Daily Deals from a Nerd Mom

Are you thinking about buying a house? If this is your first home, then there’s a lot to think about. For instance, you need to sort out your credit rating and save the biggest amount possible for the deposit because this is going to make your life a lot easier and the mortgage cheaper. If this is your next step on the property ladder, then things can still be a tad more complicated than you might expect. There can be additional bills that you’re not fully prepared for and problems relating to moving to a much larger property than you might be used to. That’s why it’s worth looking at the elements that you can expect when you are buying a home and the key steps that you should take.

Know Your Budget 

The first thing that you’re going to need to do before anything else is work out what your budget is. Your budget is probably the most important part of this whole process because it will determine everything else that comes after it. It will determine how much you are likely to get accepted for if you apply for a mortgage, it will determine the prices of properties that you should be looking at, and so much more.

Don’t forget that in your budget, you need to account for the fact that you are going to have to pay for legal representation, a survey on the property, as well as the cost of the property itself. If you’re not 100% happy with the home the way it is, you’re also going to need to pay for renovations, which we’ll cover a little bit further down.

Find Your Ideal Home

Next, you need to make sure that you are finding your ideal home. This isn’t always easy and it will require you to complete quite a lot of research to find the best possible property for you and your family that fits perfectly with what you are searching for. 

You might want to get started by completing a search online. Once you have done this, you should have a solid idea of what types of homes are out there and which options are going to fit into your budget. 

You could also consider speaking to a property broker. These experts will help you more easily navigate the property market and ensure that you are able to find your dream home, complete with everything that you need from your property. 

Complete The Paperwork

Another point worth thinking about is the paperwork. Don’t forget buying a property is a legal exchange. As such, there’s a lot of paperwork and that’s why you need to make sure that you have a skilled lawyer on your side to walk you smoothly through this process.

Carry Out Repairs 

Sometimes when you’re looking at buying a new home, the home is not in the best possible condition. Or, at the very least, it’s not in the condition that you want it to be in, which means that you are going to have to carry out some repairs, make some changes, and generally turn the house into your home. You need to start by looking at any pressing concerns though, as they need to be addressed first. For example, get up on the roof, or hire someone to get up on the roof for you, and see if there is anything going on up there. A damaged roof can be dangerous for the whole property, and it’s something that needs to be fixed asap, which means that you need to find someone who specializes in roof repairs asap.

Then you can move on to some of the less pressing repairs that you want to complete such as the ones that aren’t going to possibly endanger your lives, but need doing.

Arrange Movers

Something else you will need to book and sort is movers to get you from your old property to your new one. You can of course do this yourself, but it can be a lot of work. You might have a lot of heavy furniture that needs moving around, it is best to have an extra set of hands or two to get this done efficiently. If you want to hire movers then you have a few options, you could get someone to just drive the van with your stuff. This will typically be the cheapest option available from a removal company. 

Change The Locks

When you finally move into your new property, one of the first things you might want to do is change the locks. You never know who might have lived in the property before you and kept a set of keys. If there was only one owner and you met them then this might not be high on your priority list. If you do want to change the locks then it is advisable you change all the locks, this includes windows and doors. 

Speak to a reputable locksmith who will be able to do this for you, they might also give you a special quote as you are having everything done at once. 

Be Patient 

Finally, when you are going through the home buying process it is really important you remain patient and calm. There may be hiccups along the way that will slow the process down and if you don’t handle this the right way then you could also add extra time. The whole selling and purchasing timescale could last months, it all depends on whether you and anyone else in the chain needs to sell before they can buy. 

Speak to family and friends about any concerns you have, a problem shared is a problem halved after all. If they have also been through the process then they will be able to best advise you on how to deal with it.

We hope this helps you understand some of the key steps that you should absolutely take if you are thinking about purchasing another home in the future. In doing so, you can guarantee that this process goes smoothly and that it doesn’t cause too much stress or trouble. More importantly, it means that you’ll be able to focus on moving forward with this next chapter of your life.

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