1. Budgeting and planning
The initial step before deciding to purchase a house is knowing your price range. This is the amount of money you’re willing to put into the new house.
You want something that you cannot afford and nothing that will leave you broke.
If it’s a mortgage you decide to take, 10 is it a mortgage that you can keep up with the repayments.
Budgeting for a new house keep the following into account;
- Mortgage fee – this will cover the interest rate applied and the possible mortgage insurance.
- Legal fee- this will be the amount of money you will have to pay to process any legal requirements purchasing a home.
- Repairs – taking on repairs in a home is inevitable. Therefore, you have to budget for any possible repair especially for old houses.
- Furniture – it’s so you choose to buy a house that does not come fully furnished, will have to cater for the cost of furnishing.
2. Location
The second thing you need to keep in mind before buying a house is the proposed location of your new home.
Factors to take into account when deciding the location is;
- Security and safety matters
- The proximity to your work area
- Social facilities around the area – will include schools, parks, police departments, recreational facilities, and many more.
3. Home research and inspection
The real estate market has a lot to offer. When doing your market research you need to scale down to what are the top things that you want in a home.
You also need to look at other properties within the area. The price listing of other similar properties should also be of importance.
Understanding the market demand and supply chain is also crucial.
By the time we decide to buy a property in the market, you should have known what is the supply and demand at that time.
This is where real estate agents come in handy. All this information can be given to you by a trusted agent.
You finally identify a property that sparks your interest, then ask yourself a few questions. How long has the property been on the market?
Why is the property being listed on sale? This is particularly important because some people decide to list their property at a very low price because of major structural issues that they don’t want to disclose.
How many offers the house has received and for what price. This will help you know if the property is what bidding for.
Schedule a house visit. During your house visit, you should inspect almost everything that you can get your eyes on.
Look at the roofing, ceiling, basement, living room, kitchen bathrooms, and extra rooms. Does it suit your style?
If you spot defects with the house, then are they something to compromise?
What are the deal breakers?
One of the things that a majority of homeowners overlook is the deal-breakers.
Yes, indeed, you might not find everything you’re looking for in a house. However, how low are you going to go to find a house?
Some of the top deal breakers are structural issues (this can go so bad that you might end up paying more than 50% of the home purchase price), no garage, few Bathrooms and bedrooms, and a leaking or damaged roof.
4. House insurance
The price of Home Insurance will of course vary depending on the location and other underlying factors. For example, areas that are susceptible to flooding cost a lot more than areas that are not prone to heavy rains.
You should therefore assess the value of home insurance policies around the area you want to buy your home.
To give you a head start, you may go toUS-reviews. There, you will find all types of online insurance reviews.
I cannot stress enough the importance of reading reviews before purchasing an insurance service.
Although there is a well-established insurance regulation, some companies still go overboard with the amount of insurance premium recharge that does not reflect the actual value of the cover they are extending to its customer.
You should therefore make a sober and well-reasoned decision on the type of insurance you want to take.
5. New, renovated, or a fixer-upper
Another thing to keep in mind before purchasing a property is whether you want your home new, renovated, or you want to take on a fixer-upper.
The right price of a new home will be influenced by factors such as the location and the market price. For an old and innovative home, it will be influenced by the same factors save as it’s a bit reduce because of aging.
However, fixer-uppers will require more physical and financial input. You will need to estimate the value of the property at its full potential, the price of getting it for at the moment, and the cost it shall take you to reach its full value.
Fixer-uppers for those people who want to build something from zero as a personalized it all the way.