Finding a place to live can be a struggle, especially if you’re looking for your first home. House prices have never been higher, and few people are able to afford their own home anymore. Older generations had the luxury of both cheap housing and plenty of it, but younger generations find it almost impossible to afford a room to rent, let alone a whole house to buy. House-hunting is meant to be fun and exciting, but often it is now considered stressful and exhausting. Don’t worry though, with the help of companies like Hyde Homes, it’s dealt with as easily as possible. With their expertise and professional services, they have built new homes with a variety of designs in fantastic locations.
Luckily, there are a few things you can do to make the search a little easier. These simple tips and tricks should help you to find the home of your dreams at a price you can afford.
So, let’s learn more.
Renting vs. Buying
The first thing you need to establish is whether you will be renting or buying. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, so it’s important to consider all the options. Renting an apartment, for example, is much more affordable in the short-term than buying a house. Buying a house, on the other hand, is a much better investment long-term.
You should also remember that renting gives flexibility to move whenever you want as long as your contract has ended, whereas buying is more permanent and may mean you get stuck somewhere you don’t want to be for a long time. However, you have less flexibility to do as you please in a rented property, with rules restricting whether you can have pets, whether you can redecorate and even whether you can have a partner. Buying, on the other hand, allows you to do what you like.
Location
Where you live is going to make a big difference to your quality of life. Cities and large towns often have far more amenities like shops, clubs, restaurants, hospitals and schools and much better public transport, but they’re much more expensive and can be noisy, dirty, and claustrophobic. The houses are also much smaller, and large gardens are rare, if a house even has one at all. Small towns and rural areas, on the other hand, have relatively few amenities and can be isolated, but they’re much cheaper, quieter, and cleaner and there’s a lot more space.
Budget
Your budget will be your main restricting factor. It will determine whether you can rent or buy and will determine where you can afford to live too. It’s no good blowing your whole budget on a property you can only just afford, only to find that you can’t afford to shop locally or carry out home maintenance. To help determine what you can afford, write a list of must-haves and would-be-nice-to-haves. For example, if you have a large dog, it’s probably essential to live in a property with a garden or near a park. Therefore, you’ll need to factor this into your budget. If you have no pets, you could probably live without a garden or access to a park for a while.
Potential
Unless you can see into the future, you probably have no idea what you’re going to be up to in 10 years’ time. You may know what you might be up to short-term, however, so you should consider what your needs might be in a year and how they might be different to now. For example, you may currently be learning to drive, so you might need to consider looking at houses with driveways to park a car. Similarly, you might be pregnant or trying for a baby, so in about 9 months’ time you’re going to need another room to turn into a nursery. You might even be setting up your own business, in which case you’re going to need space for a home office. You may not need any of these things right now, but you need to look at properties with the potential to fit your future needs, otherwise you may find that you’ve spent a lot of money on a house that doesn’t work for you in two years’ time.
To Conclude
There’s so much to consider when looking for somewhere to live that, at times, it can feel overwhelming. However, if you break things down into manageable chunks, a picture of the type of place you should be looking for will start to emerge. Don’t get weighed down by little details like how pretty a front door is or the colour of the living room carpet. These things can be changed, so it’s more important to consider the bigger picture. Doing this will ensure you pick the perfect place and, hopefully, you’ll be able to live happily there for many years to come.
