My #1 Tip for Buying a Home

By: Realtor Scott Moore

 The single most important thing when you’re buying a home is the location, Location, location, and location.

Here’s why:

1.     Good neighbourhoods will be good investments. You can get lucky in a transitional neighbourhood if the neighbourhood improves and values go up. But it can go the other way as well, and gambling with the family home and your biggest asset is pretty risky.

2.     Your lifestyle is important. Driving to work, school, or to visit friends and family gets old a lot faster than people think it will. Every year we do dozens of home purchases for people that want to move closer to work or school. Your future self will thank you if pick a house in a location that is truly going to work for your family both short and long term, avoiding another move down the line.

3.     Another rule of thumb in real estate is that it’s better to be the worst house on the best street than the best house on the worst street. Real estate values rise like a water level—your house’s value is linked to the value of the houses around you, so your home’s value will rise at a faster rate if the houses around you are better than yours. Buying a house that is below-average also gives you room to invest in the home by making improvements to build equity.