Ten Things That Make Buying a House Easier

(Last Updated On: 05/02/2024)

Buying a property can have its challenges, and many can have a pretty stressful experience from start to finish. There’s of course, a lot riding on a property sale for both the seller and the buyer. For the seller, it’s the hope of selling their property for the price they want and for the buyer, it’s either a first home or a step up to their dream home. For others, it could be down-sizing, and so the emotional toll can also be difficult. When buying a house, it’s good to have all the information needed to make it as easy for you as possible. So here are ten things that make buying a house easier.

Know Financially What You Can Afford

Even though money isn’t everything in life, it’s important and very much necessary when it comes to buying a property. There are going to be limits to what you can buy and what you can afford to continue paying a mortgage on. The last thing you want is to be too unrealistic when it comes to what you can afford, and find yourself in a position where you can’t make payment of the repayments for your mortgage. Knowing what you and your household can financially afford is important, and it’s something that you definitely want to look at before you start looking for a property. Consider your lifestyle and any savings you have because sometimes it might be that you have to make sacrifices in order to get what you want. Savings are also important when it comes to the deposit, especially when it’s your first property. You’ll want to have some degree of savings regardless as it’s not just the deposit but also legal fees and administrative fees that come from buying a property through a real estate agent.

There are often times when the timing of buying a new property and selling an old one does not neatly align. In these circumstances, you may wish to look into bridging loans to help you bridge the financial gap.

Find The Right Estate Agents

And talking of real estate agents, you want to pick the right one. There are going to be lots of different companies available and knowing who to go with is going to dictate how well the process goes. Each estate agent is going to work a little different and have experiences with different types of properties. You might have some that are more niche in what they buy and sell, or you may have ones that are pretty broad and manage hundreds of listings and have plenty of buyers on the go. You might have already set your sights on a specific area, having already become familiar with it, which means you can really focus your property search by connecting with an agent with expertise in that area. Looking for a home in Shepherds Bush? Check out Finlay Brewer. Building a relationship with an estate agent is a good idea as you may get to be among the first to know about new properties coming onto the market that meet your requirements.

It all depends on what you are after in your home and how much of a priority you want to be. You may wish to choose an agent who uses a MLS search service to maximise your exposure to potential buyers. Picking a smaller boutique might enable you to have more personal time with the estate agent, whereas you may want to go with someone who has the most experience of buying properties that you are particularly interested it.

It’s a big market, so it’s a good idea to look at what estate agents are out there and what other customers in the past have thought of them. 

Being Proactive On Improving Your Credit Score

Your credit score can be very influential to how easy it is to line up your mortgage offers. As a first-time buyer, this is something that’s extremely important, and so when you’re looking at buying a property, you want to be proactive when it comes to improving your credit score. It’s worth looking at CheckMyFile in order to understand your credit score in more detail with a credit report. It can be helpful to find ways of improving your score where you can and however much you can before you attempt to get a mortgage. Even if you have already had a mortgage, there’s still a chance that your credit score can affect getting a better rate of repayment when it comes to the lender.

Try to find ways of improving it, whether it’s taking out loans and paying them back quickly or checking you’ve never had fraudulent activity on your accounts.  

Have A Discussion With Your Partner 

A discussion with your partner is necessary before you start the house-buying process. It’s important to know what your partner wants from the home and also what you want. You want to figure out a budget for things and stick to them. Having these conversations before you go into a big meeting with your estate agent is essential. 

 

Take the time to sit down with your partner and really figure out everything that needs planning and discussing together. If you’re both not on the same page, then it could cause problems and misunderstandings down the line. That’s not something you want to have when you’re purchasing a property. It’s a big commitment and not one you want to organise or take likely.

Visit The Areas You’re Looking At Buying In

Buying a property is one thing, but you also want to consider the areas around which you want to live. It’s not necessarily going to be the case that you’ll like every place you’ve started looking at properties in. A good way of doing this is to actually visit the area for the day so that you can get a good feel for whether it’s the right fit or not. A lot of areas are going to be different from how they are in the day to how they are in the evening too, so it’s good to do a whole day trip. Pay attention to how you feel and trust your gut if it’s not the right fit for you and your household.

It’s important to be really certain about where you live, not just the property but the area too. You might be interested in, say, North Carolina Real Estate but visiting the wide variety of places that state has to offer is the only way to determine exactly where you’d like to buy a property.

Have A Timeline In Place

Timelines are good to have in place because having a plan and a to-do list is always going to be helpful when it comes to staying on track. It can be helpful if you have a deadline or something going in your life where you need to move by a certain date. It could be a pregnancy where you want your family home in time for the arrival or a job change where you need to move closer to the location. Being able to put this timeline in place is going to make the whole process a lot easier for you and your household. So think about the objectives you want to achieve and realistically when you want to achieve them. It can stop you from being delayed and knowing where to push people or processes along. 

Create A Plan B

A plan B is always helpful to have when it comes to property buying. It’s important to set this up for various elements of the house buying process. For example, if you don’t find anything within a number of weeks or months that you like, then the backup plan might be to hold off moving or buying a property until the market gets better. Having this in place is going to avoid you being let down completely. It can be good to have something planned, even if you don’t intend on acting on it at all. For peace of mind, having a plan B might be good to have just in case things don’t go as planned.

Be Confident When Putting In An Offer

Putting in an offer is a terrifying part of the buying process because there’s every chance that the offer will get rejected. When putting in an offer, it’s important to be confident about it and whilst you’re waiting for the confirmation or rejection, occupy yourself to keep you distracted. It’s good to always go lower than the asking price at first, especially if it’s at the top end of what you can afford. There’s a likelihood that most offers, to begin with, will be rejected but don’t lose hope. Remain confident that you’ll get the home you want at the price you want. If it’s not meant to be, then it’s important to move on and look elsewhere.

Make Moving Less Stressful

Moving is definitely stressful, but if you plan it well, then you can remove a lot of the stress that comes with it. Focus on getting a plan in action to make sure everything is organised from the removal company you’re using to the packaging you use to pack up everything. Stay organised, and you’re likely to feel less stressed as a result. Take time off work if you think it will be helpful to make the moving a little easier for everyone. Are you residing in London? Here’s a guide on choosing the best removals company in London.  

Tie Up Any Loose Ends

And talking of moving, it’s important to tie up any loose ends that you might have from the property you’re renting or the home you are selling. Remember to cancel or forward on any utility bills and mail that you might need to do in order to make that move from one property to another, as seamless as possible. 

Buying a home is something that is important, however many times you’ve moved before or bought a property before. It’s always different each time, and being prepared is important.