Home shopping comes with pressure to find a “dream” home ready for move-in. However, existing homes have characters burned into them, so you can see that you need to compromise when exploring the home.
Our House Wish list is designed to help you compromise on less important features. When you don’t sweat little things like a pink bathroom in search of a fresh paint coat, you can focus on your real priorities, such as a garden with ample space to build a treehouse and share summer stories with your kids.
Customizable Home Wish List provides a house hunting guide for you and your real estate agent. Read tips on identifying what you like at home and wish list templates to help you find the perfect (ish) fit.
House Hunting Wish List Template
The House Wish list helps you identify which home features are the most and least important. It is also a communications tool to help buyers, their families and real estate agents appear on the same page when they launch a house hunt.
Knowing the home’s features and style of shopping before scheduling a tour will save you and your home’s buying team when browsing your list. If you’re not entirely sure what you want in your home, our home buyer wish list will help you organize your priorities.
You can also customize your house wish list with the spreadsheet template below: Download a copy to mark your needs and requests, and add your own priority features. This spreadsheet also includes a house hunting checklist to track homes of interest.
Once you have created your wish list, check if you have the opportunity to reduce the number of needs to make home shopping easier. If you have two properties selected, a brief and detailed list will help you decide which of the two homes best meet your needs.
1. Identify your needs and requests
It’s not impossible, but you rarely buy a home that has everything you want. Identifying your needs and desires will help you understand what you are willing to compromise on, allowing you to compare homes and make a confident buying decision.
Needs are an absolute must-have for your life. There are certain fixed needs, such as fitting the selling price to your home’s purchase budget. Some of your needs are personal to you. Like an artist who needs space to store canvas and supplies.
Examples of needs include:
Fenced garden for non-charging home safety for accessibility to number of bedrooms in price range
It’s a feature that you can compromise on. You may have always wanted a primary suite with a spa tab, and while it can definitely sweeten the deal, you won’t miss a home that meets your needs as there is no Jacuzzi.
What you want can include:
Walk-in Closet 2 Garage Kitchen Island Wrap Around Pouch
Both desires and needs will be personal to your lifestyle. If you can’t really imagine your life without a walk-in pantry, you can definitely add it to your needs or choose a home that can be renovated to include the perfect pantry.
However, it can be difficult to find a home with a huge list of needs. If you notice that there are too many needs, try revisiting your wish list in a week or two to trim. Also consider the “Don’t Wants” list.
2. Know what you don’t want
Remember where you lived and list the things you love and dislike. You may remember trying to bake your signature cake in your first studio apartment, and the frustration of trying to work with too little countertop space.
If you don’t want the ladder to dust the ceiling fan every week, a vaulted ceiling is not for you. And that’s what helps you learn about yourself. You may have lived there for years, especially when you are buying a house.
Once you have a list of everything you don’t want in your home, you can classify these by importance just as much as your needs and desires. If you have a house hunting partner, compare and combine the lists to guide you on your home buying journey.
3. Prioritize household equipment
Another important part of house shopping is to distinguish between household equipment and home functions. Parts of your home can be fixed more easily than other parts, and you should avoid difficult or expensive upgrades that you are not ready to make.
Home equipment is not easily changed without investing in renovations. You can add additional bedrooms or replace all your cabinets with new designs, but they are neither cheap weekend projects nor simple.
Home features, on the other hand, are not the built-in aspects of the home. If you’re in love with a home that meets all your needs, but don’t like the 70’s shag carpet in your burrow, you can replace it to laminate yourself.
When you’re touring the house and considering what you like or don’t like, keep in mind how much something has been fixed. Wallpaper and flooring are important, but they can be modified. However, you cannot increase your property or lower the ceiling.
4. Consider location priorities
The location of your home can affect your happiness, hobbies and overall lifestyle. There are many things to consider when deciding where to go.
Nearby Safety Local Amenity Entertainment Community Culture School Review Working
The first is the neighborhood itself. Neighborhood amenities such as retail options and green spaces can affect your health and satisfaction. 1 Those looking forward to meeting new friends via coffee would appreciate living near local shops, but families may prefer a quiet neighborhood where children can safely ride bikes between friends’ homes.
You also need to consider how new places will affect the flow of daily life. Find out more about the local school where your nearest grocery store is, and how long it takes to work.
We recommend visiting your neighborhood at different times of the day to get a sense of the community. If your new home is near the highway, rush hour traffic can have a major impact on your commute. If you’re moving across the park, visit and see if you’re busy and loud on weekends and evenings.
Consider visiting your neighborhood inside:
School pickups and drop-offs (8am and 3pm) rush hour traffic (8am and 5pm) evenings and weekends
This opens up opportunities to chat with your neighbors and learn more about the area before committing. Even if your neighborhood decides it’s not for you, you’ll be able to better understand what to look for when you tour your home in a new location.
5. Communicate with real estate agents
Combining great communication with experienced real estate agents will give you a key to your new home and a positive home buying experience to boot. House Wish List is a useful communication tool to take you there.
Once you have identified your home goals, send your wish list to a real estate agent and help them out with your home buying plan.
Of course, real estate agents aren’t the only ones browsing their homes online. Your friends and family are a great support system when making large purchase decisions. There is also a unique house shopping perspective to share.
Use this Instagram wishlist and story voting to ask your friends and family what they like about their home. Use word-of-mouth recommendations to learn from other people’s experiences, rather than the home features you need.
Questions to ask while shopping
Once your home shop is ready, there are a few questions to ask you to set yourself up for success.
First, we will work to identify your home’s purchase goals:
How long do you live in this house? What do you absolutely need at home? Which core fixtures can I compromise? Who else has the voice in the house you buy?
Next, try identifying your needs after closing and when you are moving.
Do you think it’s okay to modify it? What upgrades would you be happy to create? How much maintenance can you promise?
Finally, consider your long-term needs as a future homeowner.
How will your needs change in 5 and 10 years? Will your family grow while you live here? What is the chance of moving faster than is currently planned? How may your accessibility change in the future?
The answers to these questions can build a foundation for your home needs. You can also refer to it when you are creating a house wish list. For example, you may be willing to sacrifice your backyard now, but do you want it later for future children and pets?
Note the questions you ask and what you will acknowledge when you start a house hunt. If you notice that a ditch in one house is falling, you can take notes to pay attention to the ditches and roofs of the other house.
Conclusion
House hunting is exciting for repetitive and new homeowners. It is also a new adventure for many, and your time, budget and family expectations can add pressure to the experience.
House Wish lists are a valuable tool to organize your expectations, communicate with your home buying team, and roadmap how you can browse and tour your home. When you know what you want and don’t want in your home, you can confidently buy the home of your choice is the right one for you.
