What to do before starting your property search

You’ve decided you want to buy a property, so what next?

Before we begin searching for clients there are several key elements that should be in place, here we consider what you can do before you begin looking to put yourself in the best possible stead to find the perfect property.

Arrange your finances

Before you go on any viewings make sure you’ve  arranged your finances to put you in a position to be able to buy a property.

If you’re buying with cash this might be as simple as a phone call to check the money is available to use as and when you need it.

For those who will need to arrange financing in the form of a mortgage it’s important to get the ball rolling with this prior to visiting any potential properties.

This exercise not only helps you confirm your exact price range but will also put you in a stronger position should you find the ideal property as you’ll be able to move forward quickly.

Along with getting your finances in order to pay for the property be sure to factor in the costs related to buying a property, especially Stamp Duty Land Tax.

Pinpoint your search location

It’s highly unlikely you’ll be able to find a property you’d like to buy if you’re looking in multiple postcodes. Unless you’re seeking a truly unique property that isn’t too dependent on its location for your day to day, setting boundaries for your search is sure to improve the likelihood of you finding a suitable property.

We help many clients to narrow down their search area – focusing the search allows us to drill down into the local markets and leave no stone unturned in the quest for the perfect property.

With searches where the postcode is less important but perhaps the terrain, outlook or transport connections are the factors which will dictate the location, be sure that you set out what these parameters are so anyone you’re working with is also clear.

If you’re looking in a city and have an ideal commute time, you may initially factor in several areas but often is the case that buyers eventually focus on one area that they particularly like.

Those who are seeking a country retreat might be focused less on the exact location and may be considering an entire county but find the outlook and surrounds are of utmost importance. Equally those seeking a working property such as a small holding might have the location dictated by what works for the business.

Particularly with these types of properties It may not always be possible to draw the search area exactly; it’s likely the property requirements will be precise when the search area is more broad.

Similar to focusing the search area, determining your property requirements is also key to a successful search.

Know your property requirements

Being unsure of your property requirements will likely only result in a long and arduous search that will likely be inconclusive and waste an awful lot of time. Before beginning your search it’s useful to construct a list of ideals; what the property would feature in a perfect world, things you’d compromise on and absolute non-negotiable factors.

Try to keep these points succinct as lengthy lists of likes and dislikes are equally unhelpful to having no idea whatsoever. Drill down into your requirements:

• What’s important to your day to day lifestyle?
• Do you work from home and does the property location and layout need to work for this primarily?
• Would you ideally be no more than 15 minutes’ drive from your children’s school but would consider an extra 15 minutes in the car for the ideal property?
• Do you need 3 bedrooms or 3 double bedrooms?

Whilst it’s important to know what you’re after try to not be too rigid, we often find our clients end up buying a property they wouldn’t have considered before working with us. Your perfect property might not be exactly what you’d imagined before you began looking.

Our property finders have spent many years perfecting the art of matching clients to their ideal homes – a search brief, that will often change throughout the search, is an important starting point.

Professional property finders

Preparing properly before looking for a property to buy can avoid wasting hours of time and ensure you don’t miss out on the perfect property when it comes up.

Whilst we might now live in an age where property portals supposedly show us everything that’s available in the area we’re considering and within the price range we’ve set – is it really just as simple as going online? If it were we’d be out of a job – to learn more about what we do contact us.