The first thing to consider when you move inside the house is the number of moms it has, and whether they are adequate for your needs. Are there enough bedrooms and baths? How are the rooms laid out? Will you be happy if you have to walk through the master bedroom to get to the kitchen? If it’s a two-story house, what’s upstairs and what’s downstairs? Don’t underestimate the inconvenience of a two-story house that doesn’t have even a half-bathroom downstairs.
Pay careful attention to the size of the rooms, and don’t just rely on your general impression of how large they are. Get out your tape measure and write down the actual numbers. This is the time to figure out whether your grand piano will fit in the living room, not when the movers are glaring at you with the thing on their backs.
Also, try to imagine these rooms filled with your furniture, not with that of the people living there. Your Salvation Army surplus may not set off the fireplace and bay window quite as nicely as does the current residents’ Danish Modem living-room set.
Another general point about the floor plan: as you go through a house, develop an overall impression of whether its rooms tend to be bright or dark. Bright, airy rooms with lots of windows can be a definite plus, especially if you envision filling them with plants. Darker rooms offer other possibilities — a cozy study, for example, or a well-lit work area. Consider every detail of the house in terms of your life-style and your family’s needs for space, privacy, and an appropriate layout.
If the existing space does not seem adequate, then your next question is whether the house has expansion possibffities. An unfinished basement or an attic could become that additional room you have to have. A large lot may give you room to expand to the side or the rear.
If you are considering an unfinished basement or an attic for extra living space, make sure it’s dry. That’s something you have to ascertain in any case, whether you intend to use it for conversion to a new room or for storage.
Be honest with yourself about the extent to which you can bend your needs to fit the limitations of the house. The house may be charming and well located but wrong for you. If it has only one bedroom and you need two, you cannot learn to be happy with it. Be realistic about what you need, what you can concede, and what you can afford to do. Adding two bathrooms, raising the roof, and digging out the basement might make the house “perfect,” but you might be better off waiting for a house that comes closer to meeting your needs without all that work.
If you decide that expanding an existing structure (by building up or out) would be essential before you could live in it, and if you are certain that you can afford the needed renovations, wait one more minute before you sign the contract to buy it. Check the local zoning and building codes to be sure you won’t run afoul of setback requirements — the distances that must be maintained between your house and the street and your house and those next to it. Would you need a “variance” from those rules in order to build an addition? If so, are you positive you could get it? It’s not always obvious what changes to your own property you have to get other people’s permission for. In many areas neighbors are given a legal right to object to any request for a variance. If you need to do something to the house that might raise a zoning-related issue, you should discuss your plans with your potential new neighbors to see how they’ll react. A zoning dispute is not the best way to meet your neighbors.