Even though you and your husband love your house and plan on staying in it for many years to comes, you both still enjoy homes that are on the Open House list on weekends. In fact, without the stress of needing to find the perfect purchase, looking at homes for sale in the neighbor hood simply gives you a chance to look at new decorating ideas, as well as future remodeling projects. For the most part, however, in spite of some new features that you would like to include in your home someday, both you and your husband agree that you are very satisfied with your current home. After paying a good price nearly ten years ago, your home has not only held its value, but but it has added significant equity as well.
With the number of houses for sale in any given area, it is important that potential buyers go into their real estate purchase with some key components in mind:

• The first thing that first time buyers should realize when they start looking at homes is that there really is no such think as a perfect home. In some areas of the country, in fact, if you pause for perfection in the home buying process you will miss out on the best properties that may only be on the market for 24 hours or less.
• Home values can be affected as much as 20% based on the quality of the school district, so it is important that you are well versed on the school district itself, as well as the neighborhood schools where the children from your neighborhood will attend.
• Estimates indicate that 52% of home buyers cited finding the right property as the most difficult part of buying a home.






• Pets should be taken into consideration in a home purchase. Finding a home, for instance, that already has a backyard fence is the goal of many pet owning buyers.
• Early in the home buying process it is essential that buyers understand their budget. What is the top price you are willing to pay? How much of a down payment can you afford?
• Real estate agents are a major resource for most buyers. In fact, while 99% of millennial home buyers search online for homes compared to their predecessors, even these tech savvy buyers understand the value of working with a real estate agent.
• Families who are tired of throwing their money away on rent, often look for homes that are in the price range that allows them to make the move to home ownership sooner rather than later.
• Estimates indicate that it is nearly 38% cheaper to buy a home than rent in the top 100 cities in the U.S., according to 2016 data.
• Consider the value of the surrounding homes when you are looking for a house to purchase. As a general rule, you do not want to own the most expensive house in the neighborhood.
• Typically, homeowners can get a 100% return on investment (ROI) on the money spent on a home’s curb appeal. As a buyer, however, you want to make sure that you are not paying more than you should for a property just because it looks nice from the street.






• House and real-estate related Google searches increased 253% between the years 2009 and 2013.
• One major factor for families with children is to make sure that you find a home that has plenty of backyard space, or easy access and close proximity to a neighborhood park and the area school.
• Understanding the market in your city can serve as a guide to making sure that you do not pay too much for a home.
• Statistics from the year 2015 indicate that there were 501,000 homes sold in the U.S. that year.
• Every home search begins with excitement, but to make sure that your enthusiasm for the process lasts it is important that you have a list of priorities that will help guide your search.

Buying a home is a complicated process that requires a good deal of patience and research. For many working with a knowledgeable realtor can help you achieve the goal of finding that near perfect home for your family. Are you ready to start?