Facebook
X
Pinterest
Copy Link
If you’re thinking about moving near Indianapolis, you need to ask the why questions before something breaks and forces your hand. If not, you buy in a hurry. But if you do, you know what the house has to do for you.
If you’re in central Indiana, most people decide to sell their house when something breaks: the roof, the HVAC, or their mentality after they’ve spent way too long in a house. It’s too small, or it’s too big, or they’ve been driving so far every single day that something inside of them just snaps. They realize: I need to move, right now.
And when that happens, no one stops to ask enough why questions ahead of time.
1. The lock test. Safety. Think about the last trip you took. Do you check the locks 15 times before you leave, triple check your flight status, and take a picture of the stove to make sure the gas is off? Or would you be totally cool booking a day trip to France the day before you leave, with [a backpack, a toothbrush] and some underwear?
If safety matters a lot to you, structure matters. Always get a pre-approval, but what does your price ceiling actually look like? What are your inspection plans? What is your inspection period going to look like? Can you get home warranties in different ways? And what do you do in an appraisal gap situation?
If you think safety is an internal mindset, that you create the safety and the world doesn’t, then your comfort with risk is your leverage. Maybe that is where you have options for a fast close or flexible terms.
If you’re a seller, you might have a two-year plan for updating your HVAC, your water heater, and your roof. Maybe you make upgrades to increase the value of your home, but you want to enjoy them before you sell. March to your own internal drummer.
2. The vacation test. Variety. On the vacation of your dreams, are your days already planned out? Or do you get there and see what happens?
If you like structure, we set up a list of six homes to tour, in an exact order, and I tell you exactly why. If you’re the other kind, you go to open houses as they pop up.
The house itself follows the same rule. If you like a lot of variety, maybe it’s a condo in a walkable town center like midtown Carmel. Maybe it’s a place near the water: Geist Reservoir, Morse, or Lake Stonebridge. Or a project house, because you want to say: I want to change this, I want to do that.
If you’d rather have certainty, maybe that is new construction. You won’t get surprises from 20-year-old HVACs and roofs, and you have builder warranties. Or it’s a condo or townhome, so the structure is already in place.
Personally, I think a townhome or condo is often not a great deal. I’ve seen condos in Carmel sell for about $250,000 that would have been worth $400,000 if they owned the land.
Most of the time I would rather someone buy a regular single-family house and hire a landscape crew for the outside. But I’ve been in this business long enough to know that not everyone does. Different things matter to different people.
3. The Thanksgiving test. Relationships. Picture your next Thanksgiving or anniversary. Are you hosting your people at your place? Or would you rather go to Roma in Carmel and have a great time somewhere else?
Who do you see in a normal week, and how far are they from you? It makes no sense to buy the house of your dreams at Geist Reservoir, and then realize the people you see every week live in Whitestown. Yes, you get the great house. Yes, you might make it work. But is it worth the true trade-off?
Who else is going to have an opinion? If you’re making a gut-reaction decision, list everyone who might have insight. If your kids are coming in, talk with them ahead of time. Or you’re a lone wolf: do what I want, do what I got.
And do you want to know your neighbors, or would you rather be left alone?
4. The street test. Respect. Would you rather have the nicest house on a good street, or a good house on the nicest street? You’re celebrating a milestone, or coming home after a long week. Do you go to the restaurant everyone talks about, or your regular quiet spot?
Think about the most recent home you absolutely loved. What was it? The walkability? The colors and the way it flowed? The kitchen? When friends come over for the first time, what do you want them to notice first? Whose house have you walked into and thought: man, they made it?
Then decide where you fall on that continuum.
5. The five-year house. Your life’s purpose. Is this a five-year house or a 20-year house? Picture us sitting on a beach three years from now. What would have to come true for you to say those were the best three years of your life so far? A pickleball league? More travel? Building wealth? What does your legacy look like?
That answer changes your negotiation. If this is your forever home, a permanent rate buydown may make sense. A temporary buydown, like a 3-2-1 or a 2-1, is just the seller prepaying interest on the loan; it does not change the total value of the loan. A permanent buydown can, in some situations, save you hundreds of thousands of dollars.
If it’s a five-year house, how much sweat equity will you put in? Do you buy a fixer-upper and realize the gains when you sell, or a move-in ready house? Talk it through with your loan officer. A five-year house on a 20-year plan won’t get you where you’re going.
You don’t need a house picked out or a plan. If you’re wondering what may or may not be possible for you, email me at nlamkin@c21scheetz.com and let’s talk it through.
