Home, Cheap Home: Affordability Doesn’t Mean Low Quality

Buying a property, whether it’s your first, second or third, is always a tricky procedure. It isn’t something into which you can jump head first, because this is an investment which will stick with you for years or, possibly, even decades. Of course, all of that might be well and good if you’re feeling financially confident, but, if you’re not, you don’t want to end up with a poor-quality house just because you couldn’t afford anything better.

Yet, buying an affordable home doesn’t mean you have to compromise on quality. It just means you have to do even more extensive research than you were already doing whilst property hunting, and that research can start here. Let’s talk about some of the ways you could find the perfect, top-quality home, without it costing you several of your limbs.

Figure out your budget.

Whatever kind of house you hope to buy, it’s vital that you think about what you can physically afford before you make any kind of decision. If you enlist the help of a real estate agent, this will help give them, as well as you, an idea of what style of house you should be looking for. You don’t want to undershoot the perfect home, by heading for a price range that’s far too low, but, of course, you would have no way of pushing beyond the absolute upper limit of your price range without irreparably damaging your finances.

Remember, you don’t have to feel constrained by the budget. The price level of a house isn’t what determines how good it is. If you have an upper spendable limit, you and your realtor can work to find the best property for your money in that upper range.

Sometimes it’s okay not to reach the absolute limits of your budget, however.

I know I said that you shouldn’t vastly under-shoot your budget, as you want to find the most perfect house you possibly can, but that also doesn’t mean you should stretch yourself to the extent of emptying your bank account on the property you choose. There are other costs to think about, so sometimes less is more.

If you think about it, this is the only way to get the perfect house, because a “home” is more than four walls and a roof. A home is about those personalised features you implement, such as furnishings you’ve always wanted, and it’s also about the people within your house. Your children, or your partner, need money not just for today, but to secure their tomorrow, in terms of education. All these things cost money. As tempting as it may be to buy a slightly more expensive house today, think about all the wonderful things you’ll need tomorrow both in your home and family life. You can make a better home by leaving just a little bit of your budget for additional expenses, whether those are urgent additional expenses and luxuries or future ones.

Considering manufactured homes.

Investing in manufactured homes might seem like a risky move to you, as mobile-based sites are often viewed with a certain dismissive breed of disregard. However, times are changing. Mobile homes, as they’re often called, are beginning to be designed with the same aesthetic qualities as on-site homes; so much so, that you often can’t tell the difference.

On top of this advantage, you also have the benefit of low cost and, often, a better quality of build than on-site homes, because manufactured homes are built to withstand the transportation process. It looks like a win-win to me.