House hunting can be frustrating, and sometimes disappointing, but it’s worth it once you’ve found that perfect place. Here, our Home Buyer Helper team outline a few basic tips to help you set yourself up for a better house hunting experience.
Approval and budget
Get approval and understand your budget – mortgage, deposit, additional costs.
If purchasing a new build as a first time buyer, apply for the help to buy scheme and research the first home scheme.
Be clear, but not too rigid
Be clear on the areas of your search, but don’t be too rigid.
Set your search alerts on property portals such as myhome and daft.
Some compromise may be required and often a borderline location can offer an extra bedroom or larger garden.
Do your research!
Keep a log of properties that you have viewed, listing the pro’s and con’s, and what they sold for etc.
This can really help when bidding on a property as you can compare the offer you are willing to make on properties you recently viewed.
Identify the “essentials” and the “like to haves”
Have a list of what you absolutely require as ‘essential’ from a property, and then a list of ‘like to have’.
Essential:
- House or apartment
- Number of bedrooms
- Size of kitchen
- Garden
- Parking
- Home office
Like to have:
- En-suite
- South facing garden
- Size of garden
- Off-street parking
These essentials and likes to have will develop once your viewings have commenced.
Keep going!
House hunting can be frustrating and disappointing, but it’s worth it. Our clients sometimes come to us with a property in mind, while others can take over a year to purchase. Stick with it!
Don’t go it alone!
All doddl approved mortgage clients have access to our exclusive Home Buyer Helper service – our in-house property advisors and Chartered Surveyor, who can answer any questions you have about your search, or any properties on your shortlist.
