Looking for a new home? Whether you’re a first-time buyer or a property-market veteran, this is a major purchase. It’s therefore worth doing everything you can to drive down your costs, and to seek out the property that really speaks to you.
Define Your Priorities and Budget
To begin with, you’ll want to decide on a few crucial things. These will inform your behaviour as a buyer, narrow your options, and help you avoid unnecessary distractions.
First, determine how much you can afford to spend. Then, decide the features that your property will ideally need. How many bedrooms must it have? Do you need an office at home? How close are you to quality schools, or to your place of work?
Once you have your criteria written down, ideally on paper, you can begin to actually look at properties. Before you do that, though, you’ll want to look at larger areas, neighbourhoods, and streets.
Research Potential Neighbourhoods
Different neighbourhoods might appeal in different ways. You can get a sense of their appeal by looking at things like safety and features. What’s the local community like, and how easy is it to catch a bus or a train? What are the crime statistics like?
Actually talking to people with experience in an area can be critical. You can do this in person, or you can do it via online forums like Reddit and Facebook. You might also visit the neighbourhood under consideration in person, to get a flavour of what it’s really like.
Engage with Estate Agents
Among the most valuable resources you have available to you are the estate agents whose job it is to sell homes in a given area. They might have a depth of local knowledge that can’t be accessed through any other means, as well as listings of suitable properties that fit your criteria.
A good estate agent won’t be pushy, and they’ll listen to your feedback. In many cases, they’ll offer homes that you might not otherwise have considered – and these can often prove to be winners.
Attend Property Viewings with a Critical Eye
Once you’ve narrowed your options, you can start actually looking at properties in person. It’s worth being critical. You might take a checklist of essential points to inspect, which might include things like the plumbing and electrical systems. If the house needs to be rewired, you can make an offer that accounts for this cost and inconvenience. It’s also worth getting the home surveyed, so that you can be made aware of any problems that you didn’t notice in person.
At the same time, a home is more than a list of features: if, during a visit, the building speaks to you on an emotional level, it’s usually worth paying attention to that feeling. After all, you might be living in this place for years to come!
