First Time Buyers Guide
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CharltonOnLine.com is a trading name of Charlton Marketing and Development Ltd.
Your home may be re-possessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.
You should have learned, in the previous step, that property should not neccessarily be viewed as an investment. With this in mind, you should be defining exactly what it is you want from your home. Is it to be a place where you want to live for the foreseeable future? What do you need to satisfy your lifestyle? Are your circumstances likely to change? We hope the following will help you to consider your situation fully and help you reach the correct decision.
Property Type and Size
Step 1
Establishing your Property needs
Initially, this will probably appear obvious but as a home should be a longer term purchase, you need to look at how your circumstances will change over say a five year period and use this information to determine; how many bedrooms will you need? do you want a flat or a house? do you want a garden? do you need off street parking? do you need special access provisions. There are many such things to consider and you need to look at all of them.
Click on the symbol to take the next step
What could you borrow
Property Location
This is probably the most important decision, as location will influence your lifestyle and may have a bearing on the future resale value of your home when the time comes to move on. You need to consider ease of transport to your place of work, local facilities for shopping and entertainment, quality of schooling if you have children and everything else that will impact on your lifestyle. Don't be influenced to live somewhere unsuitable simply because you can get a better property for the same outlay. Remember, this is where you intend to live for the forseeable future and location is the all important factor for your future contentment.
New build or second hand property
Many people like the idea of having everything new, with nothing to do but move in and get on with life. Due to the current downturn, there are many "New Build" bargains to be had. Builders have too many unsold properties on their books and may be prepared to negotiate special discounts and incentive packages to tempt you. With older property, you have a much wider choice of location and many will have been extensively modernised by their previous owners. For those of you with basic skills and some imagination, there can be great scope to add value to an older property by upgrading its facilities or extending its living spaces.
Research
Whatever it is that you aspire to, do your homework by reading the local newspapers, talking to Estate Agents, visiting New Build developments and trying out your negotiating skills. Don't forget to look at local services, clubs, restaurants and travel links. At the end of this exercise, you should have a good idea of what you need and what it is likely to cost. You are now ready to move to step 2.
Last updated 15 March 2009
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