Everything about buying a house is fraught. There’s , of course. And .
And the emotional toll of trying to translate the needs and dreams of your family into a pile of bricks and drywall. But one of the most exhausting aspects of looking for a new house is visiting all those prospective homes and trying to determine whether buying it is a good idea or a mistake that will ruin your life. A solid on your side is a necessity, but you can also eliminate a lot of properties right off the bat if you collect enough data.
Any time you visit a home you might want to buy, it’s an opportunity to kick the tires, so to speak, and look for that might help you narrow down your choices. But that requires data, and data requires tools—physical tools. Here are the essential house hunting tools you should put into an “open house kit” and bring with you to every home you visit on your quest for a dream home.
There are a lot of reasons you should be able to measure stuff when walking through a house you might buy: To ensure that the listed square footage of the home is accurate. It’s not unheard of for there to be major discrepancies between reality and listing, so measuring as you go is a must. To be certain the furniture you’re bringing with you will fit through doors and up stairs, and will ultimately fit in the room it’s destined for.
This applies to stuff going on the walls, too—including that enormous television you just bought. Appliance spaces in the kitchen and laundry .