How to avoid mistakes buying your first property
One of the biggest fears people have before entering the property market is the costs and unexpected circumstances after the property sale. Here we look at a few tips that will assist you with your planning and enable you to be as prepared as possible to make your first purchase a happy and stress-free one.
Setting up a budget allows you to know EXACTLY how much money is incoming and outgoing which allows you to plan for your future property repayments. We can’t stress this point enough. It might take you a couple of hours to throw it all together but it will be worth it! You might even find a few areas you could save some more money with your current finances in the process. Have you ever been shopping for groceries without a list and find that you spend more than you intended? The same thing tends to happen to people to shopping for property. Having a budget in place allows you to pull yourself in and stay on track while only spending what you had planned.
Never underestimate the costs associated with a purchase. This is a mistake a lot of first time property buyers make. Many believe that if that have put together a $50,000 deposit and have found a $500,000 home loan that they should be able to afford a $550,000 property. There are a few additional costs you will need to account for including building inspection reports, insurance and stamp duty which can quickly add up. Ensure you know exactly what the real costs are, don’t let it be a shock and make sure you’re prepared.
When inspecting property options it can be difficult to not let your excitement get the better of you. Walking around you can already see yourself in the house or unit and what kind of adjustments you could do to make the place your own. It can be a great benefit to be well educated on the area – get in contact with the local council to find out what services they offer. This can also be a good opportunity to learn of any upcoming developments in the area in terms of infrastructure.
Do your research. How has the area been trending over the last few years? How is the public transport in the area? What kind of amenities are in the near vicinity? You would be surprised at how much having schools and shops conveniently located can do to the value of your property. It can be well worth your while to read up on capital growth to learn about the strength of the suburb. Purchasing in an area with strong growth will certainly set you up to be in a better position financially.
There would be nothing worse than finding your dream home and getting settled in only to find out that there are plans for a mega highway to be built right next door.
Always organise an inspection of the building. This is critical as not only will you be able to become aware of any issues it will also potentially provide you more negotiation power over the price. We have all heard horror stories of buyers finding out about water damage or structural faults after spending their entire budget on the dwelling itself.
As always the more time you spend planning something the less mistakes are likely to be made and I trust a number of these tips can assist the novice property buyer to make sure that your first purchase will be successful and leave you with more hair on your head at the end of the process.