The common source of regret of many homebuyers is that they feel they haven’t seen enough houses when they made an offer. They think they missed good properties and settled for just the average. Sometimes, this is true. Other times, it’s just the big-purchase anxiety kicking in.
Nonetheless, this often raises the question of just how many homes you should see before putting the money down. It’s a complicated topic, but here are a few things that can shed light into this.
There’s no magic number
There’s no ideal number. Some homebuyers who were happy with their purchase saw one property only. Others checked out 10. Still, some can no longer count it in their hands because they’ve been looking for ‘the one’ for the last 20 years.
A magic number doesn’t exist. But as a rule of thumb, real estate agents recommend seeing at least six properties in the same location to make some good comparisons on pricing, property amenities and neighbourhood. Since you’ll be looking at several houses, it’s important to take notes of what you see at open houses.
So for instance, when you’re looking at house and land packages in Truganina, Victoria, you should jot down what you think about each place as soon as you walk in, whether or not you imagine yourself living in that home, and what your reservations are in moving into it. With these notes, you’ll be able to make the most of those visits.
It’s crucial to have a ‘number cap’
While it’s advisable to see a lot of homes before making an offer, it’s also wise to put a limit to the number of properties you’ll be visiting. Why? Well, first, for the practical reason that you can’t do this forever. Eventually, you have to make the decision to settle and move in. And mind you, it’s easy to fall into that endless cycle of just looking at homes and never settling. This wastes a lot of money and time in the process.
Secondly, you want to put a number cap because it would force you to make compromises on the properties you saw. Most homebuyers who visit too many homes do it because they think they haven’t seen their dream house yet. And the truth is there’s no such thing. There’s no one property that would satisfy all your needs and wants. So, you have to make compromises. When there’s a limit to the number of houses you’ll see, you’d be forced to do that.
Technology is your best friend
It’s tricky to find that sweet spot between ‘many’ homes and ‘not too many’ homes, right? But you can find your own ideal with the use of technology. Go to real estate websites and use the search filters, your preferred location, land and floor sizes, and number of bedrooms. From there, check out viable options. Take note of the addresses of what’s worth checking out.
By the end of this exercise, you’d be able to come up with a list of choices, a ‘short’ one, since it’s a filtered version of the large pool of prospects in the website, but at the same time, a ‘not-so-short’ one, in the sense that you have plenty of options.
Again, there’s no ideal number as to how many properties you should see before buying a home. But definitely, you should visit more than one for a good comparison, but not too many that you get stuck in the house hunt. All the best in finding your next home!
