Buying or leasing a property for the first time can be daunting – it’s hard to know what the right choices might be when you’re new to living alone (or with a friend or partner). When you’re looking for a new home, it can feel like the options are endless. With hundreds of different listings available to scroll through, you need to ask yourself a few questions in order to help you narrow it down a little.
What Type and Style Do You Want?
The first thing to ask yourself is the type of housing you’re after and what style you like in a home. This will depend on the size of your household (who will be living with you) and everyone’s preferences will need to be considered. For example, if you’re going to be living alone and prefer a smaller and more modern type of housing, you could look for luxury high-rise apartments in Downtown New Brunswick, NJ, or whatever other areas you’re considering. If you’re going to be sharing housing with a group of people, a bigger 3-4 bedroom home might be a better option.
Where Do You Want to Live?
An easy way to answer this question is to look at where you’ll be spending the majority of your time. If you have a full-time job, you’ll ideally want to live nearby to your workplace to avoid long commute times. If you’re a student at a university, staying close to campus will make things much easier for you.
Once you’ve decided on a general location, it’s easier to narrow your options down by visiting different neighbourhoods and getting a feel for which ones will suit you and your lifestyle.
How Much Space Do You Need?
Another question to consider carefully is how much space you need. The more people in your household, the more space you will need, naturally. However, this is also more personal than just that. Someone who works from home would probably require a little more space in their home, with room for a desk and some space to move around and not feel cramped up all day. On the contrary, someone who is out at work, school or socialising for most of the time, probably wouldn’t need much more than a cosy studio apartment.
What Do You Own?
Take a minute to think about your possessions, and where they will fit into your new living space. Someone who owns a car might seriously consider opting for a home with a garage, or at least a safe parking space for their vehicle. If you’re a budding chef and have a lot of kitchen appliances that you use regularly, you’ll want a place with a bigger kitchen. Larger furniture like big sofas might also need to be considered in terms of the size of the living room.
Overall, the type of housing you need is very personal to you and house housemates. It’s important to sit down for a conversation where all of these things are discussed before starting to look for a home.