Are you trying to buy a house and navigate parenthood at the same time and the thought of adding one more research topic to your to-do list will make you lose your mind?
If so, I’m here for you and you can take that what to expect when you’re expecting- home edition book off your Amazon list right now.
Be sure to read the whole blog post so that you can save time pre-qualifying homes, not waste time trying to arrange a babysitter and touring homes that don’t check the boxes.
When I bought my first home, I wasn’t in the mindset of checking over the house to make life easier with a family. So now having a family of my own in the same home, I find myself wishing for some obvious changes and maybe some ideas that you haven’t even thought of in the home buying process with kids.
A MUDROOM
Let’s start with the entryway. A mudroom or separate entry way is something that is very important to organizing kids when they enter and exit your home. Having 4 seasons in Ontario make for wet and muddy messes.
Find a home with enough space in the doorway to install cubbies, cabinets or a closet big enough to store away the dirty mess from the rest of the house.
FLOW OF THE HOUSE
With the mudroom on our mind I want to also touch on the flow of the house.
When we viewed our home at our showing we entered the door where the lockbox was located and didn’t have the first thought about how we would use the doors daily. Our house has three doors and the driveway is located on the wrong side of the door with the mudroom which makes it completely inconvenient.
Take the time to really think about where the driveway is located, how the house naturally flows to each room and what door will be your main entrance to take off all your boots, hats or get the kids ready.
BEDROOMS
Tallying up the number of bedrooms you need is easy, but if it’s important for your bedroom to be on the same level as your kids or for your kids to each have their own, check that out in the listing photos ahead of time to save yourself a trip..
BATHROOMS
Do you share a bathroom with your kids now and hate it?
If your next home needs to have multiple bathrooms, also take into account if you want your kids to share a bathroom or even what type of shower or bath tub is important for the stage of your kids’ lives.
FLOORS
Kids are messy or at least mine is. So when exploring homes look around at the floor and see what areas of the house you think your family may eat and play in most and decide if they will be easy to clean.
BONUS ROOM
I absolutely adore my daughter but at the end of the day I need a space where I don’t feel surrounded by barbie dolls staring at me or picking lego pieces out of my toes.
Find a home that has a bonus room for the kids or even a basement area they can play as they like without compromising your most trafficked rooms in the house.
SAFETY
Unless you already have kids you mostly likely aren’t seeing every safety hazard at a showing.
For all my new parents out there, look for steep stairs or stairwells that will be difficult to gate, heating sources like wood or gas fireplaces that can be burn hazards, outdated electrical outlets, or even water features like streams, ponds or pools that can be drowning hazards without proper monitoring.
BACKYARD
A backyard is important because kids have so much energy and growing up in the county I personally think it’s vital to let kids explore the outdoors. Having a backyard for kids to burn off some energy will be well worth the investment for a new parent.
Try to find a home with a fully fenced in backyard that is fairly flat to make it easier on you to let them play as they want.
Also look around the back door area and see if there are windows that allow you to keep a good eye on them if you need to finish up a few things in the house while they are playing.
NEIGHBOURHOOD
Let’s talk a bit about the area of the house.
Most parents are wary of buying homes on busy streets and unsafe neighbourhoods but they often forget to look for sidewalks. They offer an extra buffer between the road and kids at play and entice you to take a family walk or bring out your child’s creative art side.
I also want to mention on this topic how people often look for neighbourhoods close to restaurants and stores that you usually don’t mind taking a car ride to anyway. I suggest looking for walking proximity to parks, schools, daycares or recreation centers.
As a mom with a young child I know the hassle of packing up baby bags, strollers, and all the things so trust me this will make all the difference when you can entertain your kids within walking distance to your house.
SCHOOLS
There are 24 elementary schools, five secondary schools and two post-secondary school campuses throughout Huron county. You will have a variety of schools to choose from if moving to Huron County but if you have your mind set on a few, try to find a home that is zoned for that school.
There’s a perk to keeping your search focused on areas with high-quality schools: Research shows that homes located in top-rated school districts fetch a higher price and tend to sell faster too.
Now that you have a list of needs to give your realtor like me for your next home you may also be interested in learning about How to House Hunt with Kids?
- MEGAN PROPER
5 Tips to make the house showing process easier with your kids tagging along with you.
