A Simple House Buying Guide – Steps for Purchasing Success

Buying a house can be a daunting experience; regardless of whether you have moved before or not.

At Kirkham Estate Agents, we know the feeling an impending move can cause for even the most experienced of movers, but we believe the buying process should be exciting and not a time of stress and worry.

We’ve compiled a handy step-by-step house buying guide to help you climb the property ladder with ease:

Finding the figures.

A vital start to the process, working out how much you can afford, and similarly, how much you can borrow is easily the most efficient and realistic way to begin your search. Why settle for a below-par property when you could find your perfect home at a price you can afford? An appointment with a mortgage adviser or using an online budget calculator allows you to start looking within your limits from the very beginning; making for a successful search. Working out your buying budget also gives you an overview of what you need to put aside for things like furnishings, stamp duty, and any other fees.

Getting a mortgage.

Even the word, mortgage, can cast a cloud of doom over anyone’s head. However, gaining a mortgage can actually be very easy. Ask yourself some questions like whether you would be able to afford the mortgage and maintain a balanced lifestyle or whether you could manage if interest rates go up. This will help you to assess the kind of mortgage that would be achievable and comfortable for you, then you can seek advice and guidance from a mortgage adviser or lender. You can also shop around for mortgages, much like you would for other products and services, to ensure that buying and keeping your house won’t add any extra stress to your life. Kirkham Financial can help you get through the mortgage stage hassle-free with our own in-house mortgage advisers.

Finding your ideal property.

Before you go looking at any old property, draw up a list of things that are most important to you first. The number of bedrooms or bathrooms, and parking provisions are usually the most essential aspects to buyers, and should therefore be a key part of the search; it’s no good liking everything about a property, but having nowhere to park your 2 cars outside it. Tell your agent exactly what you are looking for and the things that you most definitely need as there’s nothing wrong with being fussy when house-hunting. Also, consider the area you would prefer to live in and whether you can see yourself settling in, as well as doing some research on amenities to assess if it really is for you.

Making an offer.

Great! You’ve found the ideal home for you and it’s within your budget, but is it within reach yet? When putting in and negotiating an offer, it’s important to consider whether you are getting the right deal for you; take a step back and assess whether everything will click together easily and with little effort on your part. Decide your maximum limit and stick to it, knowing your budget ceiling is crucial! Also, do yourself a favour and research if the property is worth paying the top of your budget for; looking at similar properties within the area and considering the cost of any work needed doing on the property can be simple ways of doing this.

Remember, to keep your head screwed on during this process and don’t let any excitement get the better of you.

Conveyancing.

Finding out the things often forgotten about when buying a property, such as stamp duty, is another vital part of the process. Getting a conveyancer to work out who owns what boundaries, whether fixtures and fittings are included, and getting a registration of title in your name, makes it easier for you and doesn’t weigh you down with the legal aspects. Kirkham Conveyancing offer a specialist service both locally and throughout England & Wales. This is an essential and vitally important legal process which is required in order to action the sale, purchase, re-mortgage, and transfer of a property. A conveyancer transfers the ownership of the legal title of property from one person(s) to another, which is why we offer this process to our customers in order to make the process easier for you.

Kirkham Conveyancing is different to other practices, as we only handle domestic Conveyancing to offer a totally focused service.

Moving day.

First and foremost, try and make everything easier for you. Things like avoiding moving when the roads will be busiest and staggering the moving rather than doing it all in one day will considerably lower the stresses of getting settled in. Changing your address to allow for redirected post before the move can minimise the risk of things like identity theft. Little things like exchanging numbers with the movers and checking everything in the house has been turned off allow peace of mind for all involved.

Lastly, remember to enjoy the exciting process that is moving!