3 Top Tips for Buying Your First Home
Buying your first home is one of the biggest milestones of your life. With so much to plan, prepare and look forward to, it’s important to buy your first home with safety, security and long-term thinking in mind.
Buying your first home is one of the biggest milestones of your life. With so much to plan, prepare and to look forward to, it’s still important for you to ensure that you’re taking the right steps to buy your first home with safety, security and long-term thinking in mind. This forward planning will allow you to relax and get on with making that first step on the property ladder a good one.
As experienced estate agents based in Worcester and Malvern, here are some of the top tips we recommend you consider when buying your first home.
1) Think realistically
When buying your first home, it’s likely you will have saved your hard-earned money for a long time in order to afford to get a place of your own. This means that, understandably, you’ll want to buy a house or apartment that reflects this hard work you put into getting it. If you’ve saved enough for your deposit and earn enough to afford your monthly repayments, you should be able to afford a first home that you’ll remember for life, and can truly be proud of.
Here, it’s important to think realistically about choosing the right mortgage for you and whether you can comfortably afford the monthly repayments while having enough left over to save for any furniture or home improvements you might want to make. This might mean you may have to save for a little bit longer to get the kind of home you really want, or potentially compromise on details like area or size.
As well as thinking realistically about your mortgage and deposit, it’s also important to take all costs into account when buying your first home. At this exciting time, it’s easy to steam ahead and try to get things moving as quickly as possible, but you’ll need to consider additional costs, such as surveys, solicitors fees, insurance, mortgage valuation, stamp duty and removal services.
2) Look to the future
An essential aspect of a home is that it can cater to your needs as much as you take care of it, too. It’s important that you ask yourself whether you’re planning on a career change in the future, whether you’re thinking of starting a family or whether you’re planning on pursuing a new hobby that might need additional space.
When buying your first home, make sure you take your future goals into account to ensure you’re readily equipped without having to move again too soon. This also rings true for your financial situation. If the interest rates rise on your mortgage, can you afford it? If you’re looking to save for something big in the future, are your monthly payments low enough for you to be able to do so?
Looking to the future and taking into account all the things you’d like to achieve a few years down the line is essential, because the more you plan ahead, the easier it will be for you to live in your home comfortably and securely.
3) Don’t rush
Buying your first home can be hugely exciting, but it’s essential that you don’t rush the process. If you rush the process, you may be choosing a home that’s not as affordable as you might have thought, or doesn’t meet all your needs. It can be easy to get caught up in trying to get everything done as quickly as possible, but remember – buying a home is a major life decision. Don’t rush the process!
Take your time to consider all aspects of your new home, like affordability, location, future decisions and the condition of the home itself. Spend time asking as many questions as you can in order to assess whether your first home is the right one for you, and you can relax once the process is complete.
How Platinum Property Can Help
Our team of experienced estate agents know the home buying process inside and out for first time buyers. Whether you’re looking for houses for sale in Malvern or Worcester, or whether you’d like advice on a first-time buy, we’re passionate about making the process as comfortable as possible.
If you’d like to find out more about how we can help you in the search for your first home, contact our estate agent branches in Malvern or Worcester by calling 01905 426000.