Whether this is your first time buying a house or you have been here before and you are investing again, you know that the property market is tricky. There are rules and regulations that determine whether or not you can buy a house, there are mortgage rates to consider, skyrocketing insurance rates, and then you have to consider everything from solar panels on the roof to fencing around the boundaries of your property land.
There’s a lot to think about, and there are a lot of professionals that you need to have conversations with before you can go ahead. You have to speak to a mortgage broker about the rate of your mortgage that you get and whether it’s fixed or not, you have to speak to an insurance professional about building insurance when buying a house, and you also have to consider whether you tag on flood or fire insurance which incidentally don’t often come in the same package. There are five specific things that you need to know before you head into this house buying game, and here are those for you below.
- Be honest about affordability. It’s exciting to scroll through houses online and choose one for yourself even if you have no idea of your budget or your bank account is currently sitting at zero. With that excitement put to one side you really have to be realistic: what can you afford for this home? Have you put aside legal fees and surveillance costs and insurance costs? Speak to a mortgage broker first and only look at the houses you know you could afford.
- Don’t forget the other costs. A lot more than what you would pay on a mortgage, but when you pay a rent, you don’t often have to pay for council rates for stamp duty or lenders mortgage insurance or loan fees or pest inspections come up the list can feel quite endless. These are the costs that are noted to be silent. Instead of overlooking them, do your research and equip yourself with all the knowledge that you need.
- Research. Look at the recent sale prices and suburb profiles. Check out the crime rates in the areas that you’ve been looking at. Use property profile reports to determine what other houses in the same suburb sold for. These are all important things that you need to do before you go ahead and say yes to buying a house.
- Renovations. You that you’re buying, but it doesn’t mean that the house itself is new. If you’ve already got a house, then renovations could be a better option than looking for a whole new one. If you do want to go ahead and buy, consider whether you have any budget to renovate what’s there so that you can make the house your own.
- Consider negotiation. There is always room to wiggle on the House prices, especially if you are willing to fix it up yourself. Check with the sellers whether or not they are willing to cut some of the money off the amount of the house but just keep in mind supply and demand. You are not the only buyer in a saturated market.
