| Selecting A Site For Your Home-The 9 P's of Site Selection - Issue #2 |
How do I decide which sites to consider in selecting a site for my home?
 |
Deciding on the area to live can be a difficult and tedious process - this article aims to enlighten you - the homebuyer in selecting the right area to live. While marketing people are struggling and debating on how many P's there are in marketing, here are the P's of site selection for your home. This set of advice is meant for end users and real estate investors who would want to get the best value for their money. Here are some guidelines in choosing the lot to build your home. Of course you may have your personal reasons but these are some of the generally accepted rules in choosing a lot for one's residence: |
| The 9 P's help you choose which sites suit your lifestyle and preference. |
Place - as the old real estate saying goes, location is still the main factor in the choice of lot wherein you would want to live. A good location consists of many positive attributes of a specific area. Choose a location that is convenient to both the school of your children (if you have) and your place of work. Most of the time, the closeness of the home to schools is more important than to the parents' place of work. This simply means that we would rather wake up at 4:30 am in order to beat the traffic than make our children wake up at the same time in order to catch the school bus. Having selected the place where we will spend a substantial part of our lives, we have to look at the other P's. |
 |
Peace and Order - this is of a primary concern for all of us. We all want a place where our families can live, play and roam around freely. Upon entering a subdivision, check on how the security handles visitors. The more questions they ask you and the more irritated you are, most of the time, the more strict the security within an area. The areas surrounding a subdivision should be checked to make sure that the perimeter walls are properly protecting the area.
Potable Water Supply - make sure that there is enough water supply in the neighborhood that you are considering. A big, elevated water tank being used by the subdivision is no guarantee of a continuous water supply. The best way to check - ask the neighbors! Small water trucks running around the subdivision obviously indicates a water supply problem. Try going to the site on a Saturday morning and see how many households are cleaning their cars with a water hose.
|
 |
Point-to-Point Travel Time - it is best to check for yourself the actual travel time from your place of work to the location of the property that you are considering. The best way to check - ride your own car and drive!!! Some sellers would tell you that it would only take you 20 minutes to drive from the lot they are selling to Makati. But what they did not tell you is that you should be driving a 400 horsepower Ferrari at 2 o'clock in the morning. If you are using public transportation, try commuting from your place of work to the prospective site during peak hours.
|
 |
Phone Line - Ask the nearest phone service provider on the availability of phone lines in your area. Better yet - ask your future neighbor. |
 |
Price - make sure that you are getting the best price for the property that you want. Ask around and look at similar properties around the area. When moving from a highly priced neighborhood to a lowly priced one, you may have a tendency to see that the prices in your prospective area are low. When moving from a lowly priced area to a highly priced one, your point of view might be that the prices are very high - without even knowing that what you are being offered is a bargain!!! It is also not wise to compare properties on price alone since different properties have different attributes. Appraisal by a professional might help you in assessing the specific property you are interested in.
Parks and Playground - open spaces are necessary if we would want to enjoy the weekends with our children. It is in this area where we can mingle and interact with our neighbors. Check the area for sports facilities, pools and function areas. Clubhouses located inside gated subdivisions can be used for our special occasions. |
 |
Places of Worship - the location of a Chapel is important to quite a few of homebuyers since some people go to mass every morning. We have seen buyers selecting locations within walking distance to the chapel so that they can have easy access every morning.
Public Market (Palengke) - of course, we have to eat everyday and we all want a convenient location to get our groceries and daily needs. The accessibility to the malls these days have been a criterion in site selection since we can also get our groceries in these areas. Of course, the malls also have become places of recreation and entertainment.
|
Having explained the 9 P's, it is up to us to decide on which P is most important to us. We have to realize that we are all different with different needs and different priorities. Selecting the right location is only half the battle. We have to select the right home for us and there is only one combination to get the perfect home - the right location and the right house. If me make a mistake in one of these, then we may never fully enjoy the fruits of our labor. The next articles will cover the things that you should look for in choosing a home. Good luck in your site selection process.
|
