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Tuesday, 15 December 2015 00:00

Top 8 Mistakes by First Time Buyers | Homebuyer Conveyancing

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Buying a home can be fun but only if you include key professionals. 

1. Not knowing how much house you can afford.

Many first time buyers spend a lot of time looking at properties that they simply can't afford. The trick is to research your finance options and talk to qualified mortgage advisers that have access to all the lending options that fit your needs. It sounds complex but with today's regulations advisers have to carry out a fact find and process your interest carefully. Understand from day 1 what you can borrow and how that will impact on your outgoings. Its worth preparing a budget on what owning a house will cost each year. Ask your friends and family to list what outgoings they have. Then you can be sure you have covered your anticipated costs.

2. Underestimating the income required to owning your home.

When you do your financial plan please put aside a contingency. An amount to cover the annual maintenance of your property. 1% of the purchase price is a good place to start.

3. Utility charges are forever increasing.

Utility Costs will climb over the course of your time in the house.

  • Is the boiler efficient?
  • Has the property got double glazing?
  • Is the property well insulated?

Plan ahead and avoid First Time Buyers mistakes when buying a home.

4. Assuming your first offer will get accepted.

As interest rates are low and the amount of deposit required is now less, competition for your ideal house will HOT up. You can't assume you'll walk in to your estate agent, make the offer and get it. You need to be seen as the best buyer and you can do that by getting an Agreement in principle from your Mortgage adviser and if you are a first time buyer you have the upper hand as you aren't in a chain. Please set your stall out and make offers that have your current situation clearly explained to the agent / vendor. Try not to get discouraged if you lose out on the first or second house you make an offer on. Be confident that the right house for you is just around the corner!

5. Choosing a cheap Survey

Choosing a cheap Survey is false economy - It's the biggest purchase that you have made for a long time and with that you need to reduce risk of issues. A survey does just that. It also gives you a tool to get the price down! The seller wants the best price for the property and has contracted with an estate agent to achieve just that. The surveyor is acting for you and should be treated as the most important part of buying a house. The survey tells you what to expect and you can budget for those repairs.

6. What's your home worth?

Your offer has been accepted and your mortgage adviser needs to reduce the risk to the lender by you asking the adviser to pay for a valuation. The valuation tells both you and the lender that the property is worth what you are paying. Occasionally the valuation comes back less. This is where most people get annoyed, they shouldn't. They should be happy that they didn't buy a property that wasn't worth what they offered. Stand back and decide what to do, do you walk away or do you negotiate?. If you negotiate, you need to negotiate hard and not just the valuation difference. Your mortgage adviser will help you.

7. You want to move in and decorate the full house in 1 day!

Some homebuyers want to make the house their own right away. They use their credit card and they spend and spend. Budget your house revamp and do one room at a time. If you do everything at once you will miss the opportunity of changing the house inline with how you are actually living within it.

8. Homebuyers that know everything

Some homebuyers know everything. They are lucky! All homebuyers need to know that key professionals are used to minimise the risk of you buying a poor property. Every decision that you need to make can be turned into a to do list very easily. The outcome of your to do list will involve key impartial professionals. Impartial means just that.

The hardest decisions in the property buying process are finding professionals that will act for you independently. That charge a fair price and excel at keeping you informed.

It can be fun and we at Homebuyer Conveyancing want just that for you.

Read 3508 times Last modified on Wednesday, 16 May 2018 07:56
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