Needs & Desires
Your needs fulfilled, you turn to your desires. A home on the beach or in the woods, a gourmet kitchen, a wood-paneled den, crystal chandeliers hanging over the banquet table in the manor-sized dining room and an Olympic-sized swimming pool with a hot tub and sauna. In your first home, you must ensure all needs are met; however, there are probably going to be some desires that you will have to let go for now due to affordability issues.
Decide which qualities are your needs and which are only desires.
- Would you like a swimming pool? Enough that a home without one is not worth looking at?
- In what areas or neighborhoods might the home be located? Where do you want to live? Where might you have to live for work commute or home price reasons?
- What features would make it special and which ones matter most?
- What can you afford and what is out of your budget?
Budget usually constrains us most in selecting a home. While some things are necessary for any home, others will just have to stay on the list of desires for now.
Make A List. Check It Twice
You may have an existing impression of what you want from your new home. Putting that to paper and having a complete checklist can prove useful.
Before starting your hunt for a new home, it is advisable to make a list of all your basic needs and desires, then rank the desires by priority. This will make the search easier. Realize that it is nearly impossible to find a home that meets all requirements at once in both needs and desires, though. Compromises will be necessary.
It is a good idea to work in order from outside-the-house factors to inside-the-house. For example, location is perhaps the primary concern and both "need" factors and "desire" factors might be involved. A "need" might be within 25 miles of work. A "desire" might be a favored neighborhood.
Location needs may include proximity to schools, frequently used recreation facilities, or mode of transportation. Closeness to family might be a need for a couple with young children or elderly parents to care for, or a desire if those factors are not involved. It is items like these that make a checklist helpful.
After location needs and desires are compiled, housing factors can be considered. Needs include having all essential house structures and systems in good working order. Accepting a house that needs a new roof because the owner is willing to knock $7,000 off the listing price is not a sensible deal when it will cost $15,000 to replace the roof in two years.
Needs might include a minimum number of bedrooms and bathrooms, no steps, fenced yard, perhaps a first-floor laundry facility, and any feature the prospective buyers have decided they cannot accept a home without. Desires are the features that make the home more attractive or enjoyable: an upgraded kitchen, walk-in-closets, a master bedroom suite. Of course one buyer's need is another buyer's desire. The point is to know your own needs and desires, so you can easily assess potential properties.
Buying a house is not a simple process. Much of the planning should be done well in advance of contacting a real estate agent or looking at houses. Work out the costs and decide your budget. Choose general location. Contact lenders well ahead of home shopping so your offers are not tied up in getting financial approval.
People understand important things and potential compromises differently. Needs are basic requirements that cannot be ignored or compromised. Desires can be left behind if the situation demands. You need to make a clear distinction between what your necessities are and which items you would be better off classifying as desires.
Remember, no matter how many desires you leave unfulfilled now, they can be worked on later. A pool can be added after a promotion or two. Maybe you don't like the color of he walls or the window frames; renovation may be a hassle, but it is always an option for later. Paint color is rarely a need but having a garage may be.
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