Factors to keep in mind before purchasing a family home
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When you buy a home where small children will reside, your priorities and criteria will inevitably change.
Seeff weighs in on the most important considerations.
1. The neighbourhood: While you may enjoy a vibey neighbourhood with a great nightlife at the moment, your priorities will quickly change with a baby or small child. The neighbourhood you invest in should be a practical choice with regard to all the amenities like good schools and medical facilities you may require and you may prefer an area that is not too noisy and is known for being family oriented.
2. Size and lay-out of the home: If you are planning a family or extending your family, consider the size of the home, the amount of bedrooms and bathrooms. While the size of the home may not be too important when you have a new born, once you have a toddler you will increasingly wish for things like a small garden or less stairs for instance.
3. Is renovation needed? If the family home you are considering is a fix-me-upper you need to take into consideration how the schlep of building and making improvements may influence your family, especially when you have a baby or small child who needs routine and lots of sleep.
4. Consider the price of the home: While you may be in a good financial position at the moment will you still be able to service the bond when you also have the added expenses of children?
5. Security: If you have a small child living with you the ideal is to feel as secure as possible. Consider the crime in the area as well as the security features the home has on offer and those which you can afford to install.
6. Other: Weigh up the pros and cons of having things like carpets versus tiles, a swimming pool versus no swimming pool and a single storey home versus a multilevel home before buying a home where small children will reside.
While a swimming pool may be great fun for children who know how to swim, it can simultaneously pose a drowning risk when it’s not properly secured and while carpets may be cosy in winter they get dirty quite easily. At the same time your child can get more hurt if they fall on tiles as opposed to a carpet.
Even though many of these things may not have been significant at all at an earlier stage in your life you would want to give them significant consideration now, especially since you and your family may live in the home for a while before moving on.
Author: Seeff
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