Before going a step further you should determine the specifics you want or need in a home. What are your day-to-day and future needs? Do you enjoy maintenance? Older houses have great charm, but may need updating while new homes offer the latest energy efficiency and design features and need less maintenance. Larger plots can give room for additions and swimming pools. Sit down with your real estate agent and discuss your wants and needs list. By knowing your price range, your agent can help you determine in which towns and neighborhoods you can start looking at. You may find that you are limited to where you look based on your situation, while you may notice that you have to prioritise on certain needs such as location and give up on others such as size depending on your price range.
Go to the different listing websites offered by estate agencies and search for properties to find out what prices homes are listed for in areas you are considering. The prices of property in the area should not necessarily mean or determine the price of the property you wish to purchase. However, it is always important to check what is available in the area and which price are these properties selling for. It is also important to compare the same property in different locations to see how your properties in your location compare to similar properties in other locations.
With a list of houses that you can afford to invest in, make an appointment with your real estate agent to view the interior of the ones you are interested in. After you have narrowed down your selection to a few, it is important to visit them at different times of the day. Visit them during the morning commute time. If you visit only during the middle of the day, you might not notice if the street in front of the home is noisy or not or which kind of neighbours live in the area. This is also a good time to find out how you emerge from your residential area into traffic on a thoroughfare or how long it takes to get to a certain point during rush hour. Go back after dark and walk around the block. You might notice that headlights from approaching traffic shine into the home or hear sounds from a nearby night club, street or neighbours that you were not aware of.
After viewing a number of homes, you will want to view a few of your choice for a second time. This is the time to take measurements, ask questions and carry out a closer inspection. Should you decide to make an offer, ask your agent for sales compromises to arrive at an offering price. A “seller’s market” or “buyer’s market” can have big effect on how much to offer. There is not much sense in making a low offer on a well-priced home in a seller’s market so one needs to be realistic.
Remember, investing in property is long term and although it is a very emotional experience one must always bear in mind that it is above all an Investment with a capital “I” and my advice to readers is: “Better buy a room in a good location than a castle in a bad one.”
Mr Busuttil is the managing director of Propertyline International and the President of the Federation of Estate Agents (FEA).