What to Consider When Buying a Home With Kids

What to consider when buying a home with kids

Home buyers with children are scouring properties looking for high-level items on their checklists, such as good schools and a room for a nursery. But some parents may later regret overlooking other factors in choosing the right home for their family. Realtor.com® recently featured an article for parent clients looking to buy and those overlooked factors they’d likely want to consider, including:

Layout/Bedroom placement

If you have kids already or are planning to grow your family, a bigger home may be a better choice. For instance, you may appreciate plenty of storage space for your children’s toys or sports equipment — and a designated playroom where the kids can be loud while you have relative quiet elsewhere in the house. Another factor to consider is the floor plan. It should match your family’s lifestyle. For example, if you want to sleep in close proximity to your infant, be sure that your bedroom is on the same floor as your child’s. Key things to look for are: size of the kitchen and dining area, number of bedrooms and number of bathrooms. Is the kitchen and dining area big enough to accommodate everyone? Would you have enough space to invite extended family over? While the number of bedrooms is clearly important, the number of bathrooms is an equally important factor.

Evaluate the vicinity of recreational amenities

If you have small children, a playground nearby is a bonus — or consider if the home’s yard is big enough for a small playground or swing set. If your kids play sports — or if you imagine that they will one day want to be involved in youth leagues — it’s worth considering the home’s proximity to fields where youth teams play. If your family likes to swim, see how far away the nearest community pool is — and if the drive seems too far, keep your focus on homes with pools or homes with a large enough backyard so you can have a pool installed.

The neighbors

It’s important to check out the neighbors who will be living next door and make sure the surrounding area is appropriate for a family. We always suggest checking The National Sex Offender Public Website to determine if any sex offenders are in the neighborhood. Or visit https://www.communitycrimemap.com/

Research local school quality

If you’ll be sending your child to public school, you’ll want to consider buying your home in a high-ranking school district — and that the home itself is located within the respective district boundaries. Researching school districts before you begin your search will help you keep your house-hunting focused. Try using a site such as greatschools.org or niche.com to research local schools. There’s another perk to keeping your search focused on areas with high-quality public schools: Research shows that homes located in top-rated school districts fetch a higher price and tend to sell faster too.

Indoor & Outdoor Safety

If you have small children, you’ll want to be sure the house and property are safe — or can be easily child-proofed. For instance, a house with stairs can be dangerous for a toddler. Is there a way the stairs can be gated off? Of even more concern are open staircases where rambunctious kids can climb onto — and potentially fall off of — railings. With kids, it’s not just the inside of the house you need to worry about. Properties that have water features on-site — such as a small pond, creek or a swimming pool — can be a drowning hazard. Is there a way to fence these off? And speaking of fences, with young kids it’s helpful to have a fenced-in yard so kids can’t wander off — or wander into the road. Whatever the safety issue is, if there’s not a simple and affordable way to mitigate the problem, cross the potential house off your list.