Costings
Budget and potential costings should always be at the forefront of your mind. This includes stamp duty, solicitor fees, surveys, mortgage fees, moving costs, and any potential work that you may want or need to do on the property (which I will talk more about in a moment). One of the first steps you need to take is booking an appointment with a mortgage advisor. This will give you a starting point as to what exactly you can afford. You may have a figure in your head that you could potentially afford but the realities of this may be very different. Having knowledge of your budget and affordability means you can pinpoint your search ensuring you are not later disappointed.New Build Vs Project Home
Many people opt to buy from new or even off-plan. We did this with our current home and for first-time buyers, it did make the process a lot easier. We were able to choose finishings, buy addons and we could negotiate that price also. However, the property we bought was so much smaller than we initially thought. Be a little more mindful of viewing show homes because they are not lived-in properties and will often use space-saving tricks to make rooms feel a lot bigger than they actually are. Despite this, the safety net of having buildings insurance with new properties is a lure for many property owners.A project property, if you are willing to undertake the work, opens up the potential market greatly. It may perhaps be a property in need of new windows and doors or more challening and costly work such as plumbing, electrics or even structural work. When looking at project properties that volume of work a costing will be important when deciding on your offer and also if you are willing to move into an unfinished home fore a period of time.
Outdoor Space
Outdoor space is something we are considering with our own search. Our current house offers very limited outdoor space and whilst we are not exactly keen gardeners, we would like extra space for our children and dog. We also want to look at properties on larger plots because we are keen to have the option to extend. Not necissarily straight away but we definitly want to be able to have that option. The dream would be to create an open kitchen space, a large island with glass roof over head, with a dining and family area with a seperate utility. A girl can dream hey!More outdoor space will also allow us to pursue our own interests further too - a garage space for him and perhaps an art studio for myself. What ever your thoughts on outdoor space it can impact price too - so worth considering if you having to potentially make comprimises.
Placing Your Own Home on the Market
This sometimes gets forgotten when looking for a property but when your start to seriously find your next home, considering how to get the most favourable offers is important. For our own property we are planning on doing some cosmetic work in order to make it more appealing to potential buyers (also we are in no real rush to move so could be potentially staying put for a year or so). This work isn't a nesessity but might be something you want to consider - it is always worth discussing with your agent on their opinions and the impact this could have with the current market. I have a great post on how you can increase the value of your property here.If you have any of your own tips you think we need to consider I would love to hear from you.
K Elizabeth xoxox
*Collaborative Post
