Essential expenses when buying a home

When you are buying your first home there are always extra expenses that you need to be aware of so you can budget for them. Your estate agent will explain some of the details to you but here are a few things that you need to be aware of.

Survey

It is always advisable to have a survey carried out on a property when you have had an offer accepted. The survey will look at the structure of the property and provide you with information on any potential repairs that would need to be carried out. There are different levels of survey that you can have from a basic overview of the property to a full structural survey. The survey you decide to have will depend on the amount of information you might need. As an example, if the property has been empty for a long time and looks very run down, a full structural survey may be the best option, although the basic survey will identify any major problems such as subsidence.

Solicitors

The cost of conveyancing will vary from solicitor to solicitor. It is worth getting a few quotes from different firms to see how much they charge. It should be a set fee in most cases although there are some rare occasions when there may be additional costs, which would normally only happen if the process threw up a problem. Your real estate agent may recommend a few solicitors in the local area that they know have been used by other buyers that have purchased one of their properties in the past. You can then find one that you prefer from that list.

Magnus
Finding an agent to sell your home

Anyone who has tried to sell their home will know that a good estate agent is essential. They will be able to figure out which prospective buyers are serious and which ones are in a strong position to move quickly and when the offers start coming in for your home this information will be invaluable in helping you to decide which offer to accept. But how do you choose your real estate agent?

Fees

Every agent will charge a fee for selling your house. In some cases, this will be a flat fee and in other cases, it may be a percentage of the selling price. It is worth ringing a few estate agents to find out what their fees are. In all cases, as a seller, you need to make sure that you make as much money as possible on your home so that you can reinvest this into another property. An estate agent that charges a high fee would cut into that, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it isn’t worth paying. Why not read some reviews and find out how other sellers have fared with them?

Magnus