What should you have in place when buying your first home?

If you’re fortunate enough to be purchasing your first home, first of all, congratulations, owning your own home is a great feeling! But there is a lot that needs to be completed before you’re able to exchange contracts and physically move into your brand-new home. We’ll cover some of the different things you’re going to have to consider when purchasing a property.

You will require a solicitor

A solicitor is a necessity when buying your new home, whether it is your first or third. Solicitors help with the documentation and contracts that need to be in place and complete, so it’s incredibly important that you find and work with a competent solicitor firm.

Make sure you do your research to find one that is happy to be working with you and not making things complicated and stretching it out for longer than they should be. If you go with the first solicitors you find or one of the cheapest possible, it will only increase the chance of professional negligence solicitor claims occurring. Research is key!

House surveys are a necessity!

Again, no matter whether it is your first or third home, you need to ensure that you get the necessary surveys completed on your potential home to see if there are any issues with the property.

There are a lot of different surveys that can be done on a property, and you absolutely should do them. They can help uncover any hidden or potential issues with the home, which in turn, can then allow you to negotiate the price more towards an appropriate number if the surveys highlight potential issues.

Boost your credit score

If you’re never had a credit card or a loan and paid it back appropriately, then you may struggle to have a credit score that is appropriate for a mortgage. You need to check your score before applying for the mortgage. There are plenty of online resources you can use to check them, and it is highly recommended.

If you do need to improve your credit score before applying for a mortgage, there are plenty of different ways to do this. Make sure you do the necessary research and then take the necessary steps to begin improving it.

Home insurance is advised

Prior to moving in, it is a necessity to ensure that you have the right home insurance in place as you want to cover any potential issues that could occur. Whether you want to look at contents insurance, which covers the contents of your home; for example, television, laptop, jewellery etc. or building insurance, which instead covers the structure of your home from things such as fires, storms, floods etc.

Though it’s optional, most mortgage providers do require you to have home insurance for a mortgage to be approved so go online and find the best deal you can.

As a potential new homeowner, these areas are a great place to start when buying your new home. Make sure you take all of these into account when making your way through the process. Yes, it can seem as though it takes forever but once it’s complete and you know you’ve got everything necessary in place, there’s nothing better than owning something that is yours.