How To Know When You’ve Found The Right House To Buy!

It’s no secret, the housing marketing is hot, hot, HOT! If you’re house hunting right now, you may be wondering when you’ve found the right house to buy. After all, purchasing a house is a huge decision and a major investment, so you’ll want to carefully consider your options before signing the dotted line. There are a lot of different elements that come into play when knowing if you have found the right house to buy. Today, we’ll be discussing these considerations and hopefully, give you some helpful advice for picking your next home!

For those of you who are stumbling across our blog for the first time, welcome to Hearthside Homes of Kansas City! We are a semi-custom home builder based in Liberty, MO. Since 1987, we’ve been building beautiful and long-lasting houses for residents in the Liberty, Kansas City, Kearney, and Parkville areas. Click here to view our current listings. Without further ado, let’s dive into our best advice for knowing when you’ve found the right house to buy! 

1). Location, Location, Location! 

You can change hardware and paint walls, but you can’t move a house! When buying a home, you’ll want to love the area it’s located in. Even if a home is beautiful and checks off all your must-have boxes, the area it is in could make or break the buying decision. Make sure you love the neighborhood and nearby attractions! If you’re new to the area you’re moving to, be sure to do research on the safety of the neighborhoods you’re considering as well as the reputation of the schools nearby. Heck, there’s no shame in knocking on a few doors and talking directly to residents in the area! 

Pro Tip: You also don’t want to buy the most expensive house in the neighborhood! Increase your chances of a good ROI by choosing a home that’s similar to the comps in the surrounding areas. 

2). The Home Is Convenient For Your Lifestyle

Before buying a home, be honest about your lifestyle! Make sure your home is a short commute to work and has easy highway access. If you have children, don’t forget to consider the distance to their school and extracurricular activities. Being close to family and friends is another thing to consider.

3). The Home Is Within Your Budget

Obviously, you will want a home that is within a comfortable budget! You don’t want to go into debt building or investing in a home that is way out of your price zone. Set a budget from the beginning and pick a house that fits that budget. This will alleviate stress down the line. A new house isn’t a blessing if you’re constantly worried about the mortgage payment! Being “house poor” can really put a damper on the experience of homeownership.

4). The Home Fits Your Important Requirements

A key factor in buying the right home is thoughtfully considering your household needs. If having a big backyard for your kids to play in is important to you, prioritize that! If having an office space is crucial to get work done, put it on the must-have list! Give your realtor strict guidelines and tell them to only show you houses that meet all of your requirements. Moving is expensive and buying a home is not a purchase you should make lightly! It’s best to wait for an ideal fit, rather than compromise in a time crunch. 

5). You Quickly Overlook Any Negatives

You might not like everything right off the bat in your home, but if it is the right home you will be willing to see things in a new light. There may be some rooms that you will like to switch up the paint in, or walls that you think could be knocked down, but you will still love the house for its character. Of course, if you build a home you’re likely not going to have to worry about this as much as purchasing a resale property! 

6). You Can Envision Your Future In The Home

If you walk in and can immediately envision your future in that home, it’s a good indication that you’ve found the right house to buy! If you can see your kids playing in the living room, or yourself cooking in the kitchen, there is a good chance that this is it! When you’re already thinking about what artwork would look good in the foyer, where you’ll put your holiday decorations, and how to arrange your furniture, you know you have a winner!

7). You Can’t Wait To Talk About The Home

If you are excited to call up your relatives or friends and tell them about the dream home you just found…ding ding ding! Maybe you even snapped some photos and posted them to Instagram! These are some ways you will know that you’ve found the right one. 

Buy Your Dream Home With Hearthside Homes

We hope you enjoyed reading about how to know when you’ve found the right house to buy. Hopefully, this blog post helps you shop for your next home. Hearthside Homes has plenty of spec homes for sale, or we would love to help you find a new construction home you love! Hearthside Homes has a very easy home-building process. In fact, from the time we break ground on your project, your home can be move-in ready in as little as 6 months! Below are the steps that we will complete throughout your home-building journey. Click here to learn more about our headache-free process! 

Stage #1: Pre-Construction: You’ll pick from one of our pre-designed floor plans, and we’ll coordinate to make sure we’re all on the same page! 

Stage #2: Design Selections: Now for the fun part! You will meet with a professional interior designer at our Design Center in Liberty, Missouri. Here, you’ll pick out all the finishings for your new home. From flooring to paint, cabinetry, hardware, and more, you’ll have a blast customizing your home to your unique style! 

Stage #3: Appliances: Next up, you’ll meet with our appliance experts to go over the final choices for your new kitchen. Don’t feel overwhelmed! Experts will help you make choices that fit your lifestyle. 

Stage #4: Pre-Drywall Orientation: You will meet with the construction team and look at the progress on framing, heating and cooling ducts, and plumbing/electrical work.

Stage #5: Build Check: You will see the details that have been added to your home, and you can check in on the progress!

Stage #6: Punch Period: Our construction team will inspect all elements and correct any issues that there may be before the closing day.

Stage #7: Home Orientation: You will walk through the house with the team and make sure you are comfortable with how everything works. 

Stage #8: Closing Day: You will stop at the home and make sure everything’s completed, and pick up the closing papers and keys!

Stage #9: Warranty Check: After you move in, we are available to you if any issues should arise with our warranty!

What Is A Semi-Custom Builder?

A semi-custom home builder offers expertly designed floor plans for you to choose from. From there, you’ll get to make aesthetic decisions based on your unique preferences, such as paint, flooring and hardware. This speeds up the build process and helps ensure a beautiful and long-lasting final product. Hearthside Homes offers several different floor plans to choose from, such as 2-story, 1.5 story, reverse, and ranch-style layouts. We currently build in several communities, such as Barry Brooke, Benson Place Fieldstone, Brentwood, Cadence, Chapel Ridge, Davidson Farms, Homestead, Meadows at Greenfield, Prairie Field, Reserve at Riverstone, Riverwood, and Tiffany Woods. Click here to learn more about our communities

Our Design Center is a space we created for our existing and potential clients where you will go to customize your new home. This Design Center features material selections, displays, cabinetry, doors, flooring, faucets, and much more. Check out our blog post highlighting the Design Center’s opening, and find our Design Center at 1915 Industrial Dr #300, Liberty, MO 64068.

We Care About Our Customers!

We hope you enjoyed this blog post and that it gave you some useful considerations for your house hunting journey! At Hearthside Homes of Kansas City, we truly care about the folks we are building houses for! Many reviews from our lovely homeowners are shared on Google. 

Jen Say: “We have been in our Hearthside home for one year now, and we love it!  They made the building process very easy. They addressed our few concerns in a timely professional manner. They made us feel like we matter.”

If you have any questions about our home building process or who we are, feel free to fill out the form on our website or give us a call at (816) 781-0234Don’t forget to follow us on our social platforms and check out our new projects and what we are up to on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest! We are excited to help you find a home you truly love and are proud of!