Purchasing your first home can be an exciting yet scary experience and can come with its own unique challenges. It is quite common to be anxious when you're trying to find the perfect home, especially if it is your first property. House hunting is a learning experience, and you need to remember that there is no such thing as the perfect house. Ultimately, you want to find a home that incorporates the things that are most important to you.Doing some preparation can help to ensure that you end up with the perfect home to suit you and your family’s needs.
Part of your preparation could include the following tips:
1. Current and future needs of the home
It's easy to look at properties that meet your current needs, and hunt for the perfect house to suit your current needs only. However, it is important to consider your future needs and wants and whether the home you’re considering now will suit your needs and wants in the future. Questions you may want to ask yourself:
· Do I want an apartment, house or a unit in a security estate?
· Does the type of property suit my needs – are those needs immediate or future-orientated.
· Do I need a family home? Is the family getting larger in future?
· Do I need extra space for the home office?
2. decide on a budget
Budgeting to buy a house is one of the most important factors, if not the most important. It is not just the retail price of the house that you will pay for, so you need to organise your finances and get pre-approval from lenders. This will help you establish how much you can spend, as well as determine how much you are able to repay every month. It may be tempting to take advantage of the full amount on offer from the bank, it pays to keep in mind that you need to budget for any unforeseen costs that may take place. Your biggest upfront expenses will be the deposit for the house (that is compulsory), and associated fees (transfer fees, bond registration fees, lawyer fees, moving expenses, furniture, etc). The more you can pay into your deposit, the less your monthly bond repayments will be, and overall long-term cost of the home will be.
3. location
When choosing a location of your house, it is important to consider what you would prefer: an older, more established area, or a newer one. The more modern and more developed your area is, the more expensive your home may be. It is advisable to take into consideration where your work area is, or even where the kids (if any) attend school.
The location you consider should have the amenities that are important to you. No area will have every single amenity available without a little bit of driving, so it pays to be practical and realistic, especially when planning your morning and afternoon commute.
4. documents
When purchasing a home, you will need certain documents such as:
· Copy of your ID document.
· Copy of the offer to purchase document containing both the seller’s and your details.
· Your own proof of income.
· You will need to provide a salary slip (not older than two or 3 months), or a letter from your employer with a breakdown of your salary and deductions for every month.
· If you are self-employed then you will need a letter from an accounting officer confirming your income, or a statement of your assets and liabilities.
· Lastly, you will need 3- or 6-months’ worth of bank statements before any final transactions can be made.
Be sure you are fully informed and aware of all the documents you will need. It will make the process so much easier and quicker.
5. inspecting the home
Before putting in an offer on any home, consider having the property inspected by a professional or even the estate agent who can provide you with a comprehensive list of all the home’s underlying flaws. While a home might be aesthetically pleasing on the surface, it is important to look past that and check the integrity of the components that make up the property to ensure that the purchase won’t end up costing more in the long run. Things that are important to inspect before purchasing a home are the following: Wood trim or not, leaking pipes, leaking roof, mould, radon, pests/insects, the well water, septic system and finally, a general home inspection.
Our aim at The ReviewA is to assist you when buying a home to not feel like a millstone around your neck for the next twenty years. By following the above tips and advice you can eliminate most of the stress from the process of owning your first home.
Did you have a negative or positive experience when you bought your first home? Tell us about your experience and what you would advise others. We look forward to hearing about your first time buying a home experience and valuable advice.