Oops! You Forgot and Now You’re Done – 3 Things Most People Forget When Buying A New Home

You finally got it - your new dream home!  The place you’ve always imagined. It has everything on your list: size, location and style.  But uh oh!  Now that you’re moved in you realize – you forgot something you can’t change and now have to live with.

Moving is an exciting and busy time and home buyers often forget to check these 3 critical aspects before signing that dotted line. Make sure you tick off this short checklist and don't to avoid buyer’s remorse. Keep these 3 items in mind and don't forget when buying a new home.

1.  I Can’t Connect To The Internet! - Not Every Utility May Be In Your New Area
   • You probably thought to check your garbage, water and electricity utilities and have your accounts switched over to your new address at some point in your move.  But before you signed for that dream house did you check you have every utility?  Do thorough research to make sure the utilities you need are offered in your new neighborhood.  Not every area of town necessarily has high-speed Internet and other amenities.  Particularly in new or developing neighborhoods, your Internet provider may not have even reached your area yet.
   • Also, depending on the county and remoteness of the home, some neighborhoods may lie just outside range of fire station service and you may be required to install sprinklers in your home.  Check every utility and city and county amenity and make sure you’ll be provided with what you need before you haul in the heavy appliances.
2. Avoid A Lawsuit! - Carefully Read Your HOA CCR’s
   
   • Most homebuyers are aware of whether their neighborhood has an HOA and probably even get a copy of the CCR’s.  But did you read it carefully?
   • Make sure you read every line of your HOA CCR’s BEFORE you buy the home.  Whether or not you can plant shrubs, hang Christmas lights at a certain time of year or add on to your home in the future could end up being a deal breaker.  And you don’t want to find that out after you’ve already closed the deal.
   • Save yourself a lot of headache and find out every part of your HOA requirements and avoid having to rip out all those trees on the edge of your property or worse – end up in a lawsuit.
3. Will We Really Get Along? - Get To Know The Neighbors
   • It’s Real Estate 101 to find out about the demographics of the neighborhood – crime statistics, school boundaries and amount of retired people and young families.  But did you REALLY find out about your neighbors before you signed up for that mortgage?
   • Having neighbors you can get along with can change an entire homeowner scenario.  Are your neighbors ok with kids?  Are you, yourself, retired and prefer not to live next to a big family?  Does your direct behind neighbor play loud rock music every afternoon?  Things like this may seem of little consequence at the time, but they can end up affecting the quality of your every day life and may even prompt a premature move.
   • Get to know your neighbors – knock on doors and introduce yourself, explore the neighborhood at different times of day, ask around and check social media neighborhood sites to really get a feel for the culture of your new area and determine if it will work for you.