03 Dec The Biggest Challenges for New Home Buyers
With property markets around the country running hot, getting into the market can feel overwhelming for new home buyers.
Fortunately, there are a number of steps you can take to give yourself the very best opportunity to secure the right property for you.
Know Your Budget
The first place that all home buyers and investors need to start is understanding how much money they have to work with.
The most effective way to do that is to speak to your mortgage broker who will be able to assess your personal situation and give you some insights into what your borrowing capacity might be. From that point, you should move towards getting a preapproval in place and that will give you a very clear understanding of what you’re going to be able to spend on a property.
If you’re putting an offer in on a property before ever speaking to a mortgage broker, you’re putting yourself in a very precarious position.
Know Your Area
The first step to securing a property is refining the area in which you want to buy. If you’re buying a home as an owner-occupier, that’s going to depend on where you want to live combined with other factors such as lifestyle and access to school and work.
When you’ve narrowed that down, it’s important to start getting an understanding of what properties are selling for in that area and if that is going to fit within your newly created budget that your mortgage broker has helped with.
When you’re buying properties in a place like Melbourne, the vast majority sell through the auction process. New buyers can feel like they are missing out and being blown out of the water on auction day, when in reality that property was never going to sell for the price the agent told them.
Your best bet is to do your research and find what comparable properties have been selling for in the past six months. That means properties that are similar in terms of age, land component, overall condition and size.
Get Proactive
While many properties do sell on auction day, there are a lot that sell without ever hitting the market.
If you’re waiting to check real estate portals to try and find your dream home, you’re already one step behind other savvy buyers.
It’s a good idea to go out and contact the leading agents in your area of interest and get on their buyer’s lists. That way you’ll be able to get access to many properties before they are officially listed online.
Many vendors are also open to accepting an early offer on the property. Vendors sell properties for many different reasons and if you can offer speed, that is often an enticing proposition for many. But you’ll need to know what a fair price for a property would be and also have a preapproval in place to give you the confidence to move forward.
While buying a property can feel overwhelming when markets are strong, it’s important to realise there are many things you can do to improve your odds of success. It all starts with getting a clear idea about your budget with the help of your mortgage broker and then going from there.
Are you currently in the market for a new property? Get a clear understanding of how much that property might be worth with our free property report.
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