Don’t go looking for your DREAM home…

Chasing the dream of the perfect home is setting yourself up for failure. But don’t worry. I can get you back on track. Stay with me for the next 2 to 3 minutes and I will show you exactly how to get yourself unstuck. If you have been looking for your perfect dream home that you can find, and how your long term happiness will live on as long as you are in that house and how your bank account will actually. Thank you. Hi, I’m Janine Sasso. I am a local realtor in the Chicagoland area, servicing Schaumburg, Hoffman Estates, Barrington and the surrounding suburbs. In a perfect world, your dream home probably has eight bedrooms, six bathrooms, five car garage, separate in-law and guest house built in chef for the kitchen maid. How about a nanny? All right. I might be exaggerating here a little bit, but let’s be honest. Our wish list for our dream home might sometimes be quite extensive. And the dilemma is oftentimes the budget to find everything and fit everything in just the way you want it.

But don’t worry. I got some solutions to get you out of your dilemma. So watch those next when buying a home. Focus on location first. Don’t get distracted with all that fun, glitzy stuff. After you determine the perfect location, make sure you take a look at the bones of the house. The bones are really mechanics, the roof, the windows. If an owner has maintained those a those are costly to maintain. And B, if those have been maintained most often, you can assume the home was maintained for the long term and there’s less likelihood of deferred maintenance, which means less money spent on future repairs. Your perfect home needs to fit your lifestyle. If you hate yardwork, maybe getting the big, big yard so the dog can play might not make the most sense. If you hate commuting to work, getting the biggest house possible an hour away from work might also not be the right choice. So most of all, be honest with yourself and your lifestyle when buying a home. Be mindful of your budget. Overextending yourself to get everything you think you want might not be the best thing. You should be budgeting and about 1 to 3% of the property value in maintenance expenses for the year and your mortgage payment should be roughly about 30% of your income.

This way you are lowering the risk of overextending yourself, and you will also not be caught off guard if unplanned expenses due to homeownership come your way. When looking for your dream home. Keep in mind that certain things can be added or changed along the path of homeownership. A home that has enough flexibility to pivot with your changing lifestyle is the perfect home that you can ask for. These tips are all here to help you make a financially smart decision about your dream home. Don’t get swept up in the latest trends. Consider the home in terms of location, in terms of lifestyle choices, and in terms of flexibility to adjust to your potentially changing lifestyle. If you have any other questions, I’m happy to help you. My name is Janine Sasso. I am your local Chicagoland real estate agent, and I serviced Hoffman Estates, Schaumburg, Barrington and the surrounding suburbs. Now, do me a favor. Make sure you subscribe to my YouTube channel. Leave a comment below. And if you have anything else that you want to discuss, shoot me an email. I’d love to hear from you.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS