Aug 11, 2020
When searching for a new home, it’s helpful to establish some kind of a vision for what type of home you’re looking for. Is a large floorplan a necessity for your lifestyle? Should the house be convenient to the best shopping and entertainment? What about what school district the home is in? These are all really important things you might want to ask yourself when beginning the search for a new home.
We recommend listing all of the aspects about a new home that is your top priority first, then work your way down the list with less important features you’d want in your home, but that might not necessarily be a deal-breaker. Below you’ll find what we believe should be on every potential homebuyer’s ideal New Home Search Checklist to find the perfect new home for them.
Where
Remember the saying, “Where, what, and how?” Well, that same saying should be what’s going through a potential homeowners’ mind when searching for a home, and Location should be at the top of the New Home Search Checklist.
Our Ashwood Park Community in Naperville, for instance, residents enjoy the luxury of nearby dining, museums, libraries, shopping centers, golf courses, theaters, and much more. Additionally, Naperville has consistently been voted a top place to live in the United States by various publications. In 2017 Naperville was voted the second-best place to live in the US by Niche and in 2016, Money Magazine ranked Naperville number 10 in the overall list of 50 cities of the “Best Places to Live.”
When trying to find the perfect “Where” for your new home, consider the following when you’re taking into account your new home location desires:
- Schools
- Restaurants
- Closest City (for our communities, it’s Chicago!)
- Main Routes for Commuting
- County
- Hospital/Police Department/Fire Department
Home
After determining the “Where” you want your new home to be, it’s time to focus on the “What.” A house is where you’ll spend most of your time, so it’s important to make sure that the home flows with the needs and demands of your lifestyle.
One of the first things to consider is a home’s floorplan. Determine whether you’d be more suited for an open concept home with a lot of revealed space, or if a cozier home with many different rooms is best for your lifestyle instead. Potential Overstreet homebuyers can get a better look and feel for some of our floor plans by taking a virtual tour conveniently on our website.
Once you’ve determined what type of floor plan and homestyle best suits you and your families’ needs, it’s time to get into the details of the home…
Bedrooms
It’s important to consider a variety of things when determining the number of bedrooms needed in a new home; such as if kids will share a room if a guest room is needed or an in-law suite, or if you prefer a home with a first-floor master bedroom. In addition to the number of bedrooms, you may want to consider the following more aesthetic and convenience items as well:
- Square Footage
- Closet Space
- Carpet or Hardwood Floors
- Natural Lighting
- Fireplace
- Attached Baths
Bathrooms
Bathrooms are such an important aspect when designing your new home. Considering how many bathrooms you and your family need should be towards the top of the new home search details checklist. Will kids share a bathroom, should guests like inlaws have their own bathroom when they come to visit, and how many half baths should the home have? All Overstreet floor plans can be modified – whether you need more, less, or something different – we can help you attain your bathroom needs. These are all very important things to consider in your home search, as well as the below:
- Amount – Number of Full and Half Baths
- Desired Bathroom Fixtures and Finishes
- Bath/Shower
- Sink Space / Number of Sinks
- Bathroom Flooring
- Bathroom Storage
Kitchen
If you regularly entertain, have kids, or are an avid cooker, a larger kitchen is likely going to be on your new home search checklist. Our Overstreet kitchens come equipped with up to date appliances and boast plenty of cabinet space for all your dinner wear, spices, and endless cooking accessories. Some additional things to take notice of and consider when touring a kitchen of a potential new home and when building your new home search checklist are:
- Fixtures
- Knobs – Faucet and Lighting
- Cabinet Space
- Appliances
- Countertops
- Cabinets
- Flooring
- Pantry Space
Family Room
Watching movies, playing with pets, family game night and plain old relaxing all likely take place in the family room and are important aspects of daily life to keep in mind during your home search and when making your new home search checklist. Since Overstreet specializes in completely customizable homes, we’ve had experience making modifications to traditional family room space. Even designing family rooms that meet Feng-/Shui and Vastu needs so that homeowners can comfortably practice worship and meditation right in their very own homes. While Feng-/Shui fulfillment might not need to be on your new home search checklist, the below are more common aspects to consider:
- Carpet or hardwood floors
- Space
- Outlets
- Windows
- Fireplace
- Ceiling
Now that the foundation of building your new home search checklist has been established, there’s still so much more to consider when finding a new home. From HVAC to the garage, there will be plenty to discuss with the builder. Some additional items to consider for your new home search checklist are:
- Backyard Space
- Patio
- Deck
- Porch
- View
- Size
- Flat
- Doors
- Water Supply
- Window Quality
- AC
- Roof
- Smart Home?
- Security
- Garage
Overstreet Homes is committed to building exceptional and distinctive homes, beginning with design, through construction to final closing, and beyond. We believe that no detail is ever too small or insignificant and for this reason are confident that an Overstreet Home would successfully check off everything on your new home search checklist. If you’re searching for a new home in the suburbs of Chicago, or if you have land you want to build on, contact Overstreet Builders today to see how we can help.