Finding Homes To Fit Tech Lifestyles
Staying on the bleeding edge of technology means more than just buying the latest gadgets, especially if you have a tech career. If you're moving to a new area for work and need to make sure that your telecommute options, home entertainment, and tech-related hobbies are supported, you'll need to carefully check the amenities and community as well as the home. Here are a few technology-specific house hunting tips to help you avoid the surprises of bad internet and absent computer repairs.
Building Features For Tech Households
Before looking for any frills and special additions to single family homes for sale, make sure that the bare basics of technology support are covered. The home needs to have robust, uninterrupted electricity or a written agreement to fix any electrical issues, and any liquid leaks must be taken care of in the same fashion.
Some people can overlook a few flickering lights or loose electrical outlets, but tech-based households will simply see skyrocketing costs if they're not careful. Computers and computer-based devices can fail in complex ways with simple power loss, and the repairs for these problems can get expensive before even considering bigger problems such as electric burnout.
Beyond electrical wiring quality, make sure that the rooms are equipped with the electrical outlets and connections that would work for your home office, entertainment room, and general tech comfort needs. It can be hard to plan the perfect position for your belongings before moving it, but make sure that corner areas and center wall areas have outlets.
Internet Service And Fair Competition
Do you work from home? Do you use the internet for heavy-traffic tasks such as watching online videos and downloading large files, or precision network tasks such as video teleconferencing or online gaming? Your internet service choices matter, but part of the choice is made when you choose a home.
When discussing high-demand, high traffic internet use that can't be interrupted or spotty, landline internet connections are what matter. This means dealing with internet companies that have cabling underground, and there are times when companies have service monopolies over certain areas.
If there isn't competition in the area, the Internet Service Provider (ISP) has less motivation to fix problems in a timely manner. Not to say that all ISPs will drag their feet if they have a monopoly, but it happens.
Search for homes that have more than one internet service option available, and make sure that your options have similar speeds and prices. Make sure that the homes have intact cabling for the services in question, and ask about the specific house or apartment number to make sure that no service problems exist from previous tenants.
Contact a real estate agent to find single family homes for sale that match the right housing features and neighborhood needs for your tech lifestyle.