3 Simple Ways You Can Secure Your Home Sweet Home*

*This is a collaborative post*

If you’re a seasoned renter, there comes a time when you become sick and tired of lining your landlord’s pockets and seeing no return or investment of your own. Although you want to put down roots and begin planning for the future, you may feel that you can’t afford to take the first step onto the housing ladder. You might be wrong. You may have minimal savings, have a touch more debt than you would like and have no idea of how to navigate the home buying process, but this doesn’t mean you can’t secure your footing on the property ladder. Take a look at these three simple ways that will have you settling into your home sweet home.

Prepare

You decide one night as you’re lying in bed scrolling through your Facebook feed that you are going to buy a house. Months of planning goes into purchasing your humble abode. Firstly, you need to get all of your financial ducks in a row before you contact a solicitor or mortgage lender. It’s vital that you have a solid three or four months without venturing into your overdraft to show any financial institution that you can manage your money responsibly.

If you take a look at your monetary situation and you have a CCJ and a default on your credit card, you need to head to fixmy.credit to read up on how you can repair your credit rating in the quickest time. Examine your debts and consider consolidating them or making a real push to clear them. The more buoyant you are financially, the more likely it is that you will secure the mortgage you need.

Viewing

Don’t be seduced by oak floorboards, a designer sofa and the smell of baking bread as you view houses. Of course, you need to fall in love with a pad, but you also need to think with a clear head. Check out the property market for the area in which your keen on buying at zoopla.co.uk and ensure you never pay over the odds for a dwelling no matter how much you adore it. Take a tape measure, visualise yourself living in the space and consider practicalities such as main roads, garden space and configuration of rooms. Don’t rush your decision and view a home two, three or four times before making an offer.

Expectations

Remember that this is only your first tentative step onto the housing ladder. You won’t be purchasing your dream home, merely a stepping stone that will see you on your way there. Even if you are purchasing a one bed flat with no garden space and minimal square footage, you can still add value to the property by adding a new kitchen, upgrading the bathroom or giving the windows an overhaul. With your own little piece of bricks and mortar, you can see a return on your investment.

Buying a home can be a stressful and frustrating process. However, if you follow these three simple steps, you can make sure that your time as a seasoned renter will morph into that of a happy and proud homeowner.

*Contributed by Sam Jones. Photos via Pexels

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