Questions to Ask Yourself When Planning Your Dream House

Since the COVID-19 crisis happened, I noticed that a lot of my friends started building their dream houses. Mostly new parents, their priority has now shifted from convenience and distance, to wanting a space of their own even if it's away from the city.

The pandemic shifted our priorities in a lot of things, just like our living space. Before, people opted for city center location, in a high rise condominium next to a mall or near their workplace. Now, more and more prefer living in a quieter environment even if it means traveling for an hour or 2 to Metro Manila. as long as it has a huge garden or nearby park for their kids play safely and grow freely. I also know a lot of friends who tried remote work and lived in Boracay Island for months. 

At my age, the idea of having my own house where I can drive to when I want to just take a break is really tempting. I still have no clue when it comes to buying properties, so I asked the people around me what they are considering while building a house. 

Here are top three questions you can ask yourself when planning for your future home:

1. Where do you want to live?

Location hunting usually takes a while since you have to think of so many factors. 

Do you prefer the accessibility of city life over the quiet and usually more spacious provincial properties? How's the distance of your house to your work, hospitals, malls? Is the area prone to flooding or other natural calamities? How's the internet connection in the area? 

List all your non negotiable to avoid buyer's remorse. According to a Wall Street Journal article, the pandemic brought in waves of corporate executives suddenly wanting to work remotely from the beach. This results to compromises that will hunt the buyers someday when they decide to sell their property.

2. What's your budget?

The most important question to ask in planning for your dream house is your budget. How much are you willing to spend? Are you financially ready now? Will your savings, salary, and borrowing rates allow you to afford your dream house and all the maintenance that comes with it? 

Budgeting can get confusing with all these aspects you suddenly realize that you also have to consider in home ownership, but you can actually get the ball rolling and see how much money you will need by checking Mortage Calculator UK.  

This calculator originally catered to the UK market, thus the use of pounds, but the monthly payments math works the same just about everywhere (just convert and change to the currency units and prices applicable to you). This is the perfect tool that you can easily access online when you get intimidated by all the math and big numbers. 

When you use Mortage Calculator UK, you'll be able to gauge on your own which payment terms will work for you instead of going to different real estate and bank consultations. Can you do shorter payment terms to enjoy lower interest rate? Or are you more comfortable in longer payment terms for higher interest rate? 

3. What are your non-negotiables?

Lastly, to avoid getting overwhelmed by all the nitty gritty details once construction starts, make a general list of must-haves for your dream house so you won't forget why you're spending so much for this space in the first place. What interior design theme do you want? How many rooms are you planning to have? Do you need a space for a garage, a garden, or a pool? 

My personal non-negotiables:

1. A space with good lighting since I usually take pictures for my work.

2. A spacious room where I can display my growing Kpop merch collection

3. Accessibility, since I commute

These are only 3 questions that you can start with when planning for your dream house. Keep reading and researching. Feel free to add more if you have helpful tips in the comment box below! We are talking about the place where you will return to everyday, so make sure you build a house that you would love to go home to everyday. ❤