Buying a home, not a house

 In Business, Housing, Lifestyle, Real-Estate

Congratulations! So you have decided you want to buy a home to really live in. No matter if this is your first property, upsizing/downsizing, or moving between states – selecting where to live can be one of the hardest decisions an individual, couple or family will ever make.

However, narrowing down your location search options can often mean the difference between finding a place in a few months or a number of years. Thinking about it practically can minimise the need to move or switch in the future.

To ensure you are covering all aspects of moving into a property we have put together some things to consider:

Purpose

Estimated length of living time in your ideal suburb along with whether you’re looking to capture market growth.

If you are considering buying for market growth in a short time frame then look at suburbs with recent large market growth rates. E.g. don’t choose projected future growth areas with house and land packages that may not grow more than 2%pa over the next 10-15 years.

Work

Transport options: Whether you drive, catch public transport of even ride a bike to work, travel time to work can make a huge difference to your lifestyle.

It’s important to consider not only what type of transport will suit you now, but also a ‘plan B’ option should your transport options be suspended eg; train construction works or car maintenance. By choosing a location that can offer you both a convenient car route and nearby public transport location, you can reduce any impact on your daily commute should your workplace location change.

Size

Buying a large house might make you feel special but a larger house comes with a greater number of responsibilities.

Plenty of people downsize from a house into a large apartment for the simple reason that the outside maintenance was too much to handle, and prefer their body corporate take care of the fees.

Local amenities/activities

When do you do the activities you enjoy doing?

This is important because if this is not an activity that you do every day and use weekends when you may have “spare time” to travel a little bit further than your place of residence may not need to be so close. But if for instance you want to do Yoga every morning at 6am and the nearest yoga studio you like is 15 minutes away consider if you’re happy to do that travel every day in comparison to if you only had to do that for a weekend activity.

These are just some basic ideas to truly consider what your needs in terms of allocating a destination and opening yourself up to more realistic options. Sometimes the idea of where we want to live doesn’t match our day to day life.

It is also important to consider the individual property aspects in addition to this of course but as we all know narrowing your search down to one specific suburb can be the hardest step. But as soon as you do it, you will find your property search much easier (and faster when jumping on realestate.com.au etc).

If you still can’t decide speak to one of our helpful property consultants who have helped hundreds of people move into new locations and can help you better understand how you can achieve the aspirational lifestyle you deserve.

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Oak Financial Planning Pty Ltd ABN 78 126 751 335, trading as Oak Financial Planning is an Authorised Representative and Credit Representative of AMP Financial Planning Pty Limited, Australian Financial Services Licence and Australian Credit Licence 232706.

This blog article contains information that is general in nature. It does not take into account the objectives, financial situation or needs of any particular person. You need to consider your financial situation and needs before making any decisions based on this information.

If you decide to purchase or vary a financial product, Oak Financial Planning Pty Ltd and other companies within the AMP Group may receive fees and other benefits. The fees will be a dollar amount and/or a percentage of either the premium you pay or the value of your investment. Please contact us if you want more information.

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