We covered a little bit of what we do a few weeks ago, and you may remember that we’ve expanded to real estate, too. Today we are continuing our new series on viewing and buying a home where we’ll be sharing a few snippets to help! We want to share our experience and knowledge from handling home renovations as designers, and as a licensed Real Estate agent with Benchmark realty here in Nashville. If you’re moving to Nashville, or in and around Nashville/Franklin reach out to Jamin (jamin @ thehandmadehome.net), we’re happy to help you find that perfect home!
The home buying process is a wonderful experience if you have the right knowledge and game plan. So whether you’re buying something now or in the future {or just want to look extra smart at that next friend gathering} follow along as we cover some things you’ll want to know! And of course, if you have a burning question you’d like answered, shoot it our way and we’ll do our best to help. We’d love to hear from you. Let’s dive in!
Here are a few topics we’ve dealt with and are coming up… this is just the beginning.
- The Sight Test (see here)
- The Feel Test
- Adding Value
- The Electrical Panel
- The Crawlspace
- Drainage
The Feel Test.
It gives me all the feels.
Isn’t that what we all want the most from a home the moment we walk in that door? We want it to feel like home. It might also be one of the hardest parts to buying. You want it to meet all your needs from the sight test, but maybe more importantly, you want it to “feel like home”.
So what is the litmus test for that? How do you figure this out for a place you’ve never lived in?
Remember this: You are the test.
Not your agent. Not your extended family. Not your spouses’ family. And not your friends.
In 2016 with our growing family, we purchased a house that was 800 square feet smaller, and the selling price was 150% more than the one we were selling, since we were switching home markets. The home included but was not limited to: wood paneling on the walls, carpet that had seen some things, filthy bathrooms, and dead birds in the pool. Oh, and according to about thirteen other people we’ve spoken to over the years who apparently scheduled a showing during the months it was on the market {since no one else knew what to do with it}… the owner used the basement as a deer cleaning station.
But when we stood in the house, we cried because we knew it was for us. It just felt right. On our first day of looking we stumbled upon this little house and had these crazy emotions because we had a vision and it felt like home. Our family thought we were crazy and friends thought we’d lost our minds.
But we cried, because it gave us the feels. That day, and every day afterwards.
We’re admittedly an odd couple so we don’t expect anyone else to have this experience and honestly that’s not the norm.
So what are the parameters for the feel test? And remember this would be assuming it has passed the sight test already. For me, there are three main areas of the feel test.
• The Feel Test – Vision
You know what the house looks like in its current state, but now spend some time in the house visualizing your furniture and decor in the home. Visualize the holidays with family, the kids birthdays, cool fall nights on the porch with a glass of wine. Essentially, visualize all your normal situations. Does it feel like you can see you and your family in the space? Spend time in each space, don’t rush it.
Now to be honest, when using this step there might be several homes that you can visualize yourself in, but one of the greatest mistakes people make, is summed up in a comment I heard someone once say: “You can make it work, right?” The comment had a very heavy undertone of “you can settle for this right?”
I’m not saying that sometimes and in some markets, you might have to settle, but we don’t want that to be our norm. If you are having to force a space to work, to feel right, then move it on down the list of potential properties. If it doesn’t work today and you have no future vision for the space, then it’ll be hard for it to work after you move in. (BTW, I said down the list, not off the list, because we are going to talk future vision next week.)
• The Feel Test – The Neighborhood
Take a walk around the neighborhood, don’t drive it. You’ll gain so much more info walking. Take in the sights and the sounds. Your potential neighbors, how well do they take care of their home and yard? How friendly are people on your walk? How loud is the area? Any unusual smells? Unpleasant sights, like a major power line? Observe the things you discover that you love or that make you feel good about the location.
The goal here is to find as many things about the area that will bring you joy and ones that will drive you crazy. This is best done by walking the neighborhood. This is something a lot of people fail to do, but you will learn so much about the area and how you feel by walking around. If you get the chance on the walk, engage the neighbors in a conversation. Let them talk. They’ll you more than you need to know. And if you have a dog or a small child, take them, too – they’re great conversation starters.
• The Feel Test – The Drive
This is all about location. But not just location on the map. How does the location feel?
You may need to take the time to make the drive to and from work, during the commute hours.
Ideally drive it to your regular places whether that’s a sports bar for trivia night, church, soccer fields or the coffee bar. If you can do it at the times you go to these places, it’s a great way to do your research. You can use the maps app on your phone during those travel times and log how long it would take to get to each place.
Try getting from the house to the grocery store at dinner time because you ran out of something.
Is there a gas station nearby because someone forgot to fill up yesterday? Not naming any names.
How long does it take you to get out of the neighborhood? Are you an impatient driver and this house is a mile back in the hood on a 20 MPH street with 1o stop signs?
How much time does it take to get to the major roads?
Basically, how do these drive times make you feel?
________
Again none of the three steps above should remove the house from the list, but it might reorder where it falls on the list. At this point all we’re doing is ordering our list. And the goal after the sight test and the feel test is to have a pretty solid order for the next step which is our “adding value” phase.
For the record with our own little purchase… we had a vision for our home, so we always joke that we purchased it for the location {amazingly short drive times really convenient to everything} and that acre yard. Because those are unique finds in Nashville. It was a major pro on our list.
Next, we’ll talk about the idea of future vision {something we were really feeling that day} and where to add value to the home.
Have an inspired day!
And don’t forget if you have any questions drop us a comment below, or if you want to keep it private, shoot us an email! And if we can help you buy/sell or renovate a home, we’d be honored to work with you.
Have an inspired day!
[…] Related reading: The Handmade Home – Tips for Viewing and Buying a Home: The Feel Test […]