How to Find the Right Home for Your Family: 10 Key Considerations for Parents
Kids have a way of making everything complicated, don’t they?
House hunting is no exception. Whether you’re looking for a good starter home for right now or a dream home that you may stay in for many years, your list of must-haves, nice-to-haves, and deal-breakers will only get longer if you have kids or have a kid on the way.
As your local real estate professionals, we know all the best neighborhoods to start or raise a family, but it helps to have a quick list of things to keep in mind when you’re looking for a home for you and your family.
So, here’s our list of the Top 10 Key Considerations for Parents. Check it out below!
1. Location, Location, Location
Sure, it’s a cliché, but it bears repeating because it’s so darn important.
The best house in the world won’t matter if it means your child won’t have access to a great school district, a selection of private schools, kid-friendly activities, and other things that give your children something to do growing up.
Proximity to work can be important here too. After all, you want to spend as much time as possible with your family, and bumper-to-bumper traffic for an hour or more each day really starts to add up after a while.
2. How to Find the Right Home – Safety First
Most people prefer not to live in neighborhoods with high crime statistics, but choosing a safe neighborhood with low crime rates is even more crucial if you have children to look out for. Look for neighborhoods that have a low or very low rate of crimes, violent or otherwise, and look for homes in these areas exclusively.
Crime rates aren’t the only factor when it comes to safety and security though. Well-lit streets, fenced yards, neighborhood watches, and other features are all factors that may deter criminals and make the area more secure, so you can have the confidence that your family will be safe and sound.
3. Size Matters
The number of bedrooms is extremely important to consider if you have kids, plan to have kids, or plan to have more kids, but that’s not all. It’s not always enough to consider where they sleep; where will they hang out and play too?
A smaller home may begin to feel stuffy if you have a few kids running around the place. Their toys start to take over rooms that you wanted for other purposes and, before you know it, that home office or home gym you planned to set up becomes a playroom for total toy overflow.
So, don’t assume having enough bedrooms means you have plenty of space for the kids. Take into account where they may play, where they hang out when they invite over their friends, and maybe even a spare room for yourself if your budget allows. One can dream, right?
4. How to Find the Right Home – Backyard Paradise
Some people consider a big backyard a nice-to-have feature, but others will not even consider a home unless there’s ample space to sprawl and play in the backyard. Who could blame them?
There are so many kid-friendly perks to having a big backyard. It provides them the perfect place to run, play, and explore their world. It gives you a place to let them bring their friends so you don’t have even more kids running wild through your home. It gives you a place to install a swing set or swimming pool. It provides a place to work on that little league swing or have that catch after school.
Having a great backyard is really nice to have, but, for parents, it may be a lifesaver.
5. Stay in School
Buying a home in a great school district is often a priority for parents. Being in a high-quality school district means your children will receive an excellent education from some of the most accomplished educators in the area. They also get to be a part of a community that values education, so school events, extracurriculars, and other enriching activities will be at their disposal.
Your children receiving a great education is most important, but it’s not the only perk of buying in a good school district. Homes in good school districts tend to hold their value and offer resale value after your baby birds grow wings and fly from the nest, meaning you’ll get a little nest egg to retire on when all is said and done. Win-win.
6. How to Find the Right Home – The Neighbors
This one’s a bit tricky because you can’t reasonably expect your agent or the seller to give you personal information about who’s living nearby, but taking a stroll in the neighborhood on a sunny day may give you some clues.
What do you see? Are there other families and children playing outside? Are they riding bikes or shooting hoops? Do people wave to each other as they pass by? Is anyone pushing a stroller?
It’s nice to know if you’re moving into a lively, friendly neighborhood. Your children may make friends up the street, which means they’ll have playdates that don’t involve driving them across town. Who knows; some of them may become friends for life.
That’s also an incentive for parents who are looking to make friends in the neighborhood. You may meet someone just like you with children who are similar in age. It’s as good of an excuse as any to invite them over for a cold drink sometime to let the kids play and chit chat.
7. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
Being near a major highway can be a big plus if you’re a commuter, but it may be a downside if you have kids that like to ride bikes and go exploring.
From that perspective, how accessible is your neighborhood? Is there a lot of traffic? Are there a lot of main roads and double yellow lines where even older children should steer clear? Are there sidewalks? Can your kids reasonably walk to school or the store without having to go far?
These are things that you may want to consider when selecting the perfect place to put down roots. Transportation options, like buses, trains, and other public transit, could factor in here too, especially if your older children may need a way to get around before they’re old enough to drive themselves.
8. Activities and Entertainment
Most of us want to be relatively close to our basic needs like the grocery store, pharmacies, banks, a few good dining options, and other local businesses for our specialized needs, but kids have different priorities.
They’ll want playgrounds, ice cream shops and pizza parlors, play gyms with cool stuff to climb on, arcades, a library with a dedicated children’s section where they can learn, read, and grow— having establishments such as these nearby makes it easier to keep them busy and entertained while they’re little and provides options as they grow.
Plus, if one parent will be at home with the kids when they’re not in school, they’ll really appreciate having places to go. The day can really drag if you’re cooped up inside every day, so having a neighborhood full of entertainment and attractions really helps improve your and their quality of life.
9. How to Find the Right Home – More Storage
We give you lots of credit if you’ve been living the minimalist lifestyle. Children have a way of changing that for many people, as they tend to amass tons and tons of stuff. Toys and trinkets from birthdays, holidays, relatives, events at their school, the endless array of art that all demands a spot on the fridge but there’s only so much space— the list goes on.
Some of us are good at holding onto things for a time and recycling, repurposing, donating, or throwing it out when it gets to be too much. For the rest of us, we stash it away until our closets are overflowing.
That’s why it may be worth your while to purchase a property with loads of storage. A spacious attic, fairly clean crawl space adjacent to the basement, a large garage, and other areas let you hold onto the seemingly pointless stuff for years, so you can dig it up later and reminisce about all the great memories you and your children shared.
Of course, storage has functional uses too, but keeping sentimental stuff is as good a reason as ever to prioritize buying a home with lots of storage.
10. Resale Value
If you’re investing in a property with curb appeal and a slew of modern features and fixtures, chances are you’ll already get a great return on your investment down the line. Keeping the resale value in mind is especially important for parents, however, as selling the house later on may be what helps your child pay for college or trade school.
You may even wind up selling sooner than expected, like if you find out that your second kid is actually twins, for example. Knowing you’re buying in an area where the prices are poised to climb means your investment is secure and, as a result, your future will be too.
Contact Us Today!
There are so many things to keep in mind when buying a home, but you fortunately don’t have to go it alone. Hiring our team means you’ll have the knowledge and experience of the area’s best real estate professionals at your fingertips. We know the best neighborhoods for families and the best ways to protect your real estate investment, so you can do right by your family while also making a great decision for your financial future.
So, what are you waiting for? Contact us today for more! (614) 316-3324
