Choosing Your 'Home Sweet Home'

When it comes to buying the perfect home, there's no such thing as "one style fits all."

A young family might want a suburban house with a huge yard for romping dogs and kids. A single professional with a large frequent-flyer account might consider a low-maintenance condo "nirvana" while an empty-nest older couple might find their perfect abode in a planned community that offers extra amenities for seniors.

The one thing everyone has in common is that they are part of a growing trend: buyers considering their lifestyle needs -- not just the price tag -- when they choose to buy a home.

Fortunately, today's market offers housing options to suit every buyer, from traditional single-family homes to urban lofts, condominiums, and townhouses.

While some people jump into the home-buying process with a very clear vision of the ideal type of home for their families, a lot of people are still working that out when they start to look.

Spend some time asking yourself questions about how you live and how it might influence the home you choose. Are your planning a family? Do you need a formal room for entertaining or one for guests? Do you enjoy yard work? Do you work from home? The answers to these questions make a huge difference in the type of home that will fit you best.

Making your new home wish list goes beyond just selecting the ideal number of bedrooms and bathrooms. To pick the right house, you need to evaluate your own personality, too. Are you an orderly person who likes to look out your window and see that all of your neighbors' yards are neatly trimmed? You might enjoy a home in a planned development with landscaping guidelines. Do you want your home to be a refuge, where you can relax without having to do a lot of yardwork? If so, a condo or townhouse might be perfect.

Or maybe you want your house to express your individuality -- and you don't want any limitations on the way you do it. In that case, a single-family home with no homeowners association would be a better option.

Another big issue when choosing a home is privacy. Some people are comfortable living very close to their neighbors, as in a condo, and others are not. Some people need the space that a traditional home on a private lot provides.

Last but not least, your should consider how much time you want to spend driving. Lots of buyers choose neighborhoods based on its distance to their work or, especially with older parents, close to where their children live.