In Love with Two Houses?

What to Consider When Making the Final Decision

When finding yourself caught up in house-hunting mode, you may encounter a situation in which you're torn between two properties. Perhaps you and your partner each have a favourite or perhaps you both like two houses equally - or think you do.
Making a final decision and determining which property to make an offer on. The decision you make should be done rationally and not guided by emotion.
Of course, you may not have enough time on deciding which house you love. You may be in a market in which houses in your price range get snatched up as quickly as they go on the market, perhaps even attracting multiple offers.
But in some situations, you may find yourself caught up between two houses. Sometimes the easiest thing to do is take pen and paper, write down the needs of your family and your budget.
Some things you'll want to compare include:
 The house, make a list of the priorities and attributes what your house should have. If you want that first-floor home office, a large open back yard for the kids or a gourmet kitchen, be sure to include that on the list. Then, rate how each house measures up to each need on your list. If you have kids and being close to a park is important, you'll want to consider that. How close are shopping malls, restaurants, church, and other services? Are the streets maintained? Do homeowners landscape and maintain their homes nicely?

 If you have school-aged children, you definitely want to consider the reputation of the schools around the area. But once you're this deep in the process, you'll want to visit the schools and receive the information first-hand from school officials. You should also talk to teachers and parents.

 Crime, go to the local police station and ask about crime in that specific area. You might find theft or vandalism to be more dominating in one area than another.

 If the two homes you're viewing are in different parts of town or different area, ask your real estate agent to retrieve sales of houses in those two areas over the past few years. If one house shows an annual average 8 percent increase and another is at 15 percent, from there you can make your decision .

 The sellers' situations, If you don't know already, ask your real estate agent how long each house has been on the market. Usually the longer a house has been listed, the better chance the seller will accept an offer lower than asking price. Conversely, if the house has been on the market for just a couple days, the sellers will probably wait for a better offer if you offer less than the listed price. Your real estate agent might also be able to dig up additional information about the sellers, like why they're selling. If it's a job-related move or a divorce, the sellers likely want to move as quickly as possible, meaning you have a better shot at them accepting a lower price.
As you carefully weigh all the factors, it might become clear that one house is more tempting than the other. Or, you may find the houses are still equally appealing. If that is the case, be sure you look at the homes more than once. You may notice something you didn't the first time around - something that could convince you one way or the other.

In fact, you should probably visit each home at least two more times, at different times of the day to get a feeling for how the house and feel in the morning, late afternoon or in the evening. Once you make a decision and an offer, you can take comfort in knowing you may still have a back-up if the deal falls apart.

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