Buying as home in Barnet, a quick guide
When it comes to buying a property in Barnet, things can easily mount up and get on top of you as there are so many different factors to think about. Following this simple guide will help you understand the process a little better and hopefully make you asks yourself questions you may not have thought of.Before you ju8mp in and start viewing dream houses, have a think about what you actually want and need out of the potential property.• What location do you want to move to?• How many bedrooms will your require and will you always need that many? Planning a family?• Do you need to be close to local amenities like shops or buses and train stations?• Will you require any parking at the property?• Have you considered the council tax rate for the area you wish to move to?• What style of house would you prefer, detached, semi-detached, mid-terrace, apartment? etc• What age you wish you property to be, old or new?• Do you want or need a garden?• How much funding do you have available?What you will want to do now is start viewing potential properties. The best way to do this today is online. You can find thousands of properties from almost all estate agents online; you will be able to view house specifications and photographs in seconds instead of waiting days for it to be posted out. You can usually book your viewing appointments online through the estate agent’s website. Before you get too excited and head over heels in love with a house, you will need to see how much capital you can get, assuming you don’t have the money to purchase outright.A mortgage lender is the company you will need for this; they will ask you many different questions and assess aspects of your finances and employment to provide you with an amount they are willing to lend. There are various types of mortgages you should be aware of:• You can have a fixed rate mortgages, this is where the interest on your payments is fixed for a set amount of time, this will usually be 2 – 5 years fixed.• A variable rate mortgage will track other rates and changes, usually on a monthly basis. This can mean you will see fluctuation in your payment amounts every month.• If you wish to lower your payments, you can have an interest only mortgage, this way you will only pay off the interest each month. Be aware though that this means you will not be paying any of the main balance off and so will never own the house.A mortgage lender will normally ask for searches and surveys to be completed on the proposed property before any funds are allocated or released. These searches must be carried out by a solicitor and qualified surveyor.You are also going to need a solicitor for the following tasks:• They will conducted searches on the property, access the deeds of ownership and make sure it’s worth the seller’s price tag.• They will draw up all the contracts required for the sale to be completed; they will also exchange these on the specified date.• They will handle all funds and transfer them to the seller when the sale is contracts are exchanged.When you have completed all these aspects, you will take owner ships of the property deeds and you will be able to collect the keys from the estate agent.