Discovering Your Lifestyle & Financial Goals

One of the top mistakes homebuyers make is they simply don’t review what their lifestyle goals are before buying and how their next home aligns with them. Here is an exercise I put together to help you get clarity on this…

1. What do you like about your current home? 
2. What do you dislike about your current home?
3. What size is your current house and do you want more space or less?
4. What location is most convenient for you?
5. Where do you work? How close or far away do you want to be from it?
6. What does your current commute look like? 
7. Where do your friends and family live? How close or far away do you want to be from them?
8. Are there any specific school districts you want to live in? Maybe not now, but possibly in the next couple of years? 
9. What hobbies do you have? How close or far away do you want to be from them?
10. Do you want to be more centrally located in the city or on the outskirts of town toward the mountains? 
11. Is the location you’re looking in convenient for daily commuting to work, school, or other important places to you?
12. Where are your doctors and how close do you want to be to them? 
13. Which parks do you want to be close to? 
14. Which hiking and mountain bike trails do you want to be close to? 
15. Are you comfortable living next to noisier areas like airports, freeways, major roads, schools, and industrial areas? 
16. How is the neighborhood’s safety and crime rate?
17. What do you want in the actual home? 
18. How much maintenance are you looking for?
19. Do you want a condo, high-rise condo, townhouse, or single-family home? 
20. Do you want a one, two, or three-story home? 
21. How much space do you need? 
22. How big of a garage do you want? 
23. What amenities like a home office, backyard, or pool do you want? 
24. What layout are you looking for now and for your future needs? 
25. Are you comfortable living in an HOA? 
26. Are there any lifestyle items you have like an RV that may be inhibited by them?
27. Are there any future development plans or construction projects in the area that could impact your quality of life?
28. Are there any restrictions on pets?
29. How much privacy do you want in the backyard? 

Get very specific about the lifestyle you want to have in this house. But here’s the truth – most buyers don’t really care about all these questions, most only have a couple of very important wants and needs. That’s perfectly fine, what’s important is we discussed it all to confirm!