When house hunting, people often think about how the property looks and whether it suits their immediate needs. Buying a house is often done on gut instinct and whether the house “feels right”. Considering this is probably the biggest financial transaction of your life, it’s wise to consider other factors during the decision-making process.
How can you increase its value?
Depending on the market you are in, most likely the value of your home will increase over time. The property market in the US is strong and analysts believe this will remain the case for the foreseeable future. But what about increasing it in addition to holistic market growth?
There are various interventions you can make that can increase its value even more. For example, building extensions or adding features to the garden. But first, you need to research whether this will be possible within local development rules. You can also consider changing the room layout inside, or making other internal structural changes. Again, you need to research and ascertain whether this is feasible before you sign on the dotted line. You don’t want to find your dream home, buy it, and then find out you are limited in what you can do to it inside and out.
How will you finance it?
How you plan to finance your home will have a big impact on what you can do with it. If you get yourself tied into a mortgage with high-interest rates and a long term, you might end up only just scraping by with the payments. This leaves you with little room to invest in the property or to make any changes. You should also figure out how much you intend to put down as a deposit and whether you will have any funds left over for renovations, and decorations.
Your first stop could be an online mortgage broker like Trussle. By inputting certain information like your deposit, budget, and how long you want the mortgage for, you can evaluate deals from leading mortgage providers. Playing around with the data you input can help you find a way that allows you to buy your dream home, but that also ensures you have enough cash at the end of each month.
Does the area align with your future goals?
You might only need two bedrooms now, but what about in the future? You probably have a checklist for your ideal home features, but have you considered long-term plans, or what you will do if your circumstances change? It’s a good idea to understand what the local schools are like, how far you are from medical facilities, what the crime rate is like, and whether there are any big construction or infrastructure projects happening shortly.
You don’t want to settle in and then discover you are in the flight path for a new airport, or that the nearest school is due to close down. Think ahead and try to consider all possibilities before you make your decision, and remember to always do your research on the local area beforehand.
Buying a home is a stressful process, but if you don’t start considering and factoring in some of these matters now, you risk making it even more so.
