Whether you are buying a new home for your growing family or looking for an asset to boost your income, buying a property should not be done impulsively.
There’s more to buying a home than location, location, location.
Suppose you want to get the best returns for your investment. In that case, you must conduct thorough research before making an offer to a property seller.
But how exactly do you do that? If you are keen on buying a property in Gold Coast or anywhere else, here are a few tips from Simply Gold Coast, Gold Coast’s most trusted property advisors.
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Before anything else, set a budget
Buying a property is one of those major life decisions that should not be taken lightly or left to chance.
But how exactly do you set a budget for a property? First, you have to determine what you can realistically afford, taking into account your current and future expenses.
And even if you are still in the initial stage of buying a home, you should strongly consider determining how much money you can afford to borrow from lending institutions. Fortunately, there are plenty of online home loan calculators that you can use for this task.
To give you a clearer picture of the financial impact of buying a property, consider using a cash flow tool. This online tool will provide you with a fair idea of the costs involved in keeping a property.
A budget comes in handy when several properties catch your attention, enabling you to make objective decisions.
However, there are instances where a great property comes along but is beyond your budget. In these cases, what should you do? Do your due diligence. The property may be well over the budget you set, but if such a property rarely becomes available, consider stretching your budget.
Research tips for Gold Coast property buyers
Once you have a fair idea of the amount you want to spend on a property, the next order of business is to research the properties currently available in the market.
Here are a few things that require special attention.
Check out the neighbourhood
Apart from researching obvious points like proximity to good schools, hospitals, availability of public transport, dig around deeper and find details about other establishments’ presence.
These include restaurants and cafes, gyms, and even community activities.
At this point, your goal is to have a clear snapshot of the community’s demographics. Plus, your research can prove invaluable should you wish to sell the property in the future.
Determine prevailing rental rates
Although you may want to invest in the property for your family’s use, having a clear idea of how much similar properties are rented out can also prove useful in the future, in case you want to rent out the property.
Make an apples-to-apples comparison
Do not ignore the other properties available in the real estate market, even if you have set your sights on a particular property.
In particular, look at other properties that are currently available and those that have been recently sold. As much as possible, these properties should be similar to the one you are eyeing to buy.
By making an apples-to-apples comparison, you’ll have a good idea if the property you want to buy is priced fairly or not.
To confirm your comparison, you might want to enlist the help of a real estate professional or a buyer’s agent.
Check the property’s history
When you invest a sizable sum of money, the last thing you want is to discover damages that are too costly to repair.
Before making an offer for the house, try to learn as much as you possibly can about it.
There are a few ways to go about this. For one, you can make inquiries with insurance companies. If the quotes you receive are consistently high, they may indicate that these institutions might be seeing potential risks.
If you are working with a buyers’ agent, he can dig around the home’s history. Specifically, he can check whether the house was sold recently, delisted, and then relisted again.
Taking the next step
If everything checks out and the property is a sure winner, the next step that you will need to do is to make an offer to the seller.
But what if you feel that something is amiss?
It is natural to feel a little hesitant, especially when making life-changing decisions, including buying a house.
But if you have done your best and everything checks out, you have to stop overthinking and make an offer.
It is also helpful to enlist the aid of a real estate professional who can offer objective insights. This professional can provide you with invaluable advice throughout the home buying process and allay any fears you might have.
At the end of the day, if you approach the process with an objective mindset and you are clear about your goals, there is not much that you have to fear.
