What Neighborhood is Right for You?

When you finally decide to move, there is a flood of questions that come immediately after. Where, when, what?

The best way to start narrowing down your broad search for a home is to determine what kind of neighborhood you want to move to.

Choosing a neighborhood is crucial to making sure that not just the home is perfect for you but everything you are surrounded by is comfortable and enjoyable to you.

Here are a few things you must consider to start investigating the right neighborhood for you.

Create a Neighborhood Profile:

  • Do you have children or are you planning on having children? This will decide whether you should consider school systems, safety levels, and surrounding parks and amenities.
  • How far are you willing to commute? How are you planning on getting to work? Do you need access to major highways to drive or backroads to bike?
  • What is your current neighborhood lacking? Consider sound level, the community, if the surrounding area/nature is living up to your expectations and anything else that has been bothering you with your current area.

Select an Area:

Choose neighborhoods that best match your list of wants. A good place to start is with your commute to work!

Do the Research:

Based off your neighborhood profile, find out the information that is most important for you to know before you move. This could also include a general list of:

  • School information
  • Crime stats
  • Parks and recreation
  • Neighborhood associations
  • Tourist attractions
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How to Get What You Want Out of an Open House

Starting to search for a new home is daunting, but open houses are a fun way to get a break from Zillow and see properties that interest you in real life.

Open houses have a ton of information for home-buyers but there are a few tips that will help you get the most out of them!

Limit your open house weekend. If you are seriously looking for a house, prepare to only view 1-3 open houses in case you want to move forward with a property. It gets increasingly harder to remember all the listings you view, and which ones meet your expectations. 

Try to avoid getting hung up on visual aesthetics. Remember that the house you are touring is someone else’s – that dresser and mirror won’t be in your master suite so don’t let it dissuade you!

Make sure to ask any questions to the agent.  The listing agent is there to answer questions about the properties as you move through the space. These questions can include about the surrounding area, any association fees and other specific information that will help your decision on the home.

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Give Your Home a Makeover with These Low-Budget Ideas

If you feel like it’s time to freshen up your home, there are some simple no-cost makeovers you can do.

Before you add anything new, remove clutter and clean out closets. You may find something hidden away that can change the look of your décor. A deep cleaning will brighten up hard surfaces and light fixtures. Even a good vacuuming of your rugs will brighten your spaces (as well as your attitude).

Take any leftover paint from your garage and touch up scratches. See if any walls could “pop” by being painted with an accent color with the paint you have.

Simply rearranging furniture can create positive results in how you feel about your interior spaces. You might remove pieces to have a more spacious look. If you are rearranging furniture, then keep the momentum going and move your accessories around. It can be as easy as changing the look of your bookshelves by repositioning books and bringing décor from another room to fill the spaces. Moving your pictures and photos around will also freshen your look. Adding plants will bring new life and color to any room.

Your windows and lighting sources also provide ways to change your living spaces. Since light opens up space, consider how the window coverings are letting in light. Clean the windows and watch things brighten up. Moving lamps around can also enhance your interior.

Give us a call and we will help you take the guesswork out of what changes will make you feel better about your home.

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