What You REALLY Want To Look For When You’re House Hunting:

If you’ve spent any time watching home buying shows, you have seen exchanges that go something like this:

Realtor: What are you looking for in a home?

Buyer: At least four bedrooms, three baths, a large back yard, open concept, move-in ready, and walking distance from both our jobs…oh, and a white kitchen.

Realtor (shaking head): Okay, and what is your budget?

Buyer: No more than $250,000.

You don’t have to live in the Bay Area to know that getting everything on that wish list, especially with that budget, is unrealistic. So, what should a homebuyer, especially a first time homebuyer, look for?

Before making your wish list, think about how you use your home

Do you like the idea of entertaining more than you actually entertain?

Don’t pay for space you don’t actually need. Not only will you pay for it in your monthly mortgage, but it’s more space to clean, heat, and cool. If you only realistically have visitors a couple of times a year, it would be cheaper to put them up in a hotel.

Why do you want an open floor plan?

Open floor plans are very trendy right now, but they won’t be forever. In fact, there is already a growing backlash. Open floor plans are great for keeping your eyes on your little ones, but you also sacrifice a lot of quiet and privacy. Unless you always keep your kitchen spotless, an open floor plan can be a big hassle, and a potential source of embarrassment.

What should you look for?

In a nutshell, you should look for a good house. Location is important, but if adding 10 minutes to your commute will buy you a more relaxing home, the trade off is probably worth it.

Even if you are handy, look for the basics, like a good roof, good plumbing and electrical, and a good foundation. You should also look for the minimum amount of space you need, and go from there. Except for the location, all the rest is cosmetic and can be changed over time.

The Start-to-Finish Guide for Moving to a New Place

Moving sucks. There's really no way around that, but it can be a lot more tolerable and a lot less stressful. Here's a look at our best recommendations for an easier and more efficient move.

A lot of moving generally takes place over the next few months, and while everyone's experience and needs vary a little, a lot of the work involved in moving is the same no matter who you are. There's a lot to go over, so feel free to skip around:

• Preparation
• Packing
• Labeling and Managing Your Inventory
• Moving In

Preparation

There is so much to do in preparation for your move: set up mail forwarding, change over your utilities, acquire packing supplies, and so on. The move, itself, is really the easy part as you'll spend most of your time packing and unpacking. If you want everything else to go as smoothly as possible, you'll need to prepare well. It's a time-consuming and detailed process, but it'll ultimately make your move significantly more simple and less stressful.

Transferring Your InformationBefore you move, be sure you know all the utilities you're responsible for and make the transfers. The further in advance you can make the call the better, as sometimes certain utility companies will not be able to come out the next day to make the switch. Another switch you can make in advance is filling out a change of address form, which you can do online. If you change your address online, be sure you have a credit card that uses your current address as the billing address, since that's how the postal service verifies the request.

Finding Packing Supplies On the CheapThere are a lot of places to buy packing supplies, but boxes and tape can add up to quite a bit of money. You can avoid this additional cost by hitting up one of quite a few places handing out free boxes. Most retailers receive a lot of shipments, but your best bet is to contact furniture stores. While your average retailer may be able to provide you with some used boxes, you'll be able to find a greater range of sizes from furniture stores. Be sure to call them up at least a week in advance of when you want to start packing, however, as box disposal isn't necessarily a daily task. If your friends are moving before you, another way to get used boxes is to ask them to give them to you when they're finished. You may also be able to find boxes in the office you work in, or ask a friend to bring home any boxes they can find at the office. For more ideas, check out these tips on scoring free moving boxes.