Top things to consider when buying a new home
5 things to consider when buying a new home
Dream Home?
Make a list of all of the things that you would include in your dream home. This can be anything from off-street parking, detached, two stories, big garden, utility room and underfloor heating to a playroom, sunny aspect, study, and spare room plus more! Although most of us are unlikely to be able to buy our dream home (initially), at least we can get familiar with what we really like and want, so when we are looking at houses in person or online, we can see if it ticks any of the boxes.
Non negotiables…
Once you have worked out what your ‘dream home’ would feature, you’ll need to work out what your absolute non-negotiables are. Be realistic! For some people, it could be being able to walk to school, have off-street parking or a beautiful interior with high quality skirting boards and flooring, but for someone else, it could be completely different.
You need to work out what you are and aren’t willing to consider and go from there. It can sometimes be easy to persuade yourself that a house you have seen is ‘the one’ but make sure you refer back to your non-negotiables just to make sure that it meets these expectations.
Budget baby!
Before you download the apps and start looking at what houses are available in your price range, you’ll need to have a good idea of how much you are eligible for in terms of mortgage. We always use an online mortgage calculator to work this out.
All you need to do is input the figure you think you’ll need to buy your new home, add in the interest rate (if you know it – otherwise there is a default rate) and enter how many years you would like to have the mortgage for. The tool will then calculate exactly what your fill monthly payments and your interests only payments would be as well as the number of months you would be paying it for and the total amount of interest payable across this period. This is a great place to start as you’ll be able to work out whether these payments are achievable based on your current earnings and outgoings. Make sure you include all of the different expenses in there and if you think you can save some money on some of your utility pools, you can always shop around beforehand. The hughesnet internet plans are great value and definitely worth considering.
Location Location Location
I can’t emphasise how important this is. I think there can often be a trade-off with location, especially if you are living somewhere where the house prices are fairly high, compared to places not too far away.
I can’t emphasise how important this is. I think there can often be a trade-off with location, especially if you are living somewhere where the house prices are fairly high like moving to London, compared to places not too far away. I am often tempted to move to one of the ‘better value for money’ areas near us in Kent where we currently live, but I would be so sad to take my kids out of the school they are in and I feel like we would pretty much need to start again in terms of making friends and connections if we moved too far away.
The second thing to consider when it comes to location are things like the exact positioning of the house. Is it on a busy road? Will the sound of traffic be an issue? Is there a community atmosphere? Are there essential shops nearby that you’ll use? Imagine what life would be like living in that house and picture how your day would pan out. Is it what you are looking for?
Size matters!
Find out what square footage your current home is and make sure you look at the square footage of the houses you are viewing. Sometimes these figures can be deceiving. If you have a growing family, the likeliness is that you will want something bigger each time you move house. Also decide what sort of garden size you would like or indeed, what the minimum garden size would be for you and your family. Assuming you want a garden! Of course finding out whether you can increase the size of the house by doing an extension or converting the loft is important to know too.
