We understand that buying a property will likely be one of the biggest financial decisions you make.
While it’s really tempting to jump onto the property portals, there are a few suggestions we’d recommend initially.
We understand that buying a property will likely be one of the biggest financial decisions you make.
While it’s really tempting to jump onto the property portals, there are a few suggestions we’d recommend initially.
If there are specific areas in York you know you’d rather leave then that you’re a significant way towards getting a property that’s right for you. If you are looking to relocate to the area, why not come and pay York a visit. You can stay in one of our Holiday Lets (click here for more information). This way you can have a good walk around different areas of York and figure out what’s right for you (we find South Bank, Bootham and Fulford to be cracking areas to live!).
The next step is to figure out what you can afford to buy. This will really depend on your personal circumstances eg annual salary, if you are in full time employment or self-employed, the amount of deposit you are putting down.
We’d recommend speaking with a mortgage broker as opposed to going directly to your bank or building society as you are more than likely going to get a more preferential rate with a broker.
Mortgage brokers work with lenders providing them business ‘en mass’ so due to economies of scale their rates are generally more competitive. At Churchills we work with Mortgage Solutions York who have saved many of our clients £100’s per month. More details about them can be found here.
Once you’ve spoken with a Mortgage Broker you should then have a pretty good idea as to what you can afford up to.
Now comes the fun part, finding your property. There are a number of methods you will want to adopt on your property search. Firstly, you will want to subscribe to updates from property portals such as Rightmove and Zoopla. This allows you to see properties that match your criteria as soon as they are marketed by an agent.
Secondly we recommend calling all agents in the York area to register your requirements so as soon as a property comes on the market you are made aware.
When you’ve viewed a property you would like to buy you need to put in an offer to the agent which will be passed on to the seller.
What may influence a sellers acceptance of your offer is how proceed-able you are i.e. whether you are buying outright for cash or with a mortgage, how quickly you intend on buying the property and the amount you are prepared to offer.
If your offer is accepted the next step is to make sure you have a solicitor who can assist you in the conveyancing process. If you are unsure as to whom to use, then please let us know and we can recommend some noteworthy options.
As part of the conveyancing process we would strongly recommend getting a survey carried out on the property you wish to buy.
There are a number of different surveys that can be undertaken :
We have ‘in house’ solicitors who can assist you in the buying and selling process. Our conveyancers work on a no completion-no fee basis. For details of fees or further information
When it comes to moving there are a number of things you will need to ensure are done. We’d recommend writing a to do list of tasks to complete such as: