The following are important components of your Fort McMurray house hunting checklist that will help in finding a house that meets your specifications.

1. The Home’s Exterior

You will want to look at:

• The lot shape and size
• The orientation of the house on the lot
• Is the driveway private or shared?
• General condition of the exterior including the front yard, the rear yard and the side yard.
• Condition of the landscaping
• Type of home
• Type and condition of soil
• Type of home, is it detached or duplex?
• Number of stories for the home
• Type and condition of siding and the paint
• Condition of walkway to the front door. Is it a covered or enclosed porch?
• State of the backyard. Is it fenced, does it offer privacy, is there a patio/decking?
• The type of roof, the general condition and its age. Have there been recent repairs?
• Type of foundation. Is it raised? Does it have cracks?
• Structural appearance of the house

2. The Interior of the Home

• What are the sizes of the rooms?
• Is there soundproofing between shared rooms?
• Are there separate hallways?
• Are there closets for winter clothing?

Kitchen

• The general size and color scheme
• Check for features such as eat-in area, Food Preparation Island, sufficient cupboard space and condition, pantry, single sink or double sink.
• Condition of the kitchen
• Is the countertop space sufficient?
• Type of countertop and its condition

Doors/windows

• The types of windows – single pane or thermopane?
• General condition
• Do they open and close without sticking
• Do the locks and latches work

Bedrooms

• The number of bedrooms in the home
• The type and condition of the floor
• The number and size of windows

Bathrooms

• The number of bathrooms in the home
• Are there ensuite bathroom?
• The type and condition of the bathroom floor

Family/living rooms

• Is there a fireplace or wood-burning stove
• The type and condition of the floor
• Is there a separate dining room?

Basement

• What is the general condition
• Is there adequate headroom?
• Is the basement finished, does it have a door to the outside?
• Is there a storage area or utility area (washer/dryer sold with house)?
• Are there cracks in wall or floors?
• Is it drained or does it have a sump pump?
• Evidence of flood or moisture?
• Signs of recent renovations. Were they done by the seller or professionally?

3. Systems

Electrical Systems

• Check for amperage, adequacy of outlets, fuses and circuit breakers
• General condition and if they meet the current codes

Plumbing

• Check for signs of leaks
• Are pipes made of copper or other material?
• Does plumbing meet the current codes
• The age of the plumbing system and signs of recent repairs

Water Service

• Is water city-supplied or well—drilled?
• Does it ever run dry?
• Has water quality been recently tested for potability?
• Capacity, age of pump, size of feeder line from well to house, water agreement?
• Sewer or septic system, City sewer?

Septic

• Where is septic field?
• Has the holding tank and system been recently checked?

Heating

• Type of heating (oil, gas, electric, steam, baseboard combination, heat pump)
• The age, output, and recent repairs

Air conditioning

• Type (window, central), age, size, recent repairs

Hot water heater

• Is it leased or owned, gas or electric,
• Number of gallons, efficiency, age

Insulation

• Type, rating, any asbestos or UFFI?
• Ask to see copies of recent utility bills

Cable TV service

• Adequate room outlets

4. Community

Is the home close to:

• Schools
• City services (fire, police, hospital)
• Medical (doctor, dentist, optometrist)
• Shopping (grocery, pharmacy)
• Parks
• Playgrounds
• Day care

Recreation centers

• Public swimming pool
• Public tennis courts
• Golf course
• Skating rink
• Hockey arena, ball park
• Restaurants
• Theatres
• Public library
• Places of worship
• Major roads, highways
• Public transportation
• Possible problems (traffic congestion, train tracks, industrial sites)

Local neighborhood

• Urban, suburban, rural
• Older or newer—estimate age
• Quiet streets
• Adequate street lights
• Visible power and telephone lines
• Well-cared-for homes and yards
• Sidewalks—general condition
• Space between homes
• Adequate street parking, overnight parking restrictions?
• Possible problems (junked cars, poorly maintained roads, poor drainage)
• Types of homes (detached, link or semi-detached, apartments)
• Age group of homeowners

 If you are in the middle of your house hunting in Fort McMurray and need some general information or need more information about any particular property then don’t hesitate to contact with our Fort McMurray Realtors at The Lore Group.

Don’t let your heart make the decisions when it’s time to buy or sell your home.

Use your head to come out on top of this tremendous milestone

It should come as no surprise that the purchasing of a home is not only a massive financial investment, but an emotional one as well. In every aspect, the home that you choose is an active investment toward your future, your stability and your legacy, which makes it a pretty big deal when the time comes to sign that final paperwork and begin moving your life into a new place.

From here on in, this is where you will make many of your family’s best memories and share great times with loved ones. The walls will become filled with your photographs and every square inch of your home will become filled with stories to tell and memories to smile fondly on for years to come. Sometimes, you fall in love with a house from the second you step inside it for the first time. You envision your life taking place here, your furniture filling the space and barbecues in the front yard. You just know that this is where you want the rest of your life to take place.

It’s so easy to get wrapped up in the grand vision that a beautiful house can invoke, and it’s normal to feel a swelling of excitement in your chest when you think you may have found the one. But don’t let your emotions blind you to the realities of your situation. The house might be sheer perfection down to every plank in the floor, but there are factors to consider that extend to the world outside of your prospective new home.

How far will you have to commute to work? Is the neighborhood a good fit for your family? You must consider the priorities that have driven you toward finding a new home in the first place. If your ambition is to increase the time you get to spend with your family, it’s probably not best to buy a house that requires you to commute two extra hours a day to work, for example.

Believe it or not, psychology has a massive role to play in the process of buying or selling a home.

Obviously, the decision to purchase a new home in Fort McMurray is a huge undertaking that you wouldn’t consider too lightly. But no matter how diligent you feel you might be in this process, that cozy breakfast nook or spacious back yard could send a bit of your rationality flying outside the illuminating bay window. Don’t agree to anything before you have a chance to think rationally and calmly about the huge decision that you will soon be making.

This is your future, after all. Take a few notes from the mistakes of others to avoid making expensive or frustrating mistakes when you’re buying or selling a home.

Think about the long-term.

The house is perfect. Every amenity you could ever want and enough well-lit space for every member of your household has you seeing this place through rose-colored glasses.

But will it make you happy for the rest of your life?

Everything in the house might be all that you’ve envisioned for the future, but will it satisfy you in the long-term? While so much of your life is conducted inside of your home, it’s not just the structure itself that needs to make you happy. Will updating your home mean moving far away from family or friends? Will your children have to change schools, and will you have to commute even further to work each day? All of these things can and will impact your overall happiness. Don’t let being enamored with a charming home blind you to this fact.

In the world we live in, many associate a bigger, fancier abode with being genuinely happier, but this is not the case. It doesn’t matter how lovely the home is if you’re pulled away from things that make you happy in order to make the move. Don’t sacrifice the things you love just for a bigger house.

Your social relationships are important to your well-being. Sometimes we might find ourselves in positions where it is necessary to move further away from the ones we love, but generally it should be avoided when at all possible. The social element of living should not be forgotten, as it is critical to our happiness. No matter how big or small our individual social circles are, to suddenly no longer be a part of them due to distance can be shattering.

Factor in all of your expenses.

Buying a Fort McMurray home usually means dropping a serious amount of money at once. Down payments, moving expenses, furnishings and more add up consistently through the process of buying your new home, but many people don’t calculate their final expenses until they’re left staring in astonishment at a surprisingly high final tally.

Don’t let the expenses sneak up on you. Make a list, write it down and keep it close by any other materials you have related to your home-buying venture. Calculate costs early on for everything that you will need to move your life from House A into House B, including the seemingly minor things. It all adds up in the end, and a wise investor is careful to make sure they know how much they are spending as early on as possible.

Consider renting, instead of buying.

Many homeowners say that owning a home causes a lot of undue stress that they didn’t expect to have to deal with until they were in the thick of it. Maintaining a home requires a great deal of time and effort that some people just are not capable of putting forth for one reason or another, and there’s nothing wrong with opting out of the responsibility.

A lot of people go into buying a home beaming with pride because they’ve “made it,” they’ve accomplished the American Dream of being a home-owner, and they are rightfully excited. But then the excitement begins to fade as they start to be weighed down by the burden of maintenance and expense. Unforeseen costs and repairs will happen, and not everybody is capable of or willing to deal with that. Some aren’t prepared to deal with the large monthly mortgage payments that come with their new home.

It’s better to hold off on buying a home, than diving in and realizing that you don’t know how to swim.

If you’re selling a home, don’t bet everything on a big return.

When the time comes for a homeowner to sell their house, many individuals expect incredibly high returns for their property without taking matters such as inflation into account. They view their home with rose-colored glasses and don’t want to part with it for a price that they feel is unsuitable. It’s understandable. The home might have deep sentimental value for you that you can’t even begin to put a price tag on. Still, it is unwise to place the future of something important-say, your retirement-on the return you will get from selling your home.

If enough people are to engage in this type of thinking when they go to sell their home, this can actually cause a distortion in the market by leading to speculative booms.

Researchers believe that this over-optimism is caused by what is called the “money illusion,” which occurs when person tries to sell a property for a certain price without taking inflation into account. For example, say you are selling a property that had originally been purchased for $10,000 a long time ago. The value in this time has increased to $40,000. You think, wow, that’s a big return!

But when you consider the cost of everything caused by inflation, it really might not be that much.

You might come out ahead, but consider that you might not.

A huge emotionally-driven factor of selling one’s home is an aversion to getting less than they spent on the property to buy it in the first place. It makes sense. You want to make money, not lose it, in the sale of your home. Taking a loss financially might hurt, but it happens sometimes.

When a seller refuses to budge on the asking price of their home, this can result in the house staying on the market for a really long time. Some sellers can’t wait that long, but the ones that can, and do, can profit. This is, of course, if they sell the house at all. Sticking with too high of a price can come back to bite you, forcing you to reduce the price anyway if you want to make a sale.

When it comes to determining a price for your home in Fort McMurray and what you may be willing to settle for, it’s important to be flexible and realistic in your goals. Evaluate Fort McMurray Real Estate market wisely and understand that you might end up not being able to recuperate everything that you have put into buying and maintaining the home. Being stubborn is a risky maneuver that can yield great reward, but this is never a guarantee.

To summarize, it is essential to use level-headed rationality rather than emotion when making decisions about buying or selling a home. It can be easy to fall into these behaviors, but it is important to set aside the time and focus to make sure that the home and its location are a suitable fit for yourself, your family, and the next chapter of your life. Don’t forget to consult and take expert options of Fort McMurray Realtors before making the final decision.