Article by Lauren Heart

I found my OT passion pretty early on in my career. My second OT role was in the community, and I found I loved everything about it, but particularly home mods piqued my interest. Owing to that over coming years I pursued additional qualifications and wound up with a somewhat unique set of skills in OT, Access Consulting and SDA Assessing.

This has meant I have a lot of experience with home modifications, new builds, functional design, and access advice. I love helping clients find the right house for their needs, it is one of my favourite roles and hats to wear!

When it comes to helping a client buy a house that fits their needs, I work with people all over Australia.

Since most house viewings are on weekends or evenings, and I might be far away in WA, I can't always be there in person. So, I've learned to put what I would look for into an email or document to help them out.

In addition to that, if a client is going to lots of house viewings because the market is busy, and they need a special kind of house, it's not a good use of funds for me to go to all of them. It's better to teach your client what to look for.

P.P.S. I always check the real estate listings and photos if they find a house that might work. My clients also bring a tape measure or a digital laser measure

Examples of measures:

Lasertec 25m Laser Distance Measurer or Dewalt 30m Laser Measurer to take measurements and tell me about them!

So here's a list of things I advise clients who use mobility aids to look for in a house. Use it as a base and change the list to fit the clients' needs! You can also turn it into your own home environment checklist.

Download your Accessibility Guide here: https://www.otuition.com.au/Property-Accessibility-Guide-signup