Remember that your living requirements will constantly change. You must plan around your immediate needs,
but also consider your life over the next five to seven years.

Do you plan to start a family? Will an in-law eventually move in with you? Will you be working from home? The number, size, and layout of the rooms you require will depend on your answers.

At the same time, don’t go overboard and plan too far ahead. If you’re young and only recently married, your first home doesn’t have to be a five bedroom home that will accommodate the large family you hope to have. There’s a very good chance that you’ll be moving in five or six years. Purchasing a home that is too large to grow into will be as wasteful as buying one that you’ll outgrow within a year or two. 

What kind of house fits your needs?
The style of home you choose will be influenced by your personality, the home you grew up in, your special needs, the community or neighborhoods you choose to live in, and how much you can afford to spend.

If you have trouble climbing stairs, you should be looking at ranch style homes or homes with a first floor master bedroom. Should you require a pole barn for business or hobby interests, you'll be looking for a home with at least an acre of property. If you have a large family, a four bedroom two-story may be the best solution. Perhaps a condominium makes good sense if you haven't time for yard work.

American architecture provides a wide variety of home styles. For an index of home styles commonly found the Greater Lansing area visit our section called Common Mid-Michigan Home Styles

Set reasonable standards
Almost everyone has a limit to how much they can spend on a home.
Once you’ve determined how much you want to spend, get a feel for the quality, size, and location of homes in that price range. Don’t waste your time looking for a home that may not exist.

If you’re prepared to spend up to $195,000 for a home, don’t set standards that would require a price range above $250,000. Just because you've heard a story about someone who "stole" a home for an exceptionally low price, doesn't mean that every seller is willing, or able, to sell cheaply. Either spend the money needed to purchase the home you’d like, or lower your standards just enough to meet your price point.

Don't be surprised if you change your shopping criteria. As you explore homes and neighborhoods, you’ll learn
a lot about what you really want in a home and you’ll make appropriate adjustments to your plans. 

We once worked with a couple who had visions of living on ten acres of lush green lawn in a house sitting far off the road. They were definitely excited
when we found such a home. The house was exactly what they were looking for, in perfect shape, and it included a nice pole barn that could be used as a workshop. As they looked over the ten acres of lush green lawn and stared down a driveway that was almost a quarter-mile long it occurred to them that they would need to plow the driveway in the winter and mow the lawn in the summer. They decided to not place an offer on that home and we found them something they could more easily manage.