5 Things You Should Remember When House-Hunting

House-hunting is very exciting but people often approach it with the wrong mindset.

Naturally, buyers have a specific picture in their heads when it comes to their ideal home. It is good to have a mental image but often distracts from the house's potential.

The colour scheme of the house, for example, should not be the main focus.

If you make a decision based on something as small as that then you might not see the other features of the house that make it great.

Here are 5 things you should not worry about when house-hunting:

#1 - The paint colour can change

It might hurt your eyes to look at a house with bright green walls or light blue ceilings but this is easily fixable. Paint colour should not determine whether or not you buy a home.

Ask yourself whether you would be able to live in the house if the colour of the walls were different. That's how you make a better decision.

You can paint over it with a colour of your choice and put your own stamp on the property. With a few hundred rands and some effort, you can change it to a colour that you prefer. 

#2 - Don't think of the furniture as your own when house-hunting

It is difficult to picture a room without furniture especially if the sellers left it there during an open house.

The old-fashioned floral prints on the recliners might look hideous to you but remember that it is not staying behind after the sale. It might put a damper on the rest of the room during the house-hunting process but look beyond that.

Once you set up your own furniture, it's going to look different. You can then style it to your heart's content. 

#3 - The current layout will change after your house-hunting journey

You might notice that the bigger bedroom is used as an office while the bed is squashed into a smaller room. You might notice that the veranda is used as a storage space.

Don't fixate too much on the functions for each room. Just like the furniture and the style of the house, you can change it up.

If you want the office to be in the smaller bedroom, you can set it up when you move in. The layout belongs to the current owners and it will leave with them when they move out. 

#4 - The lights can be spruced up

When an open house is dark then it is difficult to give it a second glance. Buyers are generally attracted to big rooms with lots of natural light.

Remember that you can add as much additional light as you want.

Perhaps the owners only have one lamp on when you have a look at it. Maybe the curtains are constantly closed and no natural light is coming in. There might be a hedge growing outside of the window.

You can easily add more lamps, put up other curtains, or trim the hedge to make the room lighter. 

#5 - You can change the architectural details

There are several easy changes that you can make if you don't like the architectural details of a house. If you don't like the wood paneling, for example, you can remove it. If you want to add crown moulding, you can do it yourself over the weekend.

These small tweaks shouldn't cost you a lot of money and it's a great way of adding beautiful finishing touches to the house. 

If there are certain things about the house you don't like, ask yourself whether they can be changed or removed without too much effort. If the answer is yes, you might want to give the house a second chance.