I braved Storm Ciara yesterday with my youngest daughter and her boyfriend to help them choose their first home together. I felt useful for a change and more than a little emotional.
They’ve been together now for three years and are currently sharing a home with his uncle and have been saving hard to put down a deposit for their own place. A few weeks back I was pleased to be able to help them with the final part of that deposit enabling them to bring forward their house search by about a year.
My role yesterday, I was told, was to curb their enthusiasm and stop them buying the first house they looked at but, despite my best efforts, I suspect I will have failed!
It was lovely though to see their excitement quietly build and the affection between them both as they experienced this key moment in their lives together. I think buying a home together is as big a commitment as getting married and in many ways more transforming.
It’s a very long time since I’ve bought a house but I was very impressed with all I saw. We spent over 90 minutes on site firstly discussing the development and its lay-out and location in the sales office, then we looked in the showhome before walking over to the site where the next two available homes were to be built.
We were then, without our prompting, shown a similar property that had just been bought so we could see the actual build quality without all the adornments of the showhome.
We spent a bit more time walking around the estate to get a feel for the different property types before being shown the detailed plans for both the available homes.
Rite of passage
It’s easy to see why new-build appeals so much to couples buying their first home together. It’s a blank canvas which makes it feel much more their own plus the homes are modern and new.
Then you’ve got the various choices you can make if you reserve early plus the options the builder offers on things like kitchens and flooring which makes everything so much easier when you move in.
Although it’s a long time since I bought a new home I was able to ask lots of useful questions and tried in a positive way to outline some of the drawbacks of the homes they were considering.
I was though hugely reassured by the estate’s location and felt very positive about the builder. I also felt the excitement of this young couple and what it will mean to have their own place together.
It was wonderful to be part of this rite of passage, in many ways the key stage in the transition into full adulthood and all the choices and challenges that come with it.