Looking to buy a home in San Diego? Here are important house hunting San Diego questions for 2022.
After looking at online photos and descriptions of houses for sale in beautiful San Diego you can do a drive-by for a closer look. If some look nice from the outside you should contact a local Realtor for a preview. Or, you can work with a Realtor from the start.
But, before visiting a home for sale you should know what you are looking for. Questions like “What can I afford?” and “What type of home do I want?” need answers before you start looking.
It’s your job (not your Realtor’s) to decide what you want and if they are realistic. Here are important questions you need answers before making an offer on your next home.
House Hunting San Diego Questions 2022
Start house-hunting in San Diego the right way. Answer these five questions before searching to help you and your Realtor to focus on your most important wants and needs in your next home.
1. What is the maximum price you can pay?
Don’t stop at the sales price. Know the other expenses when buying a home. One good way is to use a mortgage calculator (unless you have all cash). This calculates all the expenses associated with a mortgage loan like monthly payments, property taxes, private mortgage insurance (PMI), home insurance, etc.
Knowing your maximum price saves you (and your Realtor) time. Walk away when a seller refuses your maximum price offer. New houses for sale pop up almost daily. Don’t lose out on opportunities within your price range by wasting time negotiating with a seller who won’t budge.
2. How large of a home do you need?
You must know how many bedrooms you need. Plus, you should get at least two toilets (one for guests).
Tip: A house with only one bathroom sells for less when you want to sell.
Consider if you need a home office, extra car garage space, storage room, kids’ playroom, or basement space. Think at least years in the future. Planning on expanding your family? Will your current small children want their own bedrooms?
3. What San Diego neighborhood do you want to live in?
Location, location, location is one thing you can’t change after you move in. San Diego offers many unique and desirable neighborhoods to live in. Our broker, Big Block Realty, publishes descriptions of the major San Diego neighborhoods including the best schools, parks, beaches, shopping, dining, and cultural activities like:
In addition, the WeLease Property Management website provides an excellent description of the Pacific Beach community in San Diego.
Compare the nearby parks, recreation centers, restaurants, shopping, and schools. Which neighborhood fits your needs and wants?
Don’t forget about smaller details like commute time to work and your kids’ schools. If you don’t mind long drives and rush hour snags then it won’t matter. Maybe you prefer to walk or bicycle to work? We recommend taking a test drive from a home you consider buying to your work and your kids’ schools.
Tip: Besides getting your kids to school faster consider that homes in good school districts sell faster and for more money when you want to sell. But, consider that the best school districts often mean higher property taxes.
4. How updated do you want your home?
Looking to move into an updated home? Or, a home requiring some remodeling or work bought at a lower price? If you have the time to remodel a home it will reap benefits in a higher appreciation value and creating your ideal home to live in.
Tip: However, if you get involved with a DIY consider your experience and skills with DIY projects. Ignore the DIY home improvement TV shows. It’s never as easy as they claim.
You may prefer doing cosmetic work like fresh paint, new appliances, and furniture, or landscaping.
This is why using a professional home inspection service before closing on your purchase may save you lots of money if hidden defects reveal expensive electrical, plumbing, or structural work.
5. What features do you need?
Your lifestyle and preferences dictate the home features you need. Do you need a large gourmet kitchen? If you like to entertain you may prefer a large patio with a fire pit. Do you have hobbies requiring a workspace?
Want a swimming pool? It’s much cheaper to buy a home with the right size pool than building one yourself.
Considering future renovations? Will the current home design and floor plans suit your tastes?
What are deal breakers? Will you put up with living on a busy street? Or, dealing with a high-maintenance backyard?
Tip: You need to write down all the features you need and want in your next home. Likewise, you need to write a list of deal-breaking features to avoid.
How to use this information in your RealScout search?
We at SoCal Lifestyle Realty are proud of our new hi-tech RealScout programs that help buyers find ideal homes faster.
Remember the lists we suggested above? Let our Realtor input your likes and dislikes lists into the RealScout search program to weed out current listings not meeting your desires and needs. That’s right, RealScout modernized local MLS listings search to find what individual buyers want. No other real property search platform does this, including the local MLS.
Learn about the benefits of our RealScout programs from our Big Block Realty brokerage blog posts:
“RealScout Comes to San Diego to Help Home Buyers 2022”. You will learn how our unique RealScout platform uses hi-tech Artificial Intelligence (IA) to focus on buyers’ needs and wants instead of basic MLS home features. Go through hundreds of current MLS listings in seconds searching the type of home you desire and avoiding the ones you don’t want. It even sends our Realtors an instant message when a new listing meeting our buyers’ desires get listed on the MLS.
“How RealScout Helps San Diego Home Sellers in 2022”. RealScout also helps sellers find ideal buyers faster. This blog post describes the Rapid Listing Alerts program informing our Realtors instantly when a new MLS listing contains a buyer’s listed preferred features. It also explains how the RealScout Property Comparison allows buyers to compare photos of two or three ideal listed homes side-by-side on the same screen. It even makes buyers’ preview appointments fast and easy.
Tip: The best part is that our Realtors allow buyers to access the RealScout platform searches on their own. You can input your likes and dislikes and watch RealScout hunt all of the San Diego MLS listings to find matches. Instantly, all matches appear for you to view photos, descriptions, compare two or three homes photos, and set up previewing appointments.
House Hunting San Diego Questions 2022 - Conclusion
Let’s summarize our house hunting San Diego questions for 2022.
What is the maximum price you can pay?;
How large of a home do you need?;
What San Diego neighborhood do you want to live in?;
How updated do you want your home?; and
What features do you need?
Using this information in your RealScout searches
Your lists help our RealScout platform with finding your dream home. This includes:
RealScout lets our San Diego buyers find their dream homes faster;
Buyers list their features and preferences they like or dislike in their home searches;
New real-time San Diego MLS listings are updated instantly on our RealScout searches;
New MLS listings matching our buyers’ preferences notices get sent to our buyers and Realtor instantly;
Buyers can compare photos of two or three listed homes simultaneously on the same screen side-by-side including same rooms (kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, etc.);
The RealScout platform allows buyers to access a calendar to make previewing appointments fast and easy; and
RealScout lets listing agents contact our Realtors when a match occurs with our buyers.
Want Our RealScout Programs to Help You House Hunt in San Diego?
Our SoCal Lifestyle Realty Realtors will help you find your ideal San Diego home faster. That’s because our unique RealScout platform conducts local MLS searches quicker than other search platforms. Better yet, RealScout lets you put your lists of likes and dislikes into its search system. Find the home you seek better and faster.
Contact us to learn more about how our RealScout programs will make your San Diego house hunting easier.