You never imagined that you would be looking for a new home in a retirement community this soon. The fact that you aggressively tackled your debt during the last five years, however, enabled you to also pay off the rest of your home mortgage. With the freedom of having no debt, you were able to jump at the chance to move to Florida where your older daughter, husband, and new baby are living. With a job that will allow her to work from home many days and cut back to part time hours for as long as she wants, your daughter is looking at ways to avoid sending her first baby to daycare full time. You are all to happy to step in.
You have all been joking about the latest research that indicates that grandparents who spend time with their young grandchildren actually live healthier and happier lives. It is no joke, however, how much joy getting to spend time with your first grandchild will bring you. Knowing that you are not the only childcare option makes for a great opportunity. There are definitely worse places to be looking for a new home than in the sunny state of Florida where you can be just a few minutes from the beach.
Knowing What to Look for in a New House Can Narrow Your Search
Whether you are looking for houses for sale near a beach, on a mountain, or in the city, it is always important to know what you are looking for before the search begins. And while there are times in our lives when we have all of the time in the world to look through model homes that are out of our price range or not really what we are looking for, when it comes time to make a purchase, most buyers want to make their search as efficient as possible.
Especially if you are looking in a competitive market like Florida, it can be a real benefit to create a list of priorities that you want before you begin your search. When you are looking for a new home in a new location, for instance, do you want the privacy of a large yard, or are you wanting to get away from all of the upkeep involved in that kind of space? Are you going to be happy with a two story home where all of the bedrooms are upstairs or are you ready to be in a ranch style home?
Armed with answers to the right kind of questions, a realtor can help you find what you are looking for, even in a challenging housing market in places like Florida:
- 1,000 people move to Florida every day, and part of the draw may be that there are 1,200 miles of sand beaches and 1,800 miles of coastline.
- 52% of home buyers cited finding the right property as the most difficult part of buying a home, according to the National Association of Realtors.
- $209,623 is the median home value in Florida, according to Neighborhood Scout.
- 1.5% of the homes in Florida cost more than $1.42 million, according to the same Neighborhood Scout report.
- 7.42 million homes and apartments available in Florida today, so the search can be completely overwhelming if buyers do not have a list of things that they are looking for.
- 92% of people now use the internet in their home search.
Whether you are looking for a new home in an area that is familiar to you or you are preparing to move across the country to an unfamiliar market in another state, it is often in your best interest to work with a realtor to help make the process more successful and more efficient.
