So, you’ve spent years saving up enough money for a deposit on a house of your own, and now you’re finally ready to take the steps to purchase the property of your dreams.
First of all, congratulations on saving up enough money for a deposit – in today’s economy that’s no easy task. Now, we don’t mean to rain on your parade, but just because you’ve got your deposit saved, that doesn’t necessarily mean that buying your first house will be as straightforward as you might think.
There’s a lot more to purchasing a property than most people realise, and it’s important to understand that. To help to make the process a little smoother, below we’ve put together a guide to the ins and outs of buying your first home.
You will need to apply for a mortgage
The chances are that if you’re buying a house, you will need to apply for a mortgage. The first thing that you need to apply for a mortgage is a deposit, which if you’ve already got sorted, you don’t need to worry about. If not, then it’s best to save it up before applying for a mortgage. Otherwise, your application will most probably be rejected, impacting your credit score. Talking about credit scores, before you apply for a mortgage, it’s a good idea to check what yours is, as if it’s too low you won’t be likely to be accepted for a mortgage. To do that, resources like www.MyCreditMonitor.com are useful as they can give you access to your credit score quickly and easily, just by asking you a few questions. If your score is lower than you thought, spend some time building it up before applying for your mortgage.
It’s important to know what you want from a property
Once you’ve dealt with the financial side of things, the next step is to think about what you want from a property, as well as what’s in your price range. The best way to do this is to start off by writing a list of ‘wants’ and ‘needs’ for your new home so that when you start looking around properties, you know what it is that you want. Obviously, there are some things that can be changed, but it’s important to understand that not everything can be, such as the amount of light a property has, for instance. So don’t compromise on a property, because you may end up regretting it.
Don’t make the mistake of rushing into making an offer
When you come across a property that you love, it’s easy to rush into making an offer. However, it’s important that you take the time to ensure that you are 100 percent sure about making an offer before you do. View the property at least three times, take in all of the features, and note down any potential issues that you see. Ensure you are clear on how old the property is, how well it’s been maintained, and anything else that could impact the quality of the building itself. After all, the last thing you want is to rush into buying a property only to find out afterwards that it has some serious issues, such as rising damp, for instance.
The truth is that purchasing a property isn’t as straightforward as many of us think, so it’s important that we get to grips with what’s involved in the process.
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