Finding the right area to live in can sometimes be a challenge for home buyers. Balancing factors such as budget, proximity to work and family opinions- just to name a few can make the situation very complicated. Even saying you should look for a house based on your lifestyle can be a bit ambiguous- and this is coming from me, a real estate agent who preaches lifestyle real estate. In order to truly understand what it means to find a home based on lifestyle, you need to look at the most important factors that affect your lifestyle.
For 95% of Home Buyers, There are 5 Factors that Will Dictate How You Find the Right Area to Live In
1. Budget
This one is the most obvious, but worth making a point on. You can only afford what you can afford, and that has no bearing on the price of a neighbourhood. Where home buyers can sometimes make a bad decision is by compromising on every other factor in the home buying decision in order to stretch their budget to get into a certain neighbourhood. For example, many people who contact me want to live in Lorne Park, a prestigious neighbourhood in Mississauga where the average price is well north if a million dollars. Can they find a house for less? Sure, but what’s better, living 5 feet from a rail road track or perhaps finding another neighbourhood that offers a similar lifestyle at a better price point?
2. Proximity to Work and Transit
What good is the perfect home if you have to commute 2 hours to get to work? Taking a lifestyle approach to your next home means finding the right home that will add to your life and not suck it out of you. It also means that people are putting more importance on living close to the Go Train and other rapid transit services. As time goes on and the price of gas keeps going up, this will be a major contributor to why certain neighbourhoods become more desirable than others.
3. Demographics
If you’ve lived in the GTA for the past 35 years like I have, then you know how area demographics have changed enormously. We have neighbourhoods that are losing population, due to ageing empty-nesters. Then there are areas exploding in population with many basement income-suites. Many areas are only growing due to immigration. With the influx of immigration to Mississauga and the GTA, there are areas that, in a matter of 10 years, have become vastly different. Understanding the neighbourhood demographics and future trends is key to finding a long term home that suits the way you want to live.
4. Amenities
When it comes to amenities, what people want in their neighbourhood will vary from person to person. To some people that means having close access to malls and shopping while for others it may be to live in a village that is complete with shops, restaurants and cafe’s. Knowing what you want out of your next neighbourhood ahead of time will help determine what areas may be a good fit for you.
5. Schools
More and more, school performance is playing a big role in the purchasing decision. I can tell you from my personal experience as a realtor that there are many home buyers basing their entire home buying decision on how well a school performs. Does this line of thinking provide the best outcome for the whole family? I guess that depends on you, but the bottom line is that a neighbourhood’s future value and desirability are now tied to how well its schools perform.
So there you have it, 5 factors that influence where you will find the right area to live in. Questions or comments, I’d love to hear them. Would you like me to make a Lifestyle home buying plan for you? Let’s talk.
