Finding the home of your dreams can sometimes feel like an impossible task, but it doesn’t need to be if you follow our helpful guide on how to find your perfect home.
How to Buy Your First Rental Property (And Start Your Future Empire!!)
You’re finally ready to start building your rental property empire! The Metropolitian property group is here to help. But where do you even begin? Luckily, we’ve put together a list of tips to help get you started on the right foot. Read on to learn more about how to buy your first rental property:
- Do Your Research – Before diving into rental properties, it’s essential to do your research and know what you’re getting yourself into. There are many moving parts to renting out a property, so it’s necessary to understand all the ins and outs before making any significant decisions.
- Find the Right Property – Not all properties are created equal, and there are a few things you’ll want to keep in mind when searching for the perfect rental property. First and foremost, you’ll want to find a property in a good location that is also affordable. Additionally, it’s essential to find a property that is in good condition and will require minimal repairs.
- Get Pre-Approved for a Mortgage – Before you start shopping around for properties, getting pre-approved for a mortgage is crucial. This will give you a better idea of how much you can afford to spend on a property and will help streamline the home-buying process.
- Hire a Property Manager – Once you’ve purchased your first rental property, it’s time to start thinking about hiring a property manager. A good property manager will be a tremendous asset and help you keep your property in good condition and rented out to qualified tenants.
- Be Prepared for the Unexpected – Even if you’ve done your research and taken all the necessary precautions, there’s always a chance that something could go wrong with your rental property. That’s why it’s crucial to have a solid emergency fund to cover unexpected repairs or expenses.
Write Down a List of Key Features
Firstly you will want to identify what sort of home you are hoping to find and the key features you would ideally like it to have. Is it the number of bedrooms? A nice garden, a garage, detached or semi detached? If you start by writing down a list of what you would like in your ideal home it will help you to form a starting point in your search. But do prepare to be open minded as well when it comes to viewing properties as you may come across one that you would not have considered simply by looking at the exterior or its location.
Sort Out Your Finances
Next you will need to identify what sort of budget you have to spend. How much realistically can you go over your budget and do you need to apply for a mortgage to help you cover the cost of your deposit? It’s a good idea to do an online search of what the average house prices are for the type of property you are looking to buy so that you will not be disheartened to find that you cannot afford to buy at the moment.
Contact an Estate Agent
Next you will want to get in contact with an estate agent who can help you to find your ideal property. They will have a good idea of what is available on the market and will be able to arrange viewings on properties that might not even be on the market yet due to their contacts. So it is certainly worth getting an estate agent to help you find the correct home you are looking for. They might also make suggestions on properties that you might not have even considered, so it is worth taking their advice.
Visit Various Properties
Try to visit several properties before you focus your attention on just the one. You might miss out on an even better property if you fixate on the first property that you see. So it’s good to be open minded about what you might find.
Imagine How You Will Turn It Into Your Own Home
Unless it’s a new build, It’s a good idea if you can try to envisage what the property will look like if you were to move in, compared to how the current owner has decorated it. Sometimes you need to have a bit of creativity and imagination to look past the current decor and imagine how you might decorate it or do some renovation work on it. Just because it doesn’t look like your home at the moment, doesn’t mean it won’t in future.
Get Your Property On The Market
Unless it is your first property that you are buying, you are likely to have a home of your own that you need to sell as well. In order to avoid any delays in the property chain you will want to find a suitable estate agent who will be listing your home on the property market. The sooner you can get this done, the more likely you are to get potential buyers coming round to visit your property.
After this it will be a case of finding the correct buyer who is willing to offer a suitable price for your property so that you can hopefully accept the offer. The more interest there is in your home the more likely you will have a chance of obtaining the asking price you are hoping for so that then you can get the process moving.
Be Prepared To Increase Your Offer
This is why it is a good idea to ensure you can be flexible with your finances before you begin the process as you may need to increase the offer you put in on your ideal property. This is likely to happen if you have competition from other buyers too, so if you are aware of this beforehand it won’t be a surprise if this does happen. As long as you can realistically afford the difference then it won’t be a problem. It would be very disappointing to find your perfect home only then to realise that you cannot afford the asking price that is required.
Have Your Paperwork Sorted
Make sure you have all your paperwork and documents that you need to be able to sell your house and make an offer on another. It will slow the process down a lot if you do not have all your paperwork ready for when the exchange of contracts takes place.
Start Organising Your Possessions
Once you have started visiting properties and have a better idea of property selections you are narrowing your choices down to, it will be a good idea to start organising your possessions. This will enable you to start sorting your things to decide what you need to take, what you can donate and what items you can sell. It takes a while to sort through an entire house when you have lived there for some time, so there is likely to be a lot of possessions. The sooner you begin this process the less stressful it will be.
Be Patient
It is unlikely to occur immediately, so be prepared to see quite a few properties and make a few compromises before you find the perfect home. You will not be as disappointed if you are realistic about how easy it will be, to be able to find the perfect home that you have dreamt of for so long.
Overall it can be quite a time consuming process but with determination, organisation and a little imagination you could find the property of your dreams to turn into a cosy home for you to enjoy.
