Last year we were lucky enough to buy our first home after renting numerous properties for the past few years. I say lucky but we needed to save, save, save and thankfully our bank had an offer on at the time which was a first time buyer discount. With the deal we only needed to pay the 5% deposit which was exactly what we needed. If that offer wasn't available then we would probably still be renting today.
House search -
The mortgage application was very complex and long winded but once we were both accepted then we were able to start the search to find our home. Having family in different towns we did contemplate many different area's but we decided to stick with my partners home town where we were currently renting. We made a note of all the area's that would be suitable and the area's that wouldn't and that narrowed everything down for us.
Everyday we would start our search online by tailoring our search by area, house type, number of bedrooms and price. We would then make a note of all the houses that could be a possibility. We found that looking online through street view really helped as we didn't need to go and drive out to every property to get a scope of the area. If the area looked okay online then we would drive over in the car at different times of day to get a feel of the location. In the end we only arranged a viewing for 3 properties.
Viewings -
The first house that we viewed I loved as it was huge and in a fairly okay location. Once we viewed the inside of the property we noted lots of issues that would cost an obscene amount of money to try to repair. We were open to do work but the issues were too much for us. The kitchen was full of mold and the entire house had movement as it was situated on a hill. It was a shame because I did get a good feeling from the house, but unfortunately it wasn't meant to be.
The second property looked fine on google street view but we were deceived as it ended up being in an awful area and the house itself was run down and tiny. What was worse is they were asking for a lot of money for it too, far too much. We only needed to step into the house to know it was a no from us, we couldn't get out of there faster!
Last but certainly not least was the property that we ended up buying. The house needed a lot of work but it was work that we would be able to afford and manage with the help of our family. It's in a fantastic area which is close to everything we need and we instantly knew it was the one for us.
Making an offer -
After viewing the third property we knew it was the house for us. We saw past the avocado green bathroom and bright green carpets and decided to make an offer. The previous owner had recently reduced the asking price as they wanted a quick sale but as first time buyers we needed to buy our first house for as cheap as we possibly could. With this in mind we went in at £10,000 less than the asking price which was £20,000 less than they were originally asking for. At first they declined our offer and tried to make a counter offer, which we firmly declined. We stuck to our guns and eventually they caved in and accepted our offer. It did take a few months for us to finally sign everything over and we had months and months of renovations ahead of us but we were finally home owners! We had bought our first home!
If you are looking to buy, sell or even value your property then I would recommend taking a look at My Online Estate Agent. In a digital world where we do our shopping, banking and holiday bookings online it makes perfect sense to seek an estate agent online too. Not only do they provide everything that you would receive from a regular in store estate agent but they are an estate agent with a twist! You can set wheels in motion all in the comfort of your own home, with ease and with a fraction of the usual costs. My Online Estate Agents offer fully professional services for a fraction of the cost with their fabulous upfront package fee's. I wish I had of heard of them sooner as I could of saved ourselves a nifty sum which we could of put towards our renovation.
What are you experiences of moving home? Have you recently bought or planning to sell?
Buying your first home is such an exciting time, I remember you going for viewings and everything. No idea where the time's gone! x
ReplyDeleteIt didn't fly by at the time but now when I look back it really has!
DeleteBuying your first home is so exciting. We moved nearly 3 years ago and we are finally making it our own
ReplyDeleteIt's a long process isn't it. I feel like we are still getting there and will be for a while.
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