Wednesday, June 22, 2016

What You Need To Consider When Buying A Home



Buying a new home can be one of the most stressful things you do in your lifetime. You are forking out a lot of money for this place, so it has to be right on many levels. The whole buying process can be emotional from start to finish. The house search, the viewing, the phone calls and the anticipation of waiting for things to go through. It’s certainly not as easy as heading to the store buying something and that’s the end of it. So with that in mind, I thought it would be a good idea to share with you some of the things to consider when buying a house.
 
Putting the emotions aside can be difficult. But embracing them is just as important because your emotion will help you to make the right decision overall. It’s not an easy thing to do, buying a home. So cut yourself some slack and prepare yourself as much as you can. It can be a rollercoaster ride.

Location, location, location

One of the of first things you have to consider is the location in which you are buying your new home. It may need to tick a lot of boxes. What you have to consider are yourself and your family. So the location must be close enough for your to commute to your job. There Is no point moving far away as a long commute to work will only eat into your day. If you don’t drive into work, then you will need to find out whether the location has good transport links. 

Other factors to consider will be the local schools if you have children to think about. Do they have good reports? Are they close enough to get to? Sometimes it’s the more practical things we forget to think about. Things like whether there are supermarkets or shops close by. Perhaps local restaurants or entertainment. All of these things need to be factored in to decide whether the location is right for you and your family. Pinpointing the locality in which you want to search will make things much easier. It means that you know the place works, so when you begin your viewings, you only have to focus on the property.

Speak to an agent you trust

An estate agent is one of the people you will talk to most when it comes to buying a new home. So it’s essential you have confidence in them, and you feel you can trust them. This is the person you will speak to in regards to what you want out of a place. So you will trust their judgement when the provide you with options. You could get in touch with this office at Entwistle Green nor others like it. 

Having confidence in the people that will be helping you through this process is important. You are spending a great deal of money on this property. It’s an investment as well as a home, so it has to be handled right from start to finish. The process is already difficult enough without having people involved you don’t trust or have no confidence in. 

The type of property you need

Once you have decided on your location and made contact with some agents the next thing to do is decide on the type of property you want and need. The first thing to do is decipher the things you need to have. So this is the number of bedrooms you need as a minimum. Whether you require off road parking. If the house has a garden or yard. These are things that you can’t do without. The fundamentals. The next thing you then do is add the nicer details. An extra bedroom would be great, for example. Or a garage would be a nice bonus. Things like that. It’s important to communicate all of this with the agents looking for your property. They need to know what you must have and what you would like to have. This will make their search much easier. You also need to determine the type of property you want. You may only want a house, but you might consider a bungalow. Or perhaps you are looking for a more modern living arrangement so would consider an apartment. Ask yourself all the hard questions and if it is easier, make a list, so you stick to what you want.


Will you consider a project?

Another big question to ask yourself is whether you would consider a project or not. A project can be one of two things. It could either be something that needs a lot of work. Perhaps a complete renovation that may not allow you even to live in it before some work has taken place. Or it could mean something that requires modernising. That is totally liveable but just needs bringing up to date. Or if any of those are not an option then you need to specify that you want something that is done and ready. 

What you will find is that there will be a range of properties available. Ranging from the derelict to the pristine. You need to decide where your cut off point would be. The less work that needs doing, the more money you will pay upfront for the privilege. But there are other factors to consider. Things like whether you have the time, patience and funds in place to carry out any necessary work. Again it’s about asking how far you will go for the right place and communicating that to your agents. 

Have you got the financials in place?

The big money question is whether or not you have the finances in place to go ahead with a sale. Mostly this tends to be an agreed mortgage in principal, and your deposit saved up and ready. It’s a good idea to know all of this and have it in place before you begin your search. It will determine your budget and what you have to spend. However, it also means that if you do see something that will cost that bit more you can easily go back and ask whether or not you can stretch to it. 


Use your head as well as your heart

It is so easy to get drawn into the emotional side of things when it comes to buying a property. But this is where you have to reign yourself back a little. While the emotion will always determine whether or not you love a place or hate it. Your head will be able to tell you whether or not it’s the right decision or the wrong one. It can be easy to fall in love with a quaint cottage with a rose garden. But if it needs more money than you have spent on it then it won’t be the right place for you. 

Listening to both will be conflicting at times, which is why buying a new home will never be a snap decision you make. There are a lot of factors to consider. Some sensible and some emotional. But they are equally important to the decision making process. You also have to consider the other parties involved. You partner, or kids, for example. Will they like it, do they love it? Will they live there?

Be aware that the home search can take longer than you think

Searching for a new home can take longer than you think. It is very evident that it is rare to buy the first house you see. Unless you are lucky enough that it happens to tick every box. It may, at times, become a little soul destroying seeing place after place and none of them being quite right. But patience is important when it comes to buying a home. What you have to remember is that you are spending a lot of money. This place has to be right, the location, the type of property. It all has to work for you and anyone else involved. 

Try and enjoy the process and learn where you can. You will find that each viewing gets easier, that you know what you are looking out for. You will certainly refine exactly what you want as time goes on. It may take longer than you want it to, but it will be worth it in the end. 

I hope this helps you if you find yourself in the buying process. Keeping a level head throughout it all will be important. But making sure you are clear on what you want from the start will be the best thing you can do.

source: 20smoney.com