Buying a Home in Summer?
Buying a home in summer? Don’t forget to check the winter things too.
Stinking hot weather has struck this week. Following one of our coldest Decembers, the heat seems almost retaliatory for the grief we gave our Melbourne only a couple of weeks ago.
How does the heat affect the buying and selling of homes?
Our flowers droop, my hydrangeas look amazing, however, they will quickly burn in this heatwave.
A lack of air conditioning in a home means that home sellers will be keeping their homes shut up until the last possible minute before an open or buyer appointment.
Sometimes even with air conditioning, homes will be impacted. Getting to some homes requires a bit of effort, finding a park, walking to the house along either a dusty road, or a footpath where mirages seem real, the road seems to be melting, and other buyers park willy nilly.
Tempers fray. Road rage is real. It’s all too hard.
Would you give the home a quick run through, possibly glossing over some of the features that you wanted to see, to race back to your car and the air conditioning?
Would you take the children or the dog? Personally, I think both are a distraction, and should be baby sat or left at home whilst you house hunt in Summer. You cannot leave them in the car, and they will be miserable being dragged from house to house.
Far nicer to skip a weekend of home hunting and go to the beach, the lake, the pool, or stay home in a cool, dark room.
If the home has a pool then how tempted will you be to jump in? Would you look like you planned a swim (purely to test the water of course) if you wore your bathers, brought a towel, and your kids brought their floaties and a beach ball?
Buying a Home In a Tourist Zone
Is the home in an area with a summer influx of tourists? We see the lines of traffic on Facebook of endless cars on the Peninsula link, the Nepean Highway, or waiting for hours to cross the San Remo bridge. How off putting is it for you?
Would it stop you in your tracks? Would it make you search for a new home in a completely different area?
Locals tell us that the tourists and beach house owners hang around for approximately 6 weeks. The stores are packed, the beaches are full of cabanas, and the population swells by the 1000’s.
Do you gain a false impression of facilities because they are there for the summer only? Restaurants, and cafes abound in summer, and they close for the winter. The ‘must have’ walk to coffee vanishes in Winter which is disillusioning.
Buying a Home, Feeling Like a Local
The air bnb or holiday home that you book out over summer influences us. We think how wonderful it would be to live there all year round. You have had a marvellous time, swimming and walking along the beach, dining out in the fresh air on the balcony overlooking the sea, the whole holiday atmosphere is almost irresistible.
You feel like ‘being a local’ is the next step because you travel to this spot nearly every weekend, and often stay over the summer. In fact, you feel like you are a local. Harsh as it sounds, you are not. Until you live there long enough to experience ALL the seasons at least once, then you have the idyllic version of living locally, not the reality.
Would you commute? Could you commute? What would the weekly freeway toll charges be? Could you train it? How long would it take? What about your family? Is there the same opportunities for them? Covid saw an exodus from Melbourne to regional Victoria, and we have seen the reversal as people realised the lifestyle is completely different when you live there. Less sport, less Arts, less of your friends and you have to make all new ones, less educational opportunities. It’s not all beer and skittles.
Buying a Home in Summer, Checking the Winter Things
Buying a home in Summer means not overlooking what it would be like to live there in Winter. Check the heating, the insulation, which way does the home face (will it be dark, cold, and possibly dank in Winter?). Light is an important factor as it’s depressing to live in the dark for the cooler months. What are the roads like? Check the zones and overlays – inundation, floods etc.
Look under the house. Is there mould? Is there a dank smell? Look under the bathrooms or anywhere there is plumbing. Check out the drains, the roof gutters, the water flow from the street. Is the home full of plug in air fresheners? These can hide a more serious problem than a dog smell.
Buying a home in Summer often means you look for different things than buying in Winter. Summer is outside, Winter is inside. Are the rooms big enough? How are they heated? What window furnishings do they have? Look in summer, think about winter.
You are buying a home, and that home is generally our all year round accomodation, so remember to think about how the home suits your purpose in all four seasons.
There is a great deal to consider when you are buying or selling a home, whatever the season. If you need help, then please reach out and let’s chat about working together.
P.S. Black mould vs white mould, which is worse? Neither is great because they both indicate damp, and a lack of ventilation. There are a variety of colours of mould, and you can read more here.
