While buying any home can be quite the quest, buying a home that you’ll share with your family for years to come can put added pressure on your search. Especially if your family isn’t quite done growing yet, it can be hard to know exactly what you need in a new home.
So to help make this process a little easier for you, here are three tips for buying a new family home.
Know What Floor Plan You Want
One of the most basic things that you’ll want to figure out before you even start looking at potential new homes for your family, according to Kate Ashford, a contributor to Parents.com, is what type of floor plan you want. Depending on your personal taste and your family members’ ages, the floor plan you’ll want will vary. But because this is one of the hardest things to change within a home without doing major renovations, it’s best to find a new home that already has the floor plan you want.
Aside from the basic floor plan, you’ll also want to determine how you feel about stairs, having bedrooms close together or on opposite sides of the home, an attached garage, square footage and more. With this information in hand, you should be able to weed through potential homes pretty quickly until you’re able to find a few that will fit your basic needs.
Make Sure There’s Enough Storage Space
As you add more people to your family and each of your family members grow, you’re going to need more and more storage space for everyone’s belongings. So when you’re trying to find the perfect house for your family to move into, it’s important that you make sure that the space has enough storage.
According to Coral Nafie, a contributor to The Spruce, older homes tend to have less storage space than newer homes. In general, homes that have been built more recently have more closet space and more storage areas built into the home. So before you fall in love with an older home with lots of charm, make sure it has the storage space you need or square footage that you can turn into storage space.
Look Beyond Just The House
When living in a family home, it’s more than the actual home that’s going to make your living experience a great one. In fact, you should look beyond even just the property that you the house is situated one.
Marian White, a contributor to Moving.com, shares that you’ll also need to look at the schools in the area, crime rates, nearby traffic, close amenities, and more. All of these things will have an impact on your family’s life in your new home.
If you’re in the market for a family home, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you find the right one.
