BEHIND THE SCENE
Valentine’s Day is here! Love is in the air. And it’s the perfect time to be part of a couple. But before you follow your heart and say “I do” to buying a house with that special someone, we’d caution you to use your brain for just a moment and ask them these five simple questions. It’s a great way to make certain that as a couple you’re both on the same page. Especially when it comes to a big purchase like buying a home.
At Team Athey and Remarkable Property Management we don’t just find people a house, we attempt to match them to the perfect house. But what happens if you’re trying to find a home for two people together and they don’t have the same homeowner dream. Someone has to compromise, right? Not necessarily if you talk about the details of homeownership first.
To make this process easy, we’ve composed five questions to discuss with each other before you tie the knot.
Question 1: What is our budget? Sit down together and realistically discuss what price house you can afford. You don’t want to get married and immediately become house poor because you didn’t anticipate increased utility bills and/or property taxes. Give yourselves some wiggle room to save for unexpected expenses such as replacing a broken appliance or repairing a roof or fence. Ask yourself, as newlyweds, if you need to lease first before you take the plunge straight into homeownership.
Question 2: What kind of mortgage do we want? There are all kinds of mortgages from 10, 15 to 30 years—First Time Homebuyers (FHA) and Conventional—all with differing terms and varying amounts of down payment. Therefore, it makes sense to get pre-approved for a mortgage loan before you even make an offer on a home, so you won’t have any surprises when it comes to your monthly payment.
Question 3: What style of architecture do we like? Just because you’ve been bitten with the love bug, doesn’t mean you both will come to the same starry-eyed conclusion of what type of home to buy. If one of you has their heart set on Modern and the other loves Victorian, you really need to take this question seriously. Talk it out. Explore all your options. There is a style and floor plan you both will love. You just may have to look a little harder for it.
Question 4: What area do we want to live in? Location is important when it comes to both work and play. Some love the urban feel of downtown and others prefer the serenity of the suburbs while others are willing to drive a little further to live in the country. This may seem like a simple question, but believe us, people fight over this a lot. To avoid fighting in front of other people, ask this question in a private place. Preferably a romantic one where you can persuade your significant other to see it your way, if they don’t already.
Question 5: Do we want to have kids in the near future? And, if so, how many? Usually you can fit one baby comfortably into a small place, but by the time babies number two and three come along, things start to get cramped. And, as they grow, the need for a backyard and good schools need to be considered. All things that go back to some of the questions above, such as location and budget. Might as well discuss it all now, and get everything out in the open, if you want to live happily ever after.
Hi, I’m Suzanne Athey, founder of Team Athey & Remarkable Property Management. If you’d like more pre-marriage real estate counseling, call me at 469-916-1222 or email me at suzanne@teamathey.com. I’d love to visit with you both and answer all your questions.
