PERSONAL CHECKLISTS
Choosing a locality to live? — Don’t miss to check these and avoid surprises
Use this checklist when you are selecting a locality to live. You do not want to buy or rent a house in a locality, then find issues that you have live with or worse, lose money and peace of mind.
TLDR; Use this checklist while you deciding a locality to live in.
Why locality matters?
You can change how you house looks and feels, but you cannot change where it is located. The location of your house determines the quality of your life. It dictates the school choices for your children, your commute time to work and the quality of your social life. Therefore, it is one of the most important factors to consider when buying or renting a house. Also location is often the single most important driving force behind the value of a property.
Although it is easy to eliminate bad locations, it is hard to choose good ones. Like a good suit, one size does not fit all. So it is worth spending time shortlisting localities that suit your lifestyle.
Why use a checklist?
- The human brain can remember only 7 things (+/- 2) at any given point of time. When you are doing something, it is better to have a list that has all the steps if the number of things you have to pay remember more than 5–7 items.
- A checklist can eliminate mistakes. Following a checklist reduces the potential for mistakes and errors by ensuring you have a reference.
- A checklist ensures that everything necessary is completed.
- Checklists reduce errors by clearly laying out exactly what needs to be done so that nothing is missed. Evaluating sales pipeline systems is not something that you do routinely and the chances of you missing a critical step is high.
Important aspects to be clear when shortlisting a locality
Understand your priorities
Every locality cannot tick all the right boxes. Therefore, it is important to establish the top 2 or 3 non-negotiable items that you will not compromise on. For example, if you have children who are growing up, choice of schools is very important. If you have elderly parents living with you, access to good hospitals is a must. If you have hectic work schedule, having your house close to work will make life easy.
Safety
How safe is the locality? A locality might have all the conveniences but if it has a high crime rate then you may not want to live there. A single traumatic experience could derail one’s life completely.
Commute Times
How long does it for your family to commute to schools, hospitals, work places, shopping areas? It is important to consider your hobbies or social needs and how the locality full-fills them?
Social Amenities
Does the location offer social amenities suited to your lifestyle? Depending on your preferences access to shopping malls, pubs, entertainment areas, clubs should be considered. Even if they are not present in the locality, you would want to consider the commute time to access them. You don’t want to commute 2 hrs one way to watch a play every Sunday.
Community
You would want to live in a community with people who share your values. Drive through the places you are interested in, walk around, and visit small businesses to get a better understanding of the people there.
Civic Amenities
What is the quality of the civic amenities provided in the locality? While your house is your kingdom, there are certain services like potable water, garbage collection & sanitation, electricity, general safety and roads that the local civic administration provides. Ensure that you get the details of these services and how well are these managed.
Access to the location
How accessible is the locality, by public transport? While you may have a dedicated vehicle to commute, it is always good to check out the accessibility of the location using public transport. Mass rapid transit options like Metro rail are not only clean but also fast and economical.
Online Services
How many app based services are active in the location? Home delivery apps have made life very comfortable by delivering almost everything to your doorstep. Do check the availability of these services in the locality. Given the “always online” lifestyle, you should also check for availability of multiple internet service providers.
Seasonal challenges
How bad do the seasons affect your location? While a location may look attractive during a particular season, check out the impact of different seasons that would affect the area. Some locations can get flooded regularly during monsoons. Some locations can become unbearably hot due to island effect during summers.
Known Changes
Are there any known changes coming up in the locality? A big project can change the vibe of a locality completely. While you cannot control what happens in future, it would be wise to understand any big projects in flight or taking off in the locality. You should consider the impact of the project and nature of changes that it would bring to ensure that your dream location does not become a nightmare in future.
Use this “Location shortlisting checklist” from ListBee.io
