Buying A Handicap Accessible Home

Buying A Handicap Accessible Home
Before you start

I’d like to start by apologizing for the blog title. For the past 20 years, I’ve been committed to helping people with a physical disability either modify or acquire property for wheelchair accessibility. During this time, I’ve learned that politically incorrect terms are commonly used when looking for resources on the internet…hence, the reason for my blog title “Buying A Handicap Accessible Home.”

If you have a physical disability (my area of expertise) and are buying a wheelchair accessible home or even a home with some wheelchair accessibility features, you may have ended up at my blog through frustration. Generally speaking, this process can be very discouraging and requires plenty of patience. A typical home buyer has a long list of criteria; location, price, size, number of bedrooms/bathrooms, etc. These criteria alone can be challenging. When you apply the wheelchair accessibility requirements to that list, such as barrier-free entrance, accessible bathroom, main level bedroom and bathroom, etc., you’re left with little to no buying option but plenty of frustration.

There are websites that specialize in finding homes for sale with wheelchair accessibility such as Accessible Properties and Barrier Free Home, but chances are one of the buyer’s required criteria will eliminate any potential listing featured there. If you’re not tied to a geographical area and are flexible on the style of the house, then you may get lucky and find something. But what the websites really do well is illustrate the lack of accessible homes available for sale.

My approach to what people call Buying a Handicap Accessible Home, is identifying homes with wheelchair accessibility potential. Since it’s unlikely that a Buyer can find a house to meet all their needs, the next best thing is to identify a house that can meet all their needs with a reasonable amount of work and money. All Buyers have a budget. The process starts with a total budget for both acquisition and modification. For the average home buyer, the hardest part here would be figuring out what houses meet the criteria and budget. Walking through a house and visualizing the potential while accurately projecting remodeling costs takes a specific skill set. In real estate, since time is of the essence, this must be done quickly while protecting the buyer’s interests…this is where my expertise comes in.

There are several strategies you can take during the buying process to ensure a house will meet your needs, timing and budget. If you are working with an agent and are “stuck” with Buying a Handicap Accessible Home , I can possibly assist. For 20 years I’ve been helping people, nationwide, who have a physical disability to acquire and modify a handicap accessible home within their time frame and budget. I’m confident that I can help you too.