Home Buyer Insider Secrets and Tips

Get a "mortgage in principle"

Buy bigger

Be Organised

Be proactive / On yer Bike

Be sure of your chosen home

Be aware of selling tricks

If you want a redesign...

Don't forget the other costs involved

Keep everyone sweet

Get things left behind

Things to avoid when choosing a house

Make sure the sellers have moved !

Further reading

Also see Tips on Getting a Mortgage

To read more on this subject please see the list below or your mortgage guide or your home buying guide

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Home Buyer Tips: Things to avoid when choosing a home

• If a property has been on the market for a long time then it's to be viewed with some suspicion. Even if you fall in love with it how easy will it be for you to sell in the future if no one else wants to buy it now?
  
  It may just be a drop in the local market... but be wary and don't count too much on your brilliant plans to renovate it etc. There's usually more than that to why it hasn't sold quickly.

• Consider what the noise might be like at times you haven't been there ie is it near a pub? Mmm sounds like closing time again. Marvelous.
  
  Is it near traffic lights on a busy road? It may not sound too bad during the day but what about at night when the 40 tonne lorries are roaring through...

• Avoid buying too close to busy railway lines particularly those that carry a lot of freight trains - these can make a serious noise late at night. Check the train timetables or make enquiries.

• Watch out for electric pylons and mobile phone masts. How far away are they? They are very off-putting for many people so even if you don't think they're a health problem they could devalue your house. There are constant new health scares in the media, particularly about mobile phone/ communication masts... these seem unlikely to die down.

• Schools can be off-putting to some people who are at home during the day and don't appreciate the noisy little lambs at playtime - or all those four wheel drives at home time.

• Footpaths with their ancient rights of way can be a major devaluer. You can trace their routes with an ordnance survey map and if they go very close to or through your land - or even your house - they may be a problem.
  
  Fumes from busy carparks are an said to be increasing concern for asthmatics.

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Home Buyer Tips: Make sure the sellers have moved

Are the sellers desperate to get things completed? Or is their new home stuck in a slow moving chain?

If things go wrong with their sale it could mean you end up waiting for months, possibly without a home (i.e. already having sold your own house) and having to pay over the odds for short term accommodation.

So while it's usually a race maybe it's a good idea to pace yourself.

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