Scouting Your Next Home: Important Pre-Buying Steps to Take

Buying and selling property is a stressful experience. The LEADING EDGE Real Estate Team previously provided 7 tips to sell your home stress free. In this post we are offering 5 tips that as buyers you should consider when scouting for your next home.

1. The Budget

Having a clear idea of your budget is one of the first steps you must take into account when scouting for your new home. This includes how much you are willing to spend on your new home and how much you will spend to customize your home once purchased. Be aware that spending too much money on modifications could affect your chances of selling further down the road. For example, if the asking price is $500,000, but to create the living space you desire requires an extra $300,000 the price of the property will be pushed above the market value of homes in the area. When it comes to selling you would likely find yourself losing out to similar properties at a much lower price.

2. Check the House is to Your Satisfaction

When you step into a new property for the first time it is important to give it a thorough check. Realestate.com.au made a list of 10 things to review before you buy. Included on the list are areas people often miss which could later prove to be quite costly. These include: water stains or corrosion on the bathroom walls, checking to see if ceilings are sagging, checking for large cracks, and even going outside and checking the roof tiles (if applicable). Print out a checklist to ensure you don’t miss anything that might come back to haunt you later on.

3. Don’t be Afraid to Ask Questions

Buying a home is often one of the biggest decisions that most people make in their lives. Discover Homes Miami strongly advises new homeowners to ask as many questions as you can. They suggest you ask about fixtures, ceiling heights, building dues, amenities, and your building rights as a homeowner. While it is important to ask every question you can think of while looking around the property, it is even more important to have done some research in “order to ask the right question”. The aforementioned article also states that this will protect you from a home that is not what you expected.

4. Research the Seller

The seller’s situation will tell you a lot about how much negotiating you can do. If you find that the property has been on the market for years because the seller is holding out for the best price, then it is likely that you won’t be able to bring the price down. If the sellers have recently bought a new property they could be looking to sell quickly. A good housing agent should be able to advise you on the sellers’ situation and counsel you accordingly.

Maximise Your Credit Score

As soon as you decide that you want to purchase a new place (or even before is a very good idea) you should try and maximize your credit score. Ideally you want your score to be as high as possible to qualify for lower interest rates. In Canada you can request your credit score for free from credit reporting agencies. To lift your score it is best to get into good habits like paying your bills on time, bringing down the balance on your credit card, and refraining from making large deposits or withdrawals in the upcoming months.

Posted by Denise Brown on
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