What Should You Look For in a Family Home?

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What should you look for in a family home in Ottawa? As the family grows, they need a house that offers not only safety and shelter but functionality as well. With the different stages of life ahead, a home for a family should be able to meet the families evolving requirements.

 

What Should You Look For in a Family Home?

 

When you are looking to purchase your first family home, it’s important to not settle for something less than what you truly desire. It can be costly to purchase a house and then have to turn around in a few years and renovate the home or add more space as your needs increased. Knowing what you would like in your Ottawa home now and in the future will help determine what features you should have in your family home.

 

What Should You Look For in a Family Home? Multiple Bathrooms

There is nothing worse than having to wait to use the washroom or to shower. When asking what should you look for in a family home, it's important to remember busy schedules and fast-paced mornings, it’s important to have everyone ready on time for school and work.

The amount of bathrooms that an Ottawa home has should be a top priority for your first family home. Having a separate bathroom for parents and children is something that you may want to focus on. From there, the more bathrooms the home has will be an added convenience. Also keep in mind the needs of any guests that may visit the home. When new addition to the family arrives, there can be lots of visitors wanting to meet them and help add support. During this time, they may not want to necessarily be using your bathroom.

 

What Should You Look For in a Family Home? A Recreation Area

Having an area where the adults, children or whole family can relax is a great idea. Especially with an active family. This area can be where your kids can play with all their toys and games without having these items overflow into your other home areas. This area can be as comfortable as you want to make it. Lots of blankets, pillows and more are ideal. Also, this area can be a great place for family movie and game nights. Plus, when your kids have friends over, this is an area for them to go and the adults can still feel like they have space of their own.

When looking for a family home, consider one with an extra space that can be used for recreation area. It can hold you’re comfortable furniture and television as well as all your kids toys. Also in this area if the adults have anything they like such as a pool table, it can be a great place to have it.

 

What Should You Look For in a Family Home? A Spacious Laundry Room

With multiple family members in a house, it is amazing how fast laundry piles up. These piles can make their way into hallways, dining rooms and more. Having a separate area to manage the household laundry can be a great idea. Children can go through so much clothes in their younger years with playground messes, food messes and more.

It’s also important to find a home where the laundry is located on a convenient floor. If you find you spend most of your time on your second story but your laundry is in the basement, this may create inconvenience and delays in efficiently getting the laundry done. An area where laundry can be accumulated before washing, as well as here it can be folded after washing is favourable.

Typically a main floor laundry is nice in order to be able to monitor the laundry while going about your other household activities. A laundry room with multiple machines or having multiple laundry rooms in a house can be an ultimate luxury.

Talk to an Ottawa mortgage broker today to help find out how much mortgage you can afford on your family home.

Learn more: How much mortgage can I afford?

 

Storage

Storage is another important item you should look for in a family home. Each member of the family can have a lot of stuff especially when you live in a climate that changes from season to season. Rakes, skis, snowboards, pool toys, snowblowers, shovels, boots and flip-flops all need a place to be stored when not in use. Making sure that your home has ample storage it keep your items organized is important.

Also, having a large main floor space for coats, hats, boots and more is favourable. In addition, a large pantry to hold your various household and cooking needs can be an asset. In each room having an area to store clothes, books, toys and more is great. Built-in units or efficient closets can help reduce the clutter that may otherwise be lying around the room.

A kitchen with lots of cupboards and shelves is great as well to be able to keep it tidy and easier to clean. Also a place to keep dangerous items such as knives, blenders and more is important with young children. Being able to keep extra food and cupboards in the pantry is a great idea versus having it out on the counter.

 

An Open Layout Kitchen

The kitchen can be one of the most used rooms of the home in Ottawa.

An open design for the kitchen can help reduce the feeling of being overcrowded. As well as to have more space to cook and clean. In addition, the kitchen may be not only for cooking but crafts, homework, socializing with friends and more. The more open the space the more room to be able to multitask in this area. Storage in the kitchen is extremely important. Toasters, blenders, bread makers, food processors in more can take up a lot of space. You should have somewhere to put these when they are not in use to help create more space.

If the home you are looking at has lots of potential but a few renovations can add convenience and value, you may consider a purchase plus improvements mortgage.

Learn more: Purchase Plus Improvements mortgage
Learn more: Houzz kitchen ideas

 

A Bedroom For Each Member of the Family

One of the biggest decisions in what you should look for in a family home is how many bedrooms the home should have. Ideally there should be a bedroom for each member of the family. Also, a room that can be designated for a guest room or a room that can be converted into a guest bedroom. If there is a member of the family that works from home or the home typically has lots of paperwork, an area that can be used as an office can be important as well.

Having small children share a bedroom is certainly possible. However as they grow, their space needs can grow as well. There may come a point where having them into separate spaces is needed.

Looking into a home that can fit was your current family needs but also future family needs is important.

For your master bedroom, you will need to think about how you will use the space. If this will be a retreat from work and family after a long day, you want to make sure that it has a separate space for relaxation. Such as room for a comfortable chair to read in. Also, perhaps a bathroom that will allow you space and privacy to have a nice relaxing bath.

Mortgage brokers in Ottawa can help you review a budget and find the house price that fits your goals and finances.

Learn more: What does a mortgage broker do?

 

A Large Yard

With young children, having an outdoor space can be essential. A large backyard can be a place for your children can play games, allow pets to roam, for the family to get exercise and for you to have a place to entertain. The yard can also be a place where you can enjoy hobbies such as a sports, gardening, swimming if you have a pool and more.

Having an outdoor living space can also add value to your property. As well as extend your home's living space in the warmer months.

Also, with a large yard, if you’re needs to grow beyond your current plans, there can be space to add an extra room or two.  

 

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About Andrew Thake

Andrew Thake is a seasoned mortgage broker with over 15 years of industry experience. He’s assisted more than 2,200 clients in finding their ideal mortgage solutions. Recognized for his excellence, Andrew has received high honours and awards, including the National Rookie of the Year from TD Canada Trust and recognition as a Top 10 Ottawa Mortgage Broker in 2023. He has also been inducted into the Hall of Fame at Dominion Lending Centres and has consistently received their Platinum Award during his tenure as a mortgage broker.

Andrew’s dedication lies in serving his clients and prioritizing their needs with an empathetic approach. Throughout the application process, he provides tailored, informed, and efficient services to ensure the best mortgage solutions for his client’s unique circumstances. The best part of Andrew’s job is when he gets to see the joy on his clients’ faces following their mortgage approval.

Why not make your mortgage experience a comfortable one?

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