Erin Gobler7-minute read
UPDATED: March 05, 2023
Buying a home is an exciting process. Unfortunately, it can also be an overwhelming one. Not only are there budget considerations, but you also feel the pressure of finding the perfect home for your family. And the unprecedented housing market during the past 2 years has only made the process more nerve-wracking.
Finding the perfect home is easier when you’ve got a house-hunting checklist by your side. We’ve put together a checklist to help you stay organized on your home search and feel confident in your home purchase.
A home is likely the largest single purchase you’ll make in your life, so it’s important to be thorough and ensure you’ve found the perfect space for your family.
There’s a lot of work to be done before you get to the point of buying a home. A few important steps to complete include:
Once you’ve taken all the steps necessary before looking at houses, you can use the checklist below to find your perfect home. As you work through the checklist with prospective homes, rate each item on the list from 1 – 5, with 5 being the best score and 1 being the worst. By rating each checklist item for each home you’re considering, you’ll have an easier time comparing them and deciding which home is a better fit.
A home’s neighborhood is one of the most important factors to consider when deciding if it’s the right fit. As a homeowner, your location affects many parts of your life, from the stores you frequent to the school your children attend to how safe you feel.
Here are a few factors you’ll want to consider:
When you’re shopping for your new home, each house’s specs are some of the first information you’ll look at. These specs are usually readily available in the listing and allow you to choose or rule out certain homes without going to an open house. The most common home specs you’ll likely consider include:
When it comes to analyzing a home’s specifications, there are no right or wrong answers. It’s helpful to go into the house-hunting process knowing what specs you’d like in a home so that you can easily look at a listing to determine if the home is worth your time. You can easily rule out those that aren’t big enough – or are too big – and don’t have your must-haves.
The exterior is one of the most important factors to consider when shopping for a home. And unfortunately, home buyers often spend too much time worrying about superficial characteristics, and too little time paying attention to the things that really matter. Here are a few things you’ll want to consider when it comes to the exterior of a home:
In addition to the exterior of a home, it’s also important to pay attention to the interior. Not only is the inside of the home where you’ll be spending most of your time, but it can also be expensive to repair or replace features inside the home. Some of the internal characteristics of a home that you should consider include:
While the aesthetic features of a home are important, it’s also important to pay attention to the systems within your home and how they’re working. Your home inspection can help you to address most of these questions. Here are a few things to consider:
In addition to the important aspects of your home’s interior, exterior, specifications and neighborhood, there are a few other factors to consider that don’t quite fit into one of those categories. Here are a few other things you’ll want to consider when you’re housing hunting:
When you’re searching for the perfect home, it’s important to know what red flags or dealbreakers to look out for. These red flags can include problems with the home, financial or documentation problems and more. Some of these red flags will be dealbreakers altogether, while others are things to keep in mind, though you may still buy the home. Here are a few to look out for:
Home buying is an exciting process, but it’s also a complicated one, and it’s important to go into it with a level head. When you start house hunting with a checklist in hand, it will be easier to evaluate each home and determine if it’s right for your family. And if you need help finding the perfect home, you can contact a Rocket HomesSM real estate agent to help you through the process.
Erin Gobler is a freelance personal finance expert and writer who has been publishing content online for nearly a decade. She specializes in financial topics like mortgages, investing, and credit cards. Erin's work has appeared in publications like Fox Business, NextAdvisor, Credit Karma, and more.
Viewing 1 - 3 of 3