A Mini Guide to Buying a Home
A Home Buying Article Contributed by Katie Linstead
The First Step to Buying a Home
When you make the decision of buying your first home you must do your research. Many websites are available that provide a home buying guide, and all of them will tell you that the first step is to find out what sort of loan amount you qualify for. The amount that a bank or lender will give you depends on many factors, for instance the value of the property you wish to buy and your personal income and credit rating.
Before finding a property to buy many banks and lender can give you an indication of what you will be allowed to borrow based on your personal circumstances. Many bank websites will even have mortgage calculators which will tell you what sort of price range you have for buying a home.
What Costs are Involved in Buying a Home?
Besides the obvious cost of the property there are many other costs involved in buying a home that are not immediately pointed out. Because you are the buyer there should be no estate agents fees or taxes to pay, however there are legal fees for transferring the deeds of the property to yourself and drawing up the terms of sale. There may also be a fee to pay to the bank or lender for setting up your mortgage, though this amount is usually added onto the mortgage.
Before the purchase of the house you will have to pay for a survey for the bank or lender so they can check that you a buying a home that is a safe investment. There will also be fees for moving your furniture into the home to think of, as there is no use buying a home if you cannot afford to move into it!
Pitfalls to Avoid When Buying a Home
When buying a home there are many details to look out for that can be overlooked. If you are not buying a home that you wish to keep on a long term basis then check that your mortgage does not have any long term redemption penalties. If you are buying a house as a long term investment then make sure your interest rate does not shoot up after an initial period.
Do get another independent survey of the house for yourself as the cost of this will be far less than the costs involved if there is any major problem with your home. The survey carried out by your bank or lender is not as thorough as an independent survey as they are only really interested in major things that will affect their loan, such as subsidence or flooding in the area.
Do make sure you thoroughly research the area your house is in, such as visiting the local police station, council and community center for information. Speak to your prospective neighbors on either side of the house and further down the street to get an idea of what they expect from a neighbor and whether they meet your expectations too. It is no use having neighbors on either side that are nice and quiet if you are a noisy person and vice versa!
