Don’t Forget About This Important Factor During Your House Hunt

In today’s modern society everyone is more concerned about being environmentally green, more focused on achieving work-life balance and both parents desire to be more physically present with their children than ever before. So, when house hunting, it is important not to forget about the distance and time your commute from any potential property may take you. After all, don’t forget about those goals and desires we just talked about.

With everything else there is to think of, you may be wondering how you even calculate your commute and place a logistical value on it when looking into your move location. Read on.

Map out your route from home to work. You commute will most definitely affect your day-to-day life so you might as well figure how how many miles you will be traveling by literally plugging in door-to-door addresses into your favorite map app on your phone. Don’t forget to do a dry run as well. Construction work, school bus stops and busy stop lights that may all be very specific to your neighborhood will affect the timing that your  map is giving you and give you a better sense of real life commute time. Now, envision yourself commuting every day and if you feel like you have what your commute will take.

Honestly evaluate that work-life balance. Will your new commute put you in a grump mood? Is the trade off for an extra bedroom or a pool in your back yard worth the extra time you will spend in your car? How will your drive time impact your personal time and your family time? Don’t forget to think about flexibility in your commute with your employer. If you can get into the office on a flexible schedule and commute outside of the standard driving hours that most people have to adhere to than maybe your commute will be more do-able for you.

Embrace the upside of a commute. If you don’t have much of a choice when it comes to a commute or decide to take the plunge and move know that commute can be a positive experience. You can use your driving time wisely by mentally prepping for your day and even practicing for your performance review or big sales pitch. If you take public transit you can get a jump start on the day by checking emails or returning voice mails. Consider re-claiming your commute time as “me-time” on your way home by listening to a podcast you love, reading a few chapters out of your favorite book or playing them on your audio book, listening to soothing music or singing out loud as you blast your favorite jams. Perhaps even spend your time learning another language. Don’t forget to get yourself all set before you leave. Fill up your water bottle or grab an afternoon treat and have your sunglasses handy.

Good luck on whatever length of commute your new home will give you and make it yours!