Falling in love with the details of a home is easy. The layout is perfect. The new granite countertops are beautiful. There’s a media room, a spa tub. It’s all just perfect! But is it? Buyers who get stars in their eyes may wind up paying for a new home in ways they never imagined.
In the world of 2011 America, the old saw “location, location, location” takes on a new meaning. The current national average price for gasoline is about $3.10 a gallon. Pundits say that by summer that will reach $4 or higher. At those levels, exactly how does the location of your “dream” home fit into your “real” life? Any new home purchase should include realistic test drives, not just “eyeball” estimates of what will become your routine travel routes.
Anyone who has ever driven in city traffic knows that not all miles are equal. Get in the car and actually drive from the “dream” house to all regular destinations: work, school, the gym, the grocery store, relatives’ homes, the airport. Make a list. Think about how you move around in the world and recreate those movements. Keep notes on things like road construction, railroad crossings, and troublesome intersections. Try to get a sense of the traffic patterns.
As Americans are climbing out of the recession, we’re doing so with a new sense of responsibility about all of our expenses. There are more costs involved in owning a home than paying the mortgage and the utilities. Does buying your “dream” home in a location that doubles your fuel bills and increases the need for maintenance on your vehicle make sense in your long-term budget? If you wear your car out in a year driving back and forth to work, can you afford to replace it? If your new route is filled traffic hazards and you’re involved in an accident, can you afford the higher insurance premiums? (Statistics show that even a single claim can cause your insurer to label you a “bad driver.”)
Yes, the number of bedrooms is just perfect. The countertops and floors are gorgeous, and what’s not to love about that spa tub? All those things are important. They speak to the quality of life you’d like to lead in your new home. Unfortunately, however, you do have to leave the house at times. Can you actually afford to live in that location and drive those routes? In 2008 $4 a gallon gasoline sent suburban-dwelling Americans to car dealerships in droves to trade in their SUVs. Considerations like mileage are not the fun part of home buying, but they are practical and they do need to be seriously weighed.
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Image: Arvind Balaraman
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