The property market can be a dog eat dog world, but you can help yourself by becoming a very attractive buyer and we’re not talking in the looks department!
Read our top tips 6 for being a successful homebuying
Know what you want!
Do your research, know what sort of property you’d like and how much you can afford.
Become friends with the agents
There’s no need to invite them round for lunch or send lavish presents, but by popping into the estate agency so that they can put a face to the name and having a good chat with them about your requirements, yours might just be the first name that springs to mind when a matching property first comes to the market.
Be flexible
Flexibility in location and condition of the home can really open up a greater amount of properties to you. Maybe you’d ideally like a 4-bedroom house, but a 3 bedroom property comes to the market with the opportunity for a forth bedroom, £50k under your maximum budget – surely got to be worth a look?
Act fast
If you see the property you want to buy, don’t play it cool! You know the saying “you snooze, you lose”. Act fast, speak to the agent and get a bid in as soon as possible. Hopefully you’ll have a relationship with the agent and they’ll put you forward in a good light.
Have your mortgage agreed in principle
If you put an offer in and your mortgage has been agreed in principle by the lender, this puts you in a stronger position, because the seller knows that you can afford to buy the home.
Don’t insult the seller!
We all want a bargain, but going in with an excessively low offer to start with is not going to win the seller round. Remember it’s the seller’s home that your criticising or passing judgement on the value, so be fair.
