When it comes to buying a house, there are three pieces of advice that I give to my clients. I call them “the three L’s.”

Lot. Location. Layout.

Your smart appliances, upgraded master bathroom, and vinyl plank flooring will all go out of style. It’s part of life. Just like us, our houses are prone to change.

But your lot and location? Barring the invention of a teleportation device, those are the two things you can’t change about your home.

You can update your kitchen, your paint colors, and your Lorelai Gilmore-inspired back door (better that it locks, right?). But as a realtor, I want to see you prioritize your lot and location before anything else.

Now, when I say “lot,” I’m talking about the size and shape of your property. Think about it like this…

If you’re planning to homestead, planting yourself in a cramped residential neighborhood probably isn’t the way to go. Where are you going to put all those garden beds? Where are the chickens going to live? If you’re buying a house on less than a quarter of an acre… probably nowhere.

The shape of your property matters, too. To stick with our homestead example, you can buy 30 acres of steeply sloping land, but where is that going to get you? Unfortunately, not very far (unless you want to replant your gardens every time it rains).

As for location, it all comes down to the amenities you’re seeking. If you want to be within a few minutes of a grocery store, take that into account when searching for the perfect neighborhood. Also, consider which school district you’d like to be in and whether the neighborhood you’re viewing has an HOA.

When it comes to layout, you can change things—just not easily. Knocking down walls looks like fun on TV, but a full remodel can be both expensive and time-consuming. I always tell my buyers to look long and hard at the layout of a house before committing.

Because let’s face it: If you’re in the market for a home (not just a house), you’re looking for reliability and longevity. When you nail the three L’s, you set yourself up for success in both areas.

Plus, with the big things taken care of, you have so much room to play. You can paint and upgrade and decorate to your heart’s content.

So, as you’re shopping for a home in McKinney, prioritize lot, location, and layout. You won’t regret it.