How To Buy A Family Home: Tips for First Time Buyers

Finding a family home requires much more things to consider compared to if you are buying a house with just you alone. There are many more opinions to consider, as well as the practicality side of buying a home, too. If you are a first-time home buyer, you’ll especially want guidance with this. Here are some tips on how to buy a family home.

1. Layout For Family 

The size of your family will largely depend on the formatting of the type of home you will need to accommodate your family. For example, if you have young kids, you may want to make sure bedrooms are on the same floor as your bedroom so it’s easy to go back and forth to check on them. However, if your kids are a little older, you may not need this as it could be fine, maybe even preferential, for their bedrooms to be on a separate floor from yours.

2. Family Size Home

The size of your family will, of course, influence the size of the property you are looking at. For example, if you’re a family of four, you may want to get five bedrooms as a spare room if you have guests or transform the spare room into an office if you work from home.

3. Neighbours

The type of property you get will influence how close you are to your neighbours. For example, if you are looking at a leasehold house conversion to flats, you’ll be in the same building as your neighbours which means you’ll likely hear more interruptions from them or bump into them more frequently and vice versa. If you have a larger family, you may want somewhere with a little more privacy so opting for a detached or semi-detached house may be more to your liking. It is, however, important to note that detached houses only make up 23.2% of households in England and Wales according to the 2021 census.

4. Entry access

Considering the mobility of your family members also plays a role in the kind of property you choose. For example, if you have an elderly relative living with you or someone with a disability, you’ll want to ensure the entry to the property doesn’t have too many stairs to get to the front door to make it an easy entry point.

5. Storage For Family

The more family members you have, the more storage you will require. When viewing properties to live in, you should consider how much space is available for your family. For example, does it have a loft or basement for extra storage? A garden for you to place your bikes? These are things that can easily slip your mind if you don’t prepare in advance for house viewings but are critical when looking to buy a family home. If there isn’t space already built, consider if there is room for you to expand on space and build storage yourself.

6. How long are you looking to keep the property?

If you’re a first-time buyer, your first home may not be your last and so there may be some compromises you may make to save in the long run when you level up your property. For example, if you have young kids, you may be able to make them share a room if you know you plan to level up in the future. Consider their age and calculate how many years you plan to next level up within ample time. Making compromises will mean you’ll have to have a plan in place until you upsize as your family grows.

7. Schools

If you have kids, you’ll want to have a look at the local area and consider whether there are quality schools within a commutable distance of your home. If you drop your kids to school, this may be critical as you will have to factor in dropping them there and then going to work. If they go to school by themselves, you’ll want to consider how safe the area and journey is for them to go back and forth.

8. Family-Friendly Neighbourhood

Generally assessing whether the houses you are looking at are in a family-friendly location should help narrow down what property to go for. Is it a house with many other families in the area? Are there family-friendly activities around such as parks, or after-school clubs that could help you build a safe community? These are all elements worth considering. If you are moving to a completely new area, you may want to consider if there are resources to help you connect with your culture that feel familiar and homely. This will help you and your family to connect to your new neighbourhood.

Looking to connect with a community of homebuyers? Join The Homebuyers Club with Antoinette and Tayo Oguntonade. omely. This will help you and your family more connected to your new neighbourhood.

Looking to connect with a community of homebuyers? Join The Homebuyers Club with Antoinette and Tayo Oguntonade.