You are in the market to buy a new home in Los Angeles and are actively searching for the perfect home. It has to have everything you want and need. Some of the things you are looking for are:
- It must be move-in ready. You don’t want to have to do any work.
- It must be totally upgraded. Again, you don’t want to do anything to it.
- It must have lots of light.
- It must have an outside area.
- It must be in the right neighborhood.
- It must have two full bedrooms and two full bathrooms.
- It must have ample closet space.
- It must be one level.
And the list goes on and on.
The one thing you may not be able to get around is finding a home in the the right school district, although even then, maybe you can check out an alternative school.
Let’s see what it is possible to look past. Trust me, you do not want to look back and regret buying a home that was perfect but missing one or two your must haves.
The perfect home does not exist in this highly competitive Los Angeles buyers’ market, and the longer you look the faster you will realize this. I have clients who found the absolutely perfect place except for the fact that it did not have a high walkability score. That home sold quickly for $100,000 over asking because there were multiple buyers for which that was not an issue. To this day my buyers regret not looking past the one blemish.
Take a look at what you have rather that what you don’t have. If you come across a place you love but add the word “but” to the equation, see how you can get around that.
- What is more important to you, the neighborhood or the home? The kind of property you love may not be available in a neighborhood you love and a price you can afford. Can you live in this neighborhood?
- Everything is perfect, but the home needs upgrading. Can you live with it as it is until you have the time and money to turn it into the way you would like it? Presumably it is priced based on its condition and you may not be able to afford one completely upgraded at this point. This also applies to a move-in ready home. Maybe it won’t take that much to make it move-in ready?
- You don’t like dark rooms. Would it be possible to enlarge the windows, or maybe there are trees that are blocking the light? Do your research. This could be the home for you.
- You are looking for a full two-bedroom home but this is a one bedroom plus den. Again, everything is perfect. Is there a way you can turn the den into a full bedroom? The same goes for a home that only has 1.5 bathrooms. Can you live with a half bath? Is there a way to add a shower?
- You have difficulty with stairs and don’t want a two level home. This would apply more to a townhouse-style condo. Are all the major rooms on the lower level with just a loft-type space upstairs which you could make into a guest area?
- There is not enough closet space. Amazing things can be done these days to create more.
I you get creative maybe you will open up more opportunities to find that almost perfect home in a market where others may still be hanging on for the “perfect one”
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