When it comes to owning your first home in Belfast, the thought is usually somewhat unsettling since you’ll likely be treading on unfamiliar terrain. However, when you have a good Belfast estate agent guide to walk you through the process, it can easily seem like a stroll in the park.
This article will guide you through the step by step process involved in buying yourself a home in both Belfast and many other cities.
Table of Contents
Steps to Buying Your Next Home:
The following steps will help you when making a decision to buy your new home:
Identify the Financing Route Suitable for Your Income Level
It is necessary that you identify the best finance route suitable for your income as this will determine your budget for the house. A series of options are available for financing your new home ownership and they include:
Joint Ownership
This can be a good financing option when you cannot afford a full mortgage or outright purchase of your preferred property. You can do this by purchasing the property jointly with another interested individual. This means that the two owners have equal rights to the property and can work out the details of their ownership between themselves.
Mortgage
This is the most popular financing route to buy your new home. You can apply to your bank or building society. In processing a mortgage, you will usually have to make a deposit of about 5% to 10% of the value of the property to be purchased. The chosen financier takes care of the remaining portion while you making repayments with interest over the period of the mortgage.
To get more information on financing options for your home, check this article: https://www.investopedia.com/articles/mortgages-real-estate/08/homebuyer-financing-option.asp.
Begin Budgeting
Having identified the financing route that is most suitable for you, the next step is to get your monthly revenue and expenses in order. Establish how much you earn every month, how much you spend and how much you can save. Thereafter, set a feasible budget with that information. This is important because it will give you a realistic picture of the affordability of the mortgage.
Secondly, it will arm you with the necessary information to present to estate agents and mortgage financiers to prove your ability to carry-on the mortgage.
Begin to Inspect Properties
Once you have a good grip on your finances, the next step is to go in search of a home to purchase. Online searches are a good option. However, it is more advisable to go through Belfast estate agent due to their knowledge of the environs. You can check YPG Estate Agents in Belfast to learn more about how agents can help you find a suitable property quickly.
In making a choice, the location of the property is very crucial. Find out if it’s located in a good area, whether social amenities are accessible from the location of the property and most importantly, if it suits your taste.
Put Forward an Offer for Your Potential Home
Having found a suitable choice, put up an offer for the purchase of the property. This can be done through a trusted Belfast estate agent. You can find out how much other properties in that location that are similar to the one you want to buy were sold for and then make your offer based on this.
Engage the Services of a Surveyor and a Solicitor
After your offer has been accepted, you need to get a professional surveyor to evaluate the property and ascertain if there are deficiencies in it which are likely to alter the value.
You should also ensure that you have proper legal representation to vet all the legal documents involved in the transaction. Your legal representative should deal in person with the solicitor of the vendor.
Sign the Mortgage Contract
At this stage, once you append your signature to the mortgage contract, it becomes a legal agreement. It is very important that you peruse the contractual documents with the help of your legal counsel to ensure that all the information contained therein are accurate and represent the details of the contract.
Signing the contract implies that you accept the terms of the mortgage and as such have an obligation to abide by it. To learn more about mortgage click here.
Make Payment and Move into Your New Home
Once you conclude the legal requirements involved in processing the mortgage, your solicitor will liaise with your mortgage financier to make final the payment to the solicitor of the vendor.
After that, the mortgage is said to be completed and you are free to move into your new home.
Final Thoughts
A few points to note is that the sale will have to be registered with the appropriate authority and this attracts a fee. Additionally, your solicitor and surveyor will have to be paid, as such, make appropriate provision for these fees when budgeting.
We’ve briefly looked at a step-by-step guide to purchasing a property. While this may not be highly detailed, it captures the essence of such a transaction and can therefore help you understand how to get started on your journey to purchasing your first home.
