Having a bigger family means needing to have more space at home. From a three member family to four member family, we realize how little our space now at home is. With this, my husband and I are searching for house options for our family.
Here are some factors we consider in finding our dream house.
Location
One of the many things that we are challenged in finding our home is the location. To tell you honestly, we are torn between looking for a home in the province or in the city. Currently, we live in a condo unit in Manila near our work. It is very convenient as we are situated near establishments, hospitals, churches, and other important institutions. The only concern we have is the small space we have. As I said we are a growing family so there is really a lot of stuff at home.
On the other hand, we were able to stay in the province during the pandemic lockdown. We stayed at our parents’ house in Bulacan for almost two years. I would say that our life was at its most comfortable state because we have our own room, and living spaces. Although it is large in space, we were sharing the space with two other family members. Though it is fun living with my brother and parents, my husband and I was still dreaming of owning our OWN home. Something that we can design and manage on our own. It was also hard for us to only have a room for the four of us, especially that we have a newborn. It was a little difficult for our eldest son to sleep, and study in our room because it was our only space.
Both locations have their own advantages and disadvantages so we look into the other factor we consider which is accessibility.
Accessibility
As I mentioned in the first part I am very much keen on the accessibility of the property we look into. Accessibility factors include transportation both public and private. Does the property we are considering would be able easy to commute to using either private or public transportation. Also, I am considering the time to get to work from the place of the property we are considering.
In example, as we look into properties in the province we are also taking into consideration the public transportation available. Specifically, in one province we are looking at there are developments in public transportation like trains, highways, etc. These are good signs because we are able to go easily from home to work and vice versa. However, we are also looking into its proximity to the schools our children attend in.
Budget
Lastly, and most importantly, we look into our budget and the terms of payment. We are a middle class family and our budget for purchasing a house is really tight. So it is very important for us to make sure that the investment we make is affordable and quality. There are also different financing options available and its also one of the many things that we are looking into. One of the ways I also look into is the mortgage or loan calculator to see if I can purchase a house I have my eye into. So in calculating loans, or estimate monthly payments I make use of Mortgage Calculators UK (https://www.mortgagecalculator.uk/). I especially love the UK Mortgage Affordability Calculator because it estimates the mortgage qualification I have based on my income. It can also include my spouse’s income so we can compute the affordability.
Appearance and Landscape
Of course, I also have my “nice to have” considerations like the aesthetics of the place. I also consider the number of rooms for my children, some rooms I’d love to have like craft rooms, garden, and others. Though these are all negotiables depending on the first three considerations I have.
