For those of you who own your home, I'm wondering how you decided on the town you'd live in/how you found where you wanted to live?
Did you buy a home in an area you were already familiar with (maybe one of you grew up there, or someone you know lives there and raves about it)?
Did the real estate agent suggest that area to you?
Did you find it through an Internet listing? Were you driving through the area and liked it, so you decided to look into homes for sale in that area?
Just curious. MH and I have been looking on real estate websites and taking drives to areas we think we'd like, and I was interested in knowing how you all narrowed it down for yourselves.
Re: Homeowners - how'd you decide where to live?
People prioritize things differently when they purchase a home. We purchased a condo and basically we kept in mind if the town has a direct train to NYC (it does, its a 7 minute walk - important if we work in the city), how is the school system (great school system, #1 actually - future kids!), it was "move in" ready so not much money to spend renovating, it has parking (!!), Shop Rite is next door (literally).
We also considered how much condo fees were compared to other condos, we speculated how easy it would be to sell it if we were to move.
We sacrificed our own washer/dryer but the building's basement has one.
Our real estate agent was a good friend of ours, and I gave him a list of houses that I found online that I thought may be a good start. He also founds some others that we may like based I what I showed him. We went out a few times and looked, and within a few weeks found our house. Our major stipulation was that it had to be move in ready, we didn't want to have to do any work!
Make a pregnancy ticker
Now, since we cant really sell right away, my FI has to move in w/ me eventually, which will increase his commute to an hour.
Eventually, we will buy a house in between our commutes, nearby my family, good school system, safe neighborhood, and reasonable taxes (its amazing how much these can vary from town to town and its a significant cost per month).
I looked at a ton of places before I bought. I agree w/ everyone else- dont rush, dont settle, and there are some terrific savings right now if you arent looking to sell a place as well.
I found a lot of places to look at my researching on gsmls.com
Did the real estate agent suggest that area to you?
Additionally, if anyone wants to suggest a town, we're primarily looking in Middlesex County right now (the Brunswicks, specifically, and also Spotswood/Helmetta and that general area). Looking to stay under $300K.
MH and I probably won't start really looking until next year, but I'd like ot get a start on just poking around and getting general pricing information ...
Once you decide location then you have to pick a house, which is a whole new ball game.
View our FOR SALE items
http://tinyurl.com/3jjv7vy