Creating a Home Buying Wish List for Your Portland Area Home

Creating a Home Buying Wish List

Before just heading out into the open real estate market and looking at all of the houses available to you, even when the number of available homes is much lower, it is always a great idea to sit down and write out what you are looking for in a home. This is often called a homebuying wish list. Knowing exactly what you want from your next home will help you to narrow down your search and help save you wasted time looking at homes you know you will not be interested in.

Here are some things to consider while putting together your wish list.

Don’t be afraid to daydream a little

Before getting to the practical business of writing out what you need in a home sit back and picture what you want your next home to look like. What is an ideal home in your mind? What is considered a dream home is going to look different to everyone, but after you have closed your eyes and dreamed about your next home for a little while it should be easier to write down everything that you saw in your dream.

Try to remember everything about the details of this dream home. Was it in the middle of the city, did it have a giant yard, was there a luxury master suite, etc.?

Start to bring your dreams back down to reality

After spending that fun time fantasizing about what the perfect home would look like if money were no object and taking down a few notes about it, you may start to whittle things off the list that you know would not be practical, realistic, or within your current financial means. A mote and a drawbridge and a turret may sound amazing, but do you think you really will be able to find that in the location that you want to live?

Take the more realistic attributes of your dream home and keep those on the list while replacing the lofty ones with more down-to-earth home needs for day-to-day life.

Consider the other people you will be living with

If you are purchasing a home that other people will be living in with you make sure that you are considering what they dream about, want, and need from a home as well. It is a great idea to get everybody that is living in the home’s input to help make a great decision on a home that can be lived in and loved by all.

Don’t forget about the location and setting

Are you more of a middle-of-the-city type of person, or someone that prefers the solitude of a very spread-out rural country setting? Are you wanting to live within a neighborhood that has other families that children can get to know each other in? Do you have a dog that you like to take on a walk daily and are hoping to find easily walkable quiet streets? Maybe you work from home and want to be close to a coffee shop where you can get some respite from being in the home and a quick snack while still being able to work.

Homestyle

What type of home style is ideal for you? Do you see yourself in a two-story home? Are you hoping to live all on one level and be able to have this be your forever home even in your golden years when going up and down stairs maybe a little less attainable? Do you like a more modern architectural style? Sometimes we get caught up in the logistics of what a home has and forget about what our style preferences might be for the actual home.

Creating as detailed a wish list as possible will help you to identify your wants and needs and your budget for your next home. In addition to saving time, it will also help out your experienced local real estate agent to pinpoint the homes that best fit your wish list description.