Being clear about what you want is critical to time management. You are probably both working and you may have children and all of their activities. Your time is valuable, so deciding in advance will shorten the search process.

Get a notepad and write out a description of your perfect home. It might look like this:

A single story home with three to four bedrooms, at least two bathrooms, a formal dining room, a spa or swimming pool, a small yard, lots of windows and few trees, on a downslope with a walkout basement that we can finish later. Fireproof roof but no sprinklers inside the house and no fireplace.

That is a good start. You should add as much as you can to the description. Do you like or hate Tudor? Does the garage need to connect directly to the home? If it is in a condominium must there be an elevator? How close to the school do I want to be? Do I want to accommodate my pets in any special way?

If you decide to work with a Realtor, communicate ALL of this to her at least a day before you get into her car. (Always take her car. You don’t want to be worrying about driving when you need to be looking around. If you want to drive a different street just tell her.) Know in your heart that the larger the description the less likely you are to get everything you want. But also know that she will do her best to match as many of your needs as possible. When you find the right home, you will know it.

SEE CHECKLIST 2 – KNOWING WHAT YOU WANT, at the end of the book.

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