5 Ways to Stay Organized During the Home Buying Process

These five organization tips will help take you from house hunter to homeowner in no time.

Get Inspired

When dreaming up your new home, there are endless options to consider. What paint color will you choose for the nursery? What size furniture would fit well in your new living area? How will you decorate the dining room? Using free platforms like Pinterest and Houzz can help take your ideas and organize them into cohesive, easily accessible categories and lists.

And if you’re looking to take your brain dump a step further, creating a vision board can help you maintain your focus and feel motivated throughout your home buying journey.

Establish Your Priorities

Before stepping foot into a potential new home, it’s important to determine a list of your and your family’s needs. What are your ‘must-haves’? What are your ‘nice-to-haves’? What are your deal-breakers?

Create a checklist of these items and print out copies to have on hand during your home tours in order to keep those priorities top of mind.

Prepare Your Finances

Now that you’ve determined what you are looking for in a new home, it’s best to determine the price point you are comfortable spending. Taking the time to research your finance options before visiting a community and having all of your information readily available as you house hunt will ensure a seamless process when it comes time to purchase “the one.”

New to the home buying process? Read our Guide to Buying Your First Home for more helpful tips on finding your dream home.

Organize Your Visits

Touring multiple homes and communities in a single day or week can often lead to information overload. One way to organize your visits and retain important details about each home is to take numerous photos and videos of each home, and label into albums on your phone or computer. Designate a folder for each home to keep all of its information in one place.

Compile Your Contacts

Throughout the home buying stages, you’ll encounter many friendly faces including New Home Consultants, Real Estate Agents, Designers, and more.

Keeping a spreadsheet, planner, or organization app on your phone (such as Evernote) with each person’s contact information is sure to come in handy when those additional questions arise during your new home build and will save you time digging through your emails for those bits of information when you need them the most.

Looking for additional advice during your home buying journey? Read more about the new home construction and home buying process!

Dan O'Malley

Author

Dan O’Malley is the Vice President of Product Development for M/I Homes.With over 30 years of expertise in residential architecture and design, Dan has been overseeing the product needs of the company's 16 divisions located throughout the Midwest, Southeast, Nashville and Texas for the past 12 years. Before joining M/I Homes, he was a partner in the Chicago office of BSB Design, a national residential architectural firm, for 14 years. Dan is an expert in all aspects of single-family and multifamily design and has received several awards for his successful projects. He is also a popular speaker at various industry events, including the International Builder’s Show, Midwest Builder’s Show, and Multi-Housing World.