Buying a home is a process that involves a lot of steps and tasks, from viewing properties to arranging financing. It can be exhilarating, exhausting, and exciting all at the same time.
Whether you have a short timeline or a longer one, set yourself up for success by organizing your search right from the start.
Let’s take a look at a system you can start following before you even look at your first home—and one that will make searching for a home easier as you go.
1. Determine Your Home-Buying Criteria
The first step in our house-hunting system is determining your home-buying criteria.
Before you start your search, create a list of “must have” features and “nice to have” features. You can always revise your criteria based on what’s on the market, but thinking about your needs and wants can help you save time and energy later.
You’ll want to consider such basic criteria as:
- Number of bedrooms
- Number of bathrooms
- Square feet of living space
- Price range
- Lot size
- Location relative to work, school, and commuting routes (highway and mass transit)
Take it a little further and decide if you want such features as:
- Outdoor living spaces
- A primary bedroom and bath on the first floor
- A home office or space to work from home
- Flexible spaces for a home gym or remote learning
- An in-law apartment
- A finished basement or lower level
- Lots of storage
- A particular architectural style
Arming yourself with the home features you want will help your Jack Conway real estate agent find listings that offer the best possible fit.
You’ll also want to put some thought into where you want your home to be located. The choices in the greater Boston area are many. Closer to the city or farther out? A coastal location or inland? In a neighborhood or on a main road? A Cape Cod location?
Doing some research on specific towns is a good idea, too. Property taxes in Massachusetts vary from town to town. So do things like internet access, cable companies, and town services. Town websites are a valuable source of information that can yield a trove of information.
2. Create a Saved Search
If there’s one organizational strategy above all others when you’re looking for a home, it’s this: Go online and create a saved search.
Looking for real estate is a digital exercise. A saved search lets you choose search criteria you established in the previous step. The power of digital technology sends homes that are a match directly to your email address or mobile device.
It takes seconds to set up a saved search on the Jack Conway website. Just enter a location. On the results page, choose the Save Search button. Name your search and opt to get property updates immediately, daily, weekly, or monthly. Our property updates let you:
- Save multiple searches
- Save favorite listings
- Take notes on listings
- Receive daily property updates by email
- Schedule property showings
- Send and receive communications with your agent
3. Track the Local Market
Tracking the local market is one of the best ways to organize your home search. By “local market,” we mean the geographic location or municipality where you’d like to buy a home.
Looking for a home without tracking the market is a little like searching for an object in the dark. For the locations where you’re looking, you should know:
- How many homes are for sale
- How many are new listings
- What’s the average list price
- What’s the average selling price
- How many average days are homes on the market
The data can inform your timeline, your price range, and your preferred location.
How to get all this data? That’s easy. Use our Market Snapshots to sign up for up-to-date market reports for any locations you choose.
You can get weekly, monthly, or quarterly reports. Simply choose the frequency that best serves your home-buying timeline.
4. Equip Yourself for Viewing Homes
Once you begin viewing homes, bring the following items along with you:
- A notebook and pen
- Your smartphone. (Remember to charge it in advance.)
- A small tape measure
- A folder or portfolio with pockets
These items will help you take notes, photos, and measurements. A folder or portfolio with pockets will help you corral marketing materials (home brochures and listing sheets) and business cards.
Be sure to ask the listing agent if you may take photos and measurements, especially if you’re attending an open house.
It also helps to set up a simple filing system to keep notes and brochures organized at home. A few manila file folders are all you need.
You can also record notes in a digital format using Google Sheets, Google Docs, Microsoft Excel, or Microsoft Word.
According to the National Association of REALTORS, buyers across all generations typically search for 10 weeks and look at a median of nine homes. Keeping track of what you view will help you as you evaluate properties.
5. File Your Notes and Marketing Materials
After every home viewing, file your notes and marketing materials by property address.
Using a spreadsheet means you can copy online links to property listings. More and more listings now have virtual tours, which can be a real asset when evaluating homes.
With many homes selling in just a few days, it helps to use every digital means available to you.
Your Jack Conway Realtor is one of the most important resources in your home-buying journey. Our agents are experts at guiding homebuyers through a process that for many is the biggest financial investment of a lifetime. Contact one of our agents to start your search today.
