Family planning and property

As a young couple looking for your first home, you’ve got a lot on your mind. What can you afford to buy? Will your income be enough to keep up with mortgage payments? While you worry about the financial details, you may overlook or underestimate the importance of family planning when buying property.

As your family grows, your priorities change. Suddenly, you need more space for your growing family and you no longer have the leisure time you had before. A long daily commute to and from school can become a major challenge and you’re no longer comfortable living so far away from a hospital, shops and other amenities.

Planning for your future

There’s no denying the importance of doing your financial homework before buying your first property. A good place to start is our Complete Home Buyers’ Guide, which will help you with all aspects of buying your first home. If you’re planning on starting a family, though, your future as a growing family should have equal priority. Finding an affordable house or unit isn’t going to help much if it can’t accommodate children.

While you look at property, imagine you already have one or two children in tow. What will you need to ensure your entire family is comfortable, safe and happy?

• How far away is the nearest school?
• Does the property have a backyard?
• Do other families live in the vicinity?
• Does the house have enough bedrooms?
• Is there space for a home extension if you need it later?
• How far is it to the nearest hospital and shopping centre?

When you’re single or in relationship and don’t have children, you might want to live as far away from a school as possible. When you have a child, having a school nearby will save you hours of driving or worrying about school buses every week. That’s why we launched a new school zone feature in December, 2014. Using this feature makes it easy for you to find find properties near a school in the area of your choice. If you’re out scouring for properties, you can even access this feature on the Domain app for iPhone or Android devices.

If you’re planning on having a family, it’s better to save a little more for a deposit than buy something that won’t be adequate for your needs after you have children. You don’t want to have to go house hunting at the same time as you’re learning the ropes of parenting. Plan ahead and the transition will be much easier and more enjoyable for everyone.