You’ve been pining over that perfect house for months or even years, and now it’s time to stop dreaming and start building. This might sound like a no-brainer, after all you’ve been fantasizing about walk-in closets and kitchen islands nonstop, but there are a few steps you need to consider to make sure everything is as perfect as you imagined. It’s tempting to skip straight to picking backsplashes and paint colors, but if you skip these steps you might not get the house you always wanted.

Location– It’s one of the oldest real estate clichés for a reason. The three most important things are location, location, location. Before you start sketching elevations and floorplans, take some time to research your ideal location. Find the best school district, commute, and neighborhood amenities you can. The perfect house in a bad location isn’t much of a dream home.

Floor Plans– Now that you’ve found the ideal location, the next step is to consider the floor plan. This is one of the most critical decisions you’ll make when designing your dream home. When picking a floor plan, you need to think about how your family functions and what requirements the house needs to meet. If you host a lot of family holidays and get-togethers an open floor plan with a big dining room should be on your list. If you’re looking to have more kids soon, pick a plan with a big backyard and some extra bedrooms.

Upgrades– Before you make your final decisions, ask about what upgrades are available. You might be surprised how affordable a few extra features might be. Having all the information available will help you make the most informed decision possible.

Take Your Time– Obviously, you don’t want to drag your feet and hold up the construction process, but you definitely don’t want to rush the decision either. Remember, you’ll be living in this home for a long time and you want everything to be perfect. The last thing you want to happen is to rush a decision you think won’t matter that much, only to regret it big time later.

At Perry Hood Properties, we’ve been helping home buyers create their dream home since 1981. If you have a home you’ve been dreaming about, we can help bring it to life.

House hunting can be an emotional process, and this can cause a lot of problems if you’re not careful. Knowing this decision will impact everything from your daily commute to your savings account opens the door for your emotions to get the best of you and cloud the decision making process. The five biggest, and most common, house hunting mistakes can all easily be avoided if you can keep your emotions in check and stay on track.

1. Settling– House hunting can take a long time and it can be so easy to feel like there’s nothing better out there and settle for a house you don’t really like that much. A great solution to house hunting fatigue is buying a new custom home from Perry Hood Properties. You can pick the floor plan, appliances, paint color, cabinets, and many other options.
2. Overlooking Flaws– After you’ve seen a few houses, it can be tempting to start overlooking important flaws in homes. These flaws will come back to make you regret your purchase. It’s important to be picky and not sweep problems under the rug in order to rationalize buying a house that isn’t right for you.
3. The Handyman Dilemma– Instead of sweeping problems under the rug, some house hunters will see flaws and assume they have the budget and ability to fix them. Far too often people buy houses with the intention of restoring them to their former glory, only to spend more money than it would have cost to buy a house in good condition.
4. Waiting– While you certainly don’t want to rush this decision, dragging your feet trying to wait for the perfect time to sign can cost you. If you keep waffling on the decision to buy or not buy, another buyer might beat you to the punch.
5. Location, Location, Location– Finding the perfect house is good, but finding the perfect neighborhood is just as important. The best house in the world can’t make up for the wrong neighborhood. Make sure the neighborhood has good schools, a decent commute, and access to entertainment and dining options.

 

 

When you’re thinking about moving one of the first issues that comes to mind for parents is school districts. Making sure the kids go to good schools is one of the biggest deciding factors when families go house hunting. If you’re moving to a new city, or just want to move to a better school district, you’ll want to find out which schools are up to snuff and which ones to avoid. This process isn’t as hard as you think, you can actually do it with three steps.

Review Sites 

These days everything from restaurants to dentists are scrutinized by online reviews. The same concept behind Yelp and Trip Advisor has created sites like Schoolgrades.org, SchoolDigger.com, and GreatSchools.org. These sites show data like: test scores, graduation rates, college acceptance rates, demographics, student to teacher ratio, and parent reviews. A few sites will even show homes for sale in the district.

Department of Education 

These 3^rd party sites are great, but sometimes it’s best to get it straight from the source. The U.S. Department of Education created the National Center for Education Statistics to show parents data on every school in America. This allows you to compare schools and find the right school for your kids.

Other Parents 

If all else fails, just find some parents who have kids in the school you’re looking at and see what they think. This can give you a good idea of intangible issues that can’t be measured by statistics and reports. You can do this in person, or try to find an online forum. There are plenty of Facebook groups and community discussion boards regarding local issues. A great place to start is Nextdoor.com. This platform segments communities by each neighborhood, so you can find out about schools and see what it’s like to live in the community.

Finding the right school district is just one of the many factors that go into buying a home. At Perry Hood Properties, we’re here to help you with any factor that might affect your buying process. We’ve been in the greater Tulsa area for more than 30 years and can build the perfect home for you and your family.