When looking for a new home, you want to make sure you are making the right purchase. However, doing this can be very difficult, especially since smart sellers make it even more complicated by trying to cover up the bad and heighten the appeal of good features in their homes. Nevertheless, there are six ways to spot a home with potential reliably!
A nice floor plan
To spot a home with potential, the first thing you need to look at is its floor plan. There are lots of different guaranteed return-on-investment home improvement projects. But there’s very little you can do when it comes to changing a floor plan. Not without investing far too much money, at least. The best you could do is knock down a couple of walls before things get prohibitively expensive. Of course, the definition of a good floor plan fluctuates from person to person. Some prefer an open floor plan, while others like to have as many individual rooms as possible. What it really depends on is whether or not the floor plan would mesh well with your family’s needs. If it does, you can go ahead and consider the house an excellent potential purchase!
An ideal location
If it’s hard to do anything about a floor plan, then it’s impossible to do anything about the house’s location. If you settle down in an inconvenient part of the city, you’ll be stuck living there for a while. It might not seem like much of a downside at first. After all, a single person or a young couple would not have it too rough even if they travel a bit further for shopping or to go to work. However, consider what will happen once you have kids or if you already have them. Commuting to school could be difficult or even dangerous. Similarly, if you don’t own a car, you want to ensure there is an easily reached bus station or other public transport means. To find your dream home, selecting a good location is crucial.
Solid foundations
The next way to spot a potential home is to assess the house’s state. One way to do this is to inquire about its age. Older homes tend to have more issues than newer ones, but know this is not an ironclad rule. Of course, the best thing to do, especially if you are buying your first home and if you lack experience, is to hire professional home inspectors. They can accurately tell you whether the house would require renovation and whether it would be a minor or major investment to get it back into good condition. Even if a home has been lived in and it isn’t a fixer-upper, it is still possible for it to have hidden problems even from the previous owners. Of course, a thorough inspection would reveal most, if not all, of them.
A good neighborhood
Another thing you can have very little control over are your neighbors. If you purchase a house next to obnoxiously loud people, or people with particularly loud pets, your life can become significantly harder. This is why you should always ask probing questions about the neighborhood when trying to spot a home with potential. If you like a property, you should definitely go out of your way to talk to a few of the neighbors. They might reveal problems with the neighborhood to you, or you might spot troublesome neighbors yourself during the chats. Of course, another thing to check is whether the district is considered ‘safe.’ Areas with high crime rates are definitely not where you want to start a life and raise a family. Thankfully, this isn’t that hard to research, and you can even try to consult with local authorities on the subject.
Size considerations
One more thing to take into account is the size of the property. And we do mean the whole property. When viewing it, you will consider whether the house is large enough for you and your family. However, many people discard the importance of having a decently sized yard. Having extra space outside of your home is extremely useful. You can start a garden, make an area where you can relax and while away your time, or even build a playground for your kids. Alternatively, you can always consider building expansions for your home. This would admittedly be an expensive project, but it could be the perfect choice for you under the right circumstances. Whatever you decide to do with the space, it is obviously better to have it and do nothing with it than to not have options.
Property history
One of the last ways to spot a home with potential would be to check its history. Now, we don’t actually mean its purchase or ownership history. Instead, this refers to the building’s history of repairs, remodels, and renovations. This is because such data often reveals crucial clues about the house. For example, if the previous owners were frequently forced to do renovations caused by water damage in the attic, bathroom, or basement, you can guarantee that you will have to do it, too. This pattern can point to the fact that water is seeping through the walls or that the city or even just the neighborhood have high humidity, which causes issues. You do not want such a home since you’ll need to worry about home maintenance checklists for fall and other seasons anyway! Do not make your job more complex when you don’t have to.
Final comment
By properly utilizing the six ways to spot a home with potential, you will find the ideal property for your family. At the end of the day, it all comes down to trying to look past decorations, furniture, and even, to an extent, the current state of maintenance. If a house has a good location, an undamaged foundation, and even the other features we’ve listed out, then a minor renovation investment is not too big a deal.
