Creating a Wishlist for Your Home Search
I so often work with buyers – especially first time buyers! – who are struggling to connect the dots between what they want, what they need and what is realistic in their search for the perfect home. How do you find the perfect home? How do you know when the home is ‘the one’?
Enter: Home Buying Wishlists!
I am re-writing this article from one I wasn’t able to capture when my website went down at the beginning of this year (sad!). It was called ‘Staying Organized During Your Home Search.’ While I do feel there are many ways to stay organized during your home search, creating a wishlist is key.
Once you have spoken with your agent and your lender, and you have a baseline knowledge of what your limits are, it’s time to get creative and make time for the FUN part of home buying and home ownership.
I have created a couple spreadsheets here and guidelines below to help.
The Single Wishlist
First, start with The Single Wishlist. Everyone you feel you want to be a part of the home search process should start with their own individual wishlist first. This should include anyone on the contract! But it can also include children, parents, friends, your GC or family members who you feel know you and your needs well.
Have everyone fill out this singular wishlist alone. Be sure you have time to consider each blank and you’re not rushed. Home buying is a big deal! Let your dreams take flight on this wishlist. On your single wishlist, you don’t have to compromise! Yet…
Completion tips: Use the first two columns to check the item as a ‘need’ or a ‘want.’ Typically, four-to-five ‘needs’ and five-to-eight ‘wants’ create a healthy starting point.
Combine Wishlists
Next, sit down with everyone who has completed a wishlist and create Our Wishlist.
This should be fun! If at any point you are starting to wrestle with your partners on a combined wishlist, take a break! Go for a walk or give it a rest. Review your wishlist in the meantime and consider paring down some items that you realize may not be attainable – like a room just for Spot or a 4-car garage.
Pay special attention to items that can be added after move in! Remember there are only a handful things you can never change about your house and/or would be very hard to change about your house:
The Location
The Size of the Property/Land
The Deed Restrictions/Bylaws
Floor Plan
Completion tips: Focus most on what you, your family, your roommates, your people NEED. If you’re struggling to categorize something as a need or a want, ask yourself “Would I dislike the house or be unable to purchase this property if this item is removed?” In other words, your needs list is not likely to change as you begin looking for homes.
You don’t have to fill in every blank line! It’s OK to have more wants than needs or more needs than wants. The point is to get yall brainstorming.
If you’re struggling to identify the length of ownership time, focus on your needs for the next 3-5 years. While the average ownership time is slowly climbing (about 10 years), in balanced markets homeowners should break even on a sale in 2-3 years.
Wishlist in Action – The Home Tour Checklist
Voila! Once you’ve settled on the items on Our Wishlist. Remember, it can change as you learn more about yourself and what you want in a home.
Often buyers will be determined to buy a house with a garage only to find that the neighborhood really doesn’t have many houses with garages. Or perhaps after touring houses, you find you prefer a primary suite upstairs over downstairs. The wishlist is not meant to squeeze you into a box! It’s mean to be a validation. If you’re ever on the fence about writing an offer on a property, compare it to your wishlist!
And for my very type A friends out there, maybe check out this Home Tour Checklist that aligns with Our Wishlist.
Completion Tips for the Home Tour Checklist: Don’t see more than 6 homes in one day!
Since you don’t have a lot of space, try using check-marks only in the numbered rows and only the street name in the address box.
Don’t get crazy in the notes! This is where your experience watching HGTV comes in! Think of your initial thoughts or closing thoughts on this house. Examples: “The one that smells,” “The one with the perfect kitchen,” “The one with the water slide.” More often than not, this is how my clients and I end up describing homes throughout the day – not by a property’s address but about the *one* thing that makes it unique.
If you didn’t catch the links in-line, click for the downloadable PDFs below!