Date Posted: 2012-07-31 11:24:25
Site Posted: Myproperty.ph
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Owning a home seems to be getting more and more difficult, mostly because of how much great homes cost these days. If your perfect home comes with a big backyard and a white picket fence and you don’t have enough money, you’re going to end up either really broke, or with no home to buy at all.
Flexibility is the key to buying a house for sale on a budget. You need to be willing to sacrifice a few aspects of your ideal home to actually buy it. Find out which of these features you might be willing to do to achieve your dream of being a homeowner.
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Don’t buy a ‘project’ house. Some people assume that they save money by buying an affordable fixer-upper and then doing the work themselves. What they don’t prepare for are the costs of materials and labor, which can slowly add up as time goes by. Avoid aiming for homes sold as-is if there are homes that are in much better shape and are priced just right.
Think small when it comes to yard size. A large yard means more square footage, which costs money. And then you spend even more money and time making sure it always looks great. If you’re thinking of the kids, they can still play in a small yard, and nearby parks can more than make up for it.
Reduce the number of bedrooms you want. This is not to say that you should get a two bedroom home for a family of six. You should, however, not focus too much on semantics; just because a home is listed as a two-bedroom property doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have a den or library that you can convert into another bedroom. Also, if you don’t really have people who regularly sleep over, you don’t need to have a guest room.
Don’t focus too much on upgrades. A state-of-the-art kitchen or a home entertainment system can be nice to have, but they’re really not as economical when you buy a home with these built-in features. By purchasing a house minus these upgrades, you’re free to choose the upgrades that you want at the price that you can better afford, and forgo those that only look nice but don’t really need.
Try to keep an open mind when looking at houses for sale; more affordable properties may not have each and every item in your ‘want’ list, but you can always add them in later and really turn the house into your dream home.
Jillian Cariola, Writer
(cover image by ronnieb)
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