Whether you’re buying your first ever property, a family home, investment property or retirement residence, there are many factors to consider.
Finance…
It is always best to establish how much you can afford to spend on your new home. Talk to your bank. Whether it is a mortgage broker or your bank manager, make sure you do your homework before you go and see them. Banks will want to know what you currently earn and a budget of what you currently spend. They will want to know that there is enough of a difference to be able to service your loan.
What are you wanting to achieve with your purchase?
It is worth figuring out and setting out your basic goals and priorities ahead of embarking on your property search. This can help guide which properties you consider and help you communicate to agents you encounter what it is you’re after.
It’s also important that anyone else who is buying the property along with you has similar ideas, such as a partner or ‘the bank of Mum and Dad’ if they are helping with funding.
What are your ‘must haves’ and what are you willing to compromise on? and Are all parties on the same page in terms of factors such as, for example, how long you’re likely to own the property you’ll buy?
Goals can always be revisited and tweaked during your property search. This especially applies for first home buyers or those new to an area, who may find looking at some actual properties in person helps them streamline their real-world priorities and trade-offs property purchasing can involve.
Getting in the know
If you’re clear on certain things, your path to buying will run considerably more smoothly.
Naturally, your budget is going to heavily influence which property you buy and you’ll want to have a solid idea of this through consulting experts such as mortgage brokers or banks rather than relying on assumptions. This includes understanding what is predicted to happen to interest rates and how this could influence your financial position in future.
There have been several legislative changes announced recently around rental properties which investment property purchasers will want to be au fait with on top of understanding rental prices and yields.
Those who are new to New Zealand naturally need to familiarise themselves with the rules around who can buy property in this country.
It’s advisable to familiarise yourself with information about the general nature of a suburb, its transport links, school zoning and likely future development or infrastructure changes.
While gathering all this information may initially seem daunting to some buyers, our team at Ray White Parnell will be able to help advise you about these matters.