To Buy or Not to Buy, That is the Question
“It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped.”
I recently checked in with some realtor friends of mine with the presumption that their businesses had been greatly impacted by the CV19 shutdowns. To my surprise, they both reported an unexpected spike in people inquiring about homes on the market. Perhaps, with less competition from other buyers, there would be more time to take weigh the pros and cons of the place they might one day call home.
For most of us, a home is one of the single biggest investments we will make in our lifetimes. While the asking price must be figured into the financial equation, so too must any potential changes or improvements to be made down the road. Homes are fluid, and require maintenance, updating and adjustments to adapt to our ever-changing lives that play out in them. Often times people fall in love with the location, or a charming feature of the house and have a blind spot to what may be problematic as they actually live in the home.
I am often asked to accompany clients as they look at potential purchases. I have no vested interest in which house is bought. I am merely there to see the pitfalls and potentials from my designer’s eye point of view. I recently got a call from a young couple laboring over making an offer on a home. They had toured it several times and it checked off many of the boxes - location, structural integrity and architectural charm. However, there was one a layout issue that seemed to be the big sticking point. An addition had been added by the current homeowners, (who were empty nesters) which left the kitchen blocked off from the family room and without an eat-in area. The quandary was how to get the layout of the home to work for a young couple wanting to start a family. After laying out several involved and expensive options, the couple passed on the home. In the end, that home would have proven to be a poor investment because the layout would have been problematic to live in, or too costly to rectify.
Another longtime client of mine has been considering a country property as a weekend or summer retreat from daily city living. We have toured many beautiful estate homes that have lovely bones, with enviable rooms for entertaining and the bucolic outdoor living that he is longing for. We’ve also had a skilled architect accompany us on these viewings to give immediate feedback on what would be involved in refitting each home to suit our client’s wish list. However, many of these country homes had too much unneeded space, making them unsuitable to the way a bachelor would be living there. Doing these walk-throughs beforehand is a valuable way for our client to evaluate his priorities and lifestyle needs to determine if he and a home are a good fit before making a huge financial outlay.
Typically, architects, contractors and designers are brought in after a purchase is made, and we have the heartbreaking task of telling a client that their wish list is not possible or is cost prohibitive. Overlooking red flags like poor layout, insufficient storage or lack of privacy can cause big problems down the road that can't always be rectified. I wonder how many people would have chosen differently if they had thought not only about their immediate needs, but how life forces us, and our homes, to evolve. If current you could speak to future you, would you make the same choices? To buy, or not to buy, a home can be the best or worst decision you may ever make.
