in love with one special house and suddenly decide you can live without a sunny backyard after all. |
