What To Do While You Wait to Buy Your Home

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You’re buying a house! Yay! You know what you want to spend, how big you need, and what else is important to you. But, you aren’t quite ready to start putting in offers. What should you do? Panic? Buy even though your new job doesn't start until the fall? Spend your down payment on a vacation? No! It’s time to do some research into neighborhoods. This is the fun part!

  1. Identify all the different areas you could be buying a home in. Is it just one specific neighborhood due to a school or commute? Or, are you looking in a bunch of neighborhoods, suburbs, towns, or even two different states? List or circle on a map all the areas you could end up living.

  2. Drive/bike/bus/walk the areas. Have you been up and down the main street? How about the side streets. Now go deeper into the neighborhood and go into the residential areas. Find the weird streets. Find the driveway to that old mansion. Find the hidden coffee shop. Find the hidden park!

  3. Shop like a local. Do your weekly pick up or shopping trip at local grocery stores. Pick up coffee or breakfast from that cute place that closes at 2pm. Find the library, find the alteration shop, find all the establishments you will be using when you move in. Pick up some take out and eat in that cute park.

  4. Be there when you’ll be there. We don’t just live in our neighborhoods on Saturday mornings at 11am (a top time to see a house for sale) so what does the street and neighborhood feel like the rest of the week? As you are picking up groceries, grabbing dinner, shopping at the local nursery time your visits to be at different times and on different days of the week. An urban/downtown area like NW Portland will seem sleepy and quaint on Sunday at 9am, but Friday at 6pm it will be packed for happy hour and dinner out.

All of this research is a great way to identify which areas are really vibing for you. Give yourself time and space to feel it out. Be excited if you are eliminating areas you thought you should love or adding in areas that you thought you shouldn’t.

This time and focus will give you something to do while you wait. It also will make it so easy to say yes or no to a house. You won’t be wondering about the neighborhood,. You won’t be wondering about traffic noise. You won’t be wondering about where you will shop. You will be excited to finally move into this town that already feels like home.