Independent Financial Advisers
| House Buying Top Tips |
|
General tips - Estate Agents - Making an offer The House Buying Process
Unless you are lucky enough to have a bank balance sufficient to buy your new property outright, chances are you will need a mortgage. It is vital you get a good feel for what you can afford and what it is likely to cost you before you start making offers. At an initial meeting your Independent Financial Adviser can help you decide:-
House Buying, General Tips Buying a house, especially your first, can often seem a daunting process, but it needn't be with the right help and a little background knowledge. It is easy to be swept along with the impression you have no real power over the situation, especially if you have fallen in love with a property. You will do well to remember the following bits of advice. If you have a question - ask it. Unlike virtually every other thing you may buy, with a house and the mortgage you don't get to try it on first or the option of returning it if it turns out to be a bad fit. Make sure any niggling doubts are answered at every stage of the transaction. Look to the Future. A common mistake we encounter is people taking too short term a view. If you are a young couple looking to start a family, is a one bedroom flat really a wise move? If you think you will most likely move in the next 3 years, is a mortgage with high early repayment charges for the first 5 years going to be a good fit? A good Independent Financial Adviser will help you pick a product that's going to meet your long term as well as your immediate mortgage needs. Remember Estate Agents are not there to help you. It is often said that the customer is always right. When you are buying a house and you are dealing with an Estate Agent - YOU ARE NOT THEIR CUSTOMER! The person selling the property is ultimately the individual writing the cheque for the agent's fees and it is therefore there that the Estate Agent's loyalities lie. Avoid obtaining your mortgage from the Estate Agent. This leads on from the tip above. In buying a house there should always be a certain degree of negotiation. The key to good negotiation is for the other party not to know how far you can or will go (so your best poker face is required). Get your mortgage from the Estate Agent or someone recommended by them and you are effectively putting your cards on the table. The Estate Agent, is paid by and works for the person you are trying to agree a price with. In using the agent's advisor, the seller effectively gets to know how much you can get as a mortgage. Commonly Estate Agents will either try to force you to use their adviser, or get you to show your hand under the guise of having to vet your viability as a purchaser - don't let them. A good Independent Financial Adviser will know how to deal with the agents for you so as not to undermine your negotiations. Be pragmatic. As a general rule the more emotionally attached you get to an individual property the more you will be prepared to pay for it. Firstly, Estate Agents want to sell properties quickly. Secondly, they want to sell them as close to the asking price as possible. If the Estate Agent detects you have become attached to the property and have no others in mind, they will invariably guide their client to hold out for a much higher offer. If they felt this property is 1 of 3 you were interested in, with the other 2 not being on sale through them, they will be tempted to take a lower offer far more seriously, especially in a slow market. Bids/offers only go up When you put an offer in on a property don't be afraid to go in low, even as much as 15% below the asking price. You can always increase your offer; however, it's very difficult to go back if you feel you have made too high an offer. Competition can be overcome. OK so there is more than one person after your dream house and they appear to have deeper pockets. If you have done everything correctly, you may be able to come out the stronger buyer just on the basis of your ability to move quickly. That other bidder may be in a long chain or not have their mortgage arranged. So by getting set up before you start making offers you can appear a much stronger buyer.
If you are looking to buy a property, please feel free to contact us to talk with an Independent Financial Adviser and Mortgage Broker. We are able to provide home appointments across the whole of West Sussex - Brighton, Hove, Haywards Heath & Crawley, East Sussex, Surrey - Croydon Sutton, Reigate, Redhill, South London - Wimbledon, Fulham, Chelsea and Hammersmith and Central London. "Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage." |
