Almost every home search starts the same way.

A list.

It usually begins with good intentions — bedrooms, budget, location. Then it grows. A garage would be nice. A bigger kitchen. A quiet street. A view, if possible. Maybe a home office. Maybe two.

Before long, everything feels like a “must-have.”

But somewhere in the process, most people start to notice something: not all requirements carry the same weight once you’re actually out looking.

A “must-have” is what your day-to-day life genuinely depends on. The non-negotiables — the things that would make a home simply not work for you.

A “like-to-have” is everything else. The features that would be nice, but aren’t essential to living well in the space.

The challenge is that those two categories often get blurred.

At The Courtney & Anglin Real Estate Group, part of the process is helping people separate the two again — not by telling them what matters, but by asking the right questions. What do you actually use every day? What would you quickly stop noticing if it wasn’t there? What would genuinely change your routine?

In places like the Comox Valley, this becomes even more interesting. People are often balancing lifestyle expectations with the realities of the local market. A home with everything on the list might exist, but sometimes the better question is what combination actually supports the way you want to live.

The goal isn’t to settle. It’s to get clear.