The process of house hunting can be pretty daunting. At first, it’s all fun and games. For instance, you’re looking for a house in Gravesend. First, you will hire estate agents in Gravesend to help you find the perfect home. Your estate agent will show you countryside cottages, quaint homes in historic villages, spacious bungalows and modern flats. The more homes you see, the more confused you get! After all, there are so many great properties available in the market; one is bound to get confused! And, if after all this, you are still unable to find the ‘perfect home’, that’s pretty devastating! So, here are some tips and tricks that will make house hunting a whole lot easier in Gravesend.
Make a list of what you want
How many bedrooms should the property have? How many bathrooms should the property have? Do you want a garden? What about a garage? What kind of kitchen are you looking for? You need to make a list of everything that you are looking for in your new home.
Know the difference between needs and wants
Needs are essential. If you are looking for a three-bedroom property, you obviously cannot settle for a two-bedroom place. However, you can compromise on your wants. You might want a property with a rooftop terrace, but is it a necessity? If you can differentiate between your needs and your wants, you will end up saving a whole lot of time, money and effort!
Stick to your budget
If you are a family of four, a couple with two, you will need three bedrooms. You might want to buy a place with four or five bedrooms so that you can convert one room into a home office and another into a guest bedroom. Does your budget allow it? This is where your budget comes into play.
Take photographs
When you walk into a potential house that you like, take photographs. These photographs will come in handy when you need to decide on choosing the perfect home. You can always come back home and look at the pictures to refresh your memory.
Write down the pros and cons
After a while, the more houses you see, the more confused you will get. To make things just a tad bit easier, you should start making a list. If there is a house that you like, make a list of all the pros and cons. Eventually, when you shortlist a few homes, you can always use the list of pros and cons to help you narrow it down further.
Check travel time
If you have found a home that you absolutely love, but it’s a little bit further than expected, then you must check the travel time. Go from the house to your child’s school or maybe drive from the property to your workplace and see if the travel time suits your daily schedule. Once you’ve signed the deed, it will be too late to complain about the rush hour traffic!
Scout the area
Let’s say you’ve found a house that you like. Now, you need to scout the area. How far is the closest supermarket from the property? Is this house close to a school district? What about local transportation hubs? How far is the property from the city centre? What is the area like?
View multiple properties at multiple times
You don’t need to decide whether or not you like a certain property just by looking at it once. If you think any particular property has potential, but you aren’t too sure about it, come back another time and have a look. In fact, even if you’ve found your ‘dream home’, you should come back at a different time to have a look at it again. Sometimes, a property can look and feel very different once the sun starts to set.
Make sure you like what you see
Before you even walk into a potential property, you should like what you see. So, you should like the house’s overall structure, be happy with the neighbourhood and the location, and lastly, the house should fit well within your budget. If you don’t like what you see, you’re just wasting your time.
Try to set a deadline
House hunting can take months and maybe even years for indecisive buyers. To make the process a little more efficient, you should try to set a deadline for yourself. Let’s say you give yourself four months to find your dream home. As the deadline gets closer, you might become a little more selective and a lot more decisive.
Learn to compromise
Remember, every house will have some minor feature that you might not like. Finding the ‘perfect home’ is not always possible. You might need to compromise on one or two small things when you’re house hunting and try to have an open mind.
