You have probably heard the saying a million times: Location, Location, Location. You might be thinking to yourself that location is not as important as the layout of the house, the size of the home, or the condition of the home, but you would be wrong, wrong, wrong. Location is the most important thing to consider when you are purchasing a home. The bottom line for buying a home is simple: you can change everything about a home except the location.
There are several locations that will always be more desirable than others. Homes located within the best school districts are desirable for parents. Homes that are centrally located to things like supermarkets, shopping, parks, and colleges are also more desirable. However, when you are considering what kind of lifestyle you live, you need to ask yourself if living in one of these locations is best for you. If you are a parent with small children, living near a park is a great idea but living near a college is probably not. If you are young professional living near a college and near shopping and the nightlife might make more sense for your lifestyle.
Think about all the ways that a certain location will be detrimental to the value of your home. If you are looking at a home that is located near a hospital and you can hear ambulances, that is something that you will not get used to, and will be a problem when you go to resell. If you live near any form of public transportation like an airport or a railroad, you will need to take into account how much that will effect your lifestyle. There are a thousand things that you can change inside a home to make it more welcoming, but if a plain flies overhead every few hours and disrupts whatever you are doing, the design of the home means little.
Also, think about the area that you are looking at. If everyone in the neighborhood has bars on their windows, your might want to consider moving to another location.