Questions you should ask before buying a home?

Questions you should ask before buying a home?

Buying a house, especially for the first time, can be an extremely exciting prospect. You could possibly be making the transition from renting or have saved up a considerable amount of money to put towards a deposit. Regardless of your reasons to buy your home, there are key decisions you need to make before you even start looking.

The following has been devised to give you an idea of what you need to think about before making any decisions on purchasing a home:

1) Can I afford to buy a home?

An obvious and important question. You of course need a considerable amount of money to buy your dream home. It’s likely that if you are reading this article, you have an indication that you can. Or you possibly have a budget in mind. Most mortgage lenders calculate the amount they are prepared to lend on your total household income. They will look at your financial commitments such as credit card payments and utility bills, focusing on how much you have left over to pay the mortgage back.

Purchasing a home is likely to be one of your biggest financial commitments, so you need to know you have formulated a realistic budget. Don’t stretch your finances so much that you can’t afford to do anything but pay your bills. Attempt to make cutbacks where you can and don’t forget to consider the set up costs.

2) Who do I contact?

Locate a property solicitor to help you carry out the legal processes of the house buying process. They will draw up contracts and papers that will protect you if your situation changes. For example, if you are purchasing a house with a friend, a property solicitor will construct an agreement contract in case either one of you decides to leave in the future.

3) What is the right mortgage for me?

A mortgage is essentially a loan. You need to pay back the amount borrowed to you in addition to the interest charges. Your mortgage lender will discuss with you what options you have, depending on your budget. There are a few incentives offered by several mortgage lenders so it is a good idea to understand the basics. These include: early repayment charges, opportunities to pay more towards your mortgage to reduce your balance and cash back options. It can take a few weeks to arrange a mortgage so don’t delay, but do choose carefully for the right one that suits you. If you are using the assistance of a specialist buying agent they should insure that they are fully aware of your requirements to insure your mortgage is arranged promptly.

4) Where do I want to live?

The area you choose to live is almost as important as the budget itself. As mentioned earlier, purchasing a house is a large financial commitment and so you want assure you can see yourself living there for a while. Although you might not realistically be able to buy your dream home straight away you could think about essential features such as: transport links, proximity to schools, off street parking, central heating and so on.

About the Author:

Finding the right type of property in your chosen area can be an extremely time consuming and fruitless process when doing it on your own. I’m John Savvy and I run Propsavvy.com to assist the first time buyers and investors alike to buy property in their chosen area with amazing efficiency whilst saving tens of thousands of pounds in the process.