Choosing a Place to Live

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Choosing a Place to Live
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Why are housing decisions so important?

• Costs of housing involve a large portion of
  income (1/4-1/3 of family income)
• Location affects daily life of everyone
• Commuting to work
• Bussing to school
• Availability of shopping areas
• Proximity to family friends

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Make a careful decision

• State the situation
• Identify your resources-time, energy, budget
• List the options-think of all alternatives
• Weigh the options- come up with pros and cons for
  each location
• Choose best option
• Carry out your decision-move
• Evaluate your decision-learn from your mistakes

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Factors to consider in housing decisions

• Your needs
• of bedrooms, bathrooms, garage stalls
• Where are you in the family life cycle?
• Expanding family
• Teen-age years
• Empty nest
• Nearing retirement-

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Your wants and priorities

• List all the non-essential things that you would
  like to have and then prioritize them.
• For example, rank these items
• Swimming pool
• Fireplace
• Home office
• Paved driveway
• You may not be able to afford all of them now,
  but perhaps you will be able to add it later.
  Have an idea of what is most important.

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What resources do you have?

• Human Resources include your skills, knowledge,
  and talent, as well as time, energy and
  experience.
• Example- a person with knowledge and skills in
  carpentry or landscaping might use these
  resources in updating or remodeling an older
  home.

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Material Resources

• These could be money, property, supplies, and
  tools that you have available to you.
• Money is probably the most important resource,
  and the challenge comes in using money wisely to
  meet your needs.
• You may be able to save money by using your time
  and skills to do a project yourself in order to
  save money.
• An example of this would be buying a run-down
  older home and restoring or renovating it by
  using your time and energy and creativity.

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Choosing A Location

• Location has a major impact on cost
• Housing is more expensive on the East West
  coast than in the Midwest
• Housing near and within major cities is more
  expensive than in smaller cities and towns.
• In cities, housing costs are higher in downtown
  areas and sections under development.
• Single family homes in suburbs cost more than
  those in cities.
• Housing cost in rural areas tend to be the lowest
  of all.

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Types of locations

• Urban
• Convenient, close to work, shopping and cultural
  opportunites, pollution from factories
• Suburban
• More open space than city living, close to work,
  transportation, entertainment, sometimes better
  schools
• Rural
• Wide open spaces, less industrial pollution, more
  privacy, few cultural opportunities, long bus
  rides, more farm pollution

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Choosing a Neighborhood

• Is it close to the jobs, schools, child care, rec
  facilities, public transportation, major highways
  you will be using?
• Consider condition of the neighborhood-is it run
  down or is new building going on??
• The value of a home increases or decreases with
  the value of other homes in the area. Is it in an
  area of improvement or growth?

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Choosing a neighborhood

• Learn about the the people living in the
  neighborhood before making a final decision
• Are the people friendly?
• Are their families with children?
• Is it an area where everyone is retired?
• Do the people in the area share the same
  interests as you?
• Do the people seem to know and help each other?

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Questions to ask about the neighborhood?

• Check on the amount of noise and pollution in
  the area- rural or urban
• Is it a noisy street?
• Are their plans to tear down vacant buildings or
  homes that are abandoned?
• In rural areas, is there snow removal?
• Is it a high crime area?