6 tips to keep in mind before buying a home this year
The purchase of a home is one of the most important decisions in a person’s life. It is probably the biggest investment we will make and it will define our lifestyle, our family and it will mark our way of living in the coming years.
Besides a very important economic investment, it supposes a strong and emotional psychological component. If you are thinking about buying it seems that all is good news, but you must take into account some tips before buying a home.
2018 seems a very good year for everyone who was thinking of buying the house of their dreams. The number of mortgage loans is growing at a good pace and housing prices are still low despite the fact that the generation of jobs is also increasing.
Therefore, this 2018 may be the perfect time to acquire your home. But not all is so easy. Mortgages, fixed interest, variable, The simple mention of the varied real estate terms is enough to unsettle any experienced buyer.
If in addition, this is the first time you buy a home, this process can be too complex.
As we know that this is not a game, if it can become the most important investment of your life, we have prepared 6 tips so you can get completely correct when acquiring what will be your new home and your family.
These are the 6 most important tips before buying a home:
- Choose what type of home is best suited to your needs
There are many options when buying a home: Apartments for rent in Westminster, flats, duplexes, chalets, cottages etc. Therefore, it is important to know what needs we have in terms of housing and see what objectives we look for when buying one.
It would also be logical to look to the future and ask ourselves a series of questions that will be important later on. For example, we should ask ourselves if the family will increase or not, if we want a quiet area where children can play or a central area near everything, if we think about having pets, etc.
We give you an example, if our idea was that 10 years from now, the family unit will increase to 6 members and we want to have 2 pets, it would not be a good idea to buy a small apartment with 2 rooms.
- Examine the location
This advice is a bit close to the previous one. What we want to tell you with this advice is that you keep in mind the expectations you are looking for with your future home in terms of its location.
We would have to evaluate the distance with respect to schools, means of transport available from the place, distance to the place of work, health center, supermarkets, banks, places of leisure.
It will also be good to know what kind of neighborhood we want to live in, if we like large or small neighborhoods, quieter or less and what kind of neighbors are in each area, among other things.
- Mortgage at fixed or variable rate?
Currently, variable rate mortgages are very attractive because the Euribor is still quite low. This would make us find ourselves in a very favorable situation at this time.
The problem is that this situation will not last forever. A mortgage is usually around 20 or 30 years, more than enough time for the Euribor to fluctuate to important percentages. This should be a factor to take into account and not let ourselves be carried away by the current situation only.
On the other hand, mortgages at a fixed rate are a very good option, since without being as interesting at this time as the previous example, “it is still an attractive offer at the moment, since it allows offering much lower rates than in the past “analyzes BBVA.
This type of mortgage is especially recommended to people who want to avoid any type of mishap in terms of their mortgage payment.
Although the first few years it is true that they will have to pay a higher fee than if they had a variable rate mortgage, they will know at all times what they will have to pay each month to avoid possible rises in the Euribor.
- Do not be fooled by the bank
There are many occasions in which one requests a mortgage from the bank and the bank wants to adhere to the obligation to contract some type of insurance or product.
In this aspect, you should know that the banks at no time can condition the granting of the mortgage to the purchase of insurance or products.
What is an option is that you can reach an agreement in which hiring this type of insurance or products, the bank can reward you by lowering the interest rate of the mortgage.
Anyway, before deciding, we must make calculations of whether we are interested or not, and compare the price they are offering us with that of other banks.
- Seek advice on real estate professionals
Many people choose to seek housing on their own and embark on the purchase of their house without any external advice. What at first may seem like an economic saving can turn into future headaches and bad decisions.
Our recommendation is that you seek professionals in this field to advise you on a decision as important as this one.
These advisers know the appropriate price of each home according to the location it has. They also have experience and knowledge in the real estate market, and are trained to carry out all the procedures to follow and ensure that the operation is successful.
On the other hand, these professionals have been trained to negotiate and reach the best possible agreement, so they will surely achieve better prices in your benefit.
- If you are convinced, do not lengthen it too much
Finally, the last piece of advice you should know is that if you are clear about the home you want and have the necessary capital, do not think too much about it.
Due to the increase in the granting of mortgages and the increase in employment, housing is being revalued and this is a figure that will continue to increase next year.
So if you have it clear, do not delay, because now it will probably come out cheaper than in a few months.
With these 6 tips before buying a home, we are sure that it will be much easier for you to make the next purchase.
