How to Determine Your Wants and Your Needs When Buying

McAllen Real Estate Podcast with Deldi Ortegon

When looking for your next home, it's important to be able to separate your wants from your needs.

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When you're looking for a home to buy, it's important to determine both what you need and what you want. Oftentimes, we see homebuyers confuse the two.

One of the first things you need to do is get pre-qualified for a mortgage because most sellers won't even entertain an offer if you don't have a letter of pre-qualification. It also helps narrow your search by keeping you from wasting time looking at homes you can't afford.

Once you've been pre-qualified, you want to sit down and write out your wants and needs. Your needs list might include a two-car garage, a large yard, a nice school district, and three bedrooms. These items should be non-negotiable, meaning you won't even look at homes that don't fulfill your needs.

Most of your wants will be cosmetic things that can be added later.

Most of your wants are cosmetic. You might want granite or quartz countertops, but a home not having them shouldn't be a deal-breaker. They can always be added later. That's why you need to determine which items you can and can't live without. Examine homes that fill all your needs before you start considering your wants.

If you have any questions about this step or you're thinking about selling or investing in real estate, give us a call or send us an email. We'd love to hear from you!