Finding the ideal house or apartment can be an exhausting task, even with the availability of tools and online platforms for selling and renting real estate that we have today. Being an important monetary investment, making this decision should be calm, having done an accurate market research and, if necessary, sought help from an experienced real estate agent to guide you in your search.
Since it's a decision where you cannot rush, in this article we have prepared a series of tips and outstanding factors that you must consider while searching for your new home to choose it correctly.
👉 If you're an expat looking to sort out your housing situation, click here for 5 key points to consider to get your assignment abroad off to a good start.
1. Set your priorities
Make a list with everything you need from a new home and another with everything you would like it to have, be it certain services, security, or maybe a pool. This will help you prioritize and make a conscious and appropriate decision based on what you or your family needs.
2. Establish your budget
Before you start looking at possible options, we recommend setting a rough budget that you're comfortable with and willing to spend. Also, consider a margin of this amount to additional costs, such as maintenance costs, home insurance, taxes, among others.
3. Select the area and location
Consider that the location of your new house or apartment can streamline your daily life! Pay special attention to the area or neighborhood where you want to live and even investigate the level of security it has, since it will be a factor that can influence your decision. It will also be important to determine how close the property is to essential public places such as parks, schools, hospitals, shopping centers or supermarkets.
To investigate this, a common and easy to use tool is Google Maps which can indicate any nearby services or facilities in the area.
4. Analyze the building's antiquity
It will depend on the area if the majority of the market are completely new homes or previously used ones, which may require a renovation to suit your needs and tastes before moving. So if it's an older house or apartment, consider checking if the building was previously remodeled or maintained.
5. Quality of services
Investigate carefully that all regular services are installed and working properly, and check that payments for these are up to date. Also, check that the essential furniture has the appropriate quality. To help you not forget any aspect, we share some of these services and finishes that you may need to examine:
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6. Adequate size and distribution
Make sure that the size of the house or apartment is adequate for the number of people who are moving in with you, being the number of rooms, bathrooms or common spaces what they really require. Also analyze, if interested, if there is an opportunity to expand any space in the future..
Likewise, it's important that you observe the distribution of the house and consider that shared spaces, such as the kitchen, dining room or living room, don't interfere with the rooms when resting, which will depend on your personal and/or family preferences.
7. Consider thermal and acoustic insulation
Both aspects can influence the comfort inside the house. A correct thermal and acoustic insulation is achieved in terms of good construction and use of suitable materials.
Good thermal insulation is related to energy consumption, which can reduce expenses, such as heating. On the other hand, for acoustic insulation, the external noise of the area must be considered, either due to traffic or perhaps noise from neighbors.
8. The importance of orientation
The orientation of the house will be directly related to illumination and energy consumption, so it's important to take it into account when analyzing your options and making a decision. The season of the year and the orientation are what will define how much natural light enters the home and therefore, its air conditioning.
9. Consider your neighbors
Depending on the type of housing, check if there is any neighborhood organization around the area or building, and find out if there's a committee that meets on maintenance, security, or administration issues.
Some of these tips may seem obvious, but they will be important to consider when making a decision like this. Remember to assess your priorities and needs to choose the best option and, above all, ask yourself if you imagine living in this new home.
👉 When making a decision and starting the moving process, visit our article where we share the best tips for packing each type of your belongings.
