5 ways you'll know when you've found the right home.
So you have been looking for a while and you think you have found the one, but you are unsure. Of course you are unsure this is the biggest purchase you have ever mad in your entire life. This is the first house you are ever going to buy. This. Is. HUGE. But let me let you know that there are 5 little ways that you can be sure that this actually is the one.
1) The way it makes you feel. You will get that little nervous/excited/happy feeling. You know the one. It's almost like falling in love, except with an inanimate object. Now you may get this from a number of homes that you look at, but if the house doesn't give you this feeling, then it definitely isn't the one.
2) Your significant other agrees with you. If they don't like it, there is probably a good reason. And if you are doing this together than you both should be happy about the purchase. Buying the house that makes you happy but not her/him is probably not a wise choice. If you are doing this by yourself then you should look to a friend / family / co-worker to give you just a little bit of advice for reassurance.
3) It's got the amenities that you wanted when you first started looking for a home. Now this one is pretty big, and yes compromises sometimes have to be made, and sometimes things change while you are looking for a home. But if you started out looking for a home on 2 acres or more out in the country, and ended up thinking about making an offer on a condo downtown, you may want to reevaluate how you got here.
4) The monthly payment matches up with your budget. This is the biggest one in my opinion. If you stretch yourself so thin, that it will be hard to make ends meet, I promise you it will not be the best experience down the road if you buy something that is too far out of the budget you set for yourself when you started looking. I know from personal experience what it is like to be house poor. It's terrible, it's like being trapped and I would never wish that on anyone.
5) Your real estate agent thinks it is a good idea as well. Now you may say this is a strange 5th point, but If you are working with me, I will let you know if I don't think a home is the right one for you. I know what your budget is, I know what you were looking for when you first started looking, I know where the good and bad parts of town are, and I know if it's going to be a good investment for you. I want you not only to love "buying" the house but also to love living there. If you buy a home that isnt the right one you won't love living there after the newness wears off. And then some of that feeling will get directed toward me. If my business is built on referrals, then I can't be having that!!!!!!
So there you go, if you have those 5 things working in your favor about the home you are thinking of making an offer on, well then you probably got yourself a nice house