When it comes to selecting the right floor plan for their new home, homebuyers often spend a great deal of time walking through decorated model homes, finished homes, and homes under construction to find the perfect plan.  Many prospective buyers browse the internet looking at elevations and floor plans online.  While this process is important, the selection of the right floor plan should come after the right community is chosen.    Here are four questions that should help narrow the search:

• What part of town do we want/need to live in? Most often, the part of town is dictated by such considerations as school district, proximity to work or friends or family, or some other high level need that makes one area more desirable than another.  Before choosing a plan, eliminate at least 75% of the locations because they do not meet some or all of the requirements listed above.
• What type of neighborhood do we desire? Some buyers want subdivisions with full amenity packages such as pool, golf, or tennis. Other buyers specifically do not want a neighborhood with a Home Owner Association that dictates rules that each house must conform to.  Wanting a neighborhood with children the same ages as your own for playmates is often a major consideration for young families.  Age-restricted neighborhoods are often the perfect pick for the empty nester buyer and may be the driving force in the selection process.
• What price range of house do we want to target? Once geographic location and type of neighborhood has narrowed the search, the price range of the homes for sale should be used to further define the 2 or 3 neighborhoods that fit within the search criteria.  As we all know, the value of the location and the size of the homes being built has a direct impact on the price range of every community.  We may want a golf course neighborhood, but don’t want to pay the price these homes end up costing.  Price range is usually a consideration and can be used to limit the search.
• What size of lot do we want? Finally, we can narrow the search even more by deciding upon the desired lot size.  Some communities on well-located (and expense) land, often contain small lots that keep the price range of the homes within limits.  Communities with larger lots may be located further out from the central business district where land is less expensive.  In some cases the limitations of the lot size may eliminate certain types of houses such as single story plans simply because the house will not fit on the smaller lot.  If lot size is important, it can help eliminate some of the neighborhoods under consideration.

All of the above considerations precede the actual selection of a floor plan. By answering the four questions, you can eliminate a lot of the community choices and make the selection process much less confusing and more time efficient.