What To Look For When Buying A House|Checklist for risk free buying

‘What to look for when buying a house-checklist for a risk free purchase’ is the foremost question that should come to your mind before you go for purchase of your house for the first time. Preparing a checklist before deciding on buying your house is, therefore, vital so that you do not end up with buying the property at the cost of your peace of mind.

The urge to own a house is etched in every middle class family's DNA as a security to the family. It can not be denied that investment in house property has all along given good returns over a long period. The decision to buy your own house, therefore, makes sense from family's security point of view. In fact it is one of the very few long term investments which have hands-on utility since the owner is going to reside in the house after owning the property. But there are five most important things one should know, which most of us overlook before finalizing our house buying decision.

In the light of slowly crumbling social structure everywhere, particularly in the developing countries, there are several important factors which need to be kept in mind while deciding on buying a house of your own. I am, therefore, going to suggest here a checklist detailing what to look for when buying a house. Checklist under reference contains five most important things you need to know before buying a house so that you can avoid any possible future complications with regard to owning the property.

1. What is the right time for buying a house?

The first and foremost point in the buying a house checklist is the time factor i.e. you must know the right time for buying your first house. Some people think that you should go for home purchase as soon as you are in a position to afford it. While deciding on buying a house most of you only tend to see whether the price of the property and the loan interest rates are within the manageable range. In fact, I have also stressed this point among others in my hub on useful mortgage information for cracking a good home mortgage deal. Apparently this seems logical but not always. Acquiring a house property means gaining security for the whole family. It is, therefore, considered prudent to take such a decision only after critical study of all the options to judge whether the intended investment in the property is going to yield good returns in the long run when you plan to sell the property. Your decision about buying a house should therefore, depend on whether you would be able to hold on to the property long enough to make it give you good return as an investment.

2. What is your Job status.

The second most vital point in the checklist for buying a house is to make assessment of your job status. A home loan provider critically examines the stability and consistency of his client’s professional front to gauge the extent of risk involved in providing the loan. The decisive factors for approval of the home loan by the lender are primarily the expenses and cash flow of the borrower. It is extremely difficult for the loan provider to comprehend the expenses of each applicant because the spending patterns are different from individual to individual. It is, therefore, desirable that you should make your own evaluation about the stability of your work profile and how much you can afford to spend on your home before applying for the loan for buying a house. After all even if your loan application is approved you need to be financially stable to make regular payments of the monthly repayment instalment. A financial burden which you can not bear easily will put immense stress on you and on your marriage which would rob you of your peace of mind.

3. Are you ready for the peripheral expenses?

The third factor in the checklist is to consider whether you are ready for bearing the peripheral expenses associated with buying a house. Apart from payment of the EMI (Equated Monthly Instalment) there are few other peripheral expenses which are to be incurred by you after finalization of the home loan deal. Some of these are service charges of real estate broker, if his service is utilized, legal expenses, property taxes, registration fees etc. You should, therefore, be in a position to incur these expenses after closing of the deal when occasion arises.

4. Assess your marital status.

Another most crucial point in the buying a house checklist that needs your attention is to assess your marital state of affairs since an unstable and disturbed marriage can never be an ideal situation for you to take the house buying decision. This needs to be assessed solely from financial point of view. While in a stable marital situation taking home loan jointly by the couples gives many advantages, in case of a troubled marriage the result can be ruinous since a broken marriage or separation may lead to major legal issues concerning repayment of the home loan instalments (EMI). Even in case you decide to buy the house with full down payment dispute regarding ownership of the property would become a major legal issue if the couples decide to break their relation.

5. Beware of culture conflict and look out for good neighbor.

The impact of sudden change in geographical location is also a major point to be considered under the buying a house checklist discussed in this post. Investing in property for the first time arbitrarily in a new geographical location without considering the possible cultural conflicts one may face in the new location may eventually turn the investment into a bad one. A feeling of isolation and dislocation can overpower a property buyer who settles in a location where he may find it hard to replicate the culture and way of life he is used to for a long time.

Becoming a house owner in an area having good next door neighbors like law enforcing officers, pre-Kindergarten through 12^th grade teachers, emergency medical service providers etc. can contribute a lot towards your happy and stress free living.

Conclusion

In conclusion I can say that buying a property is quite a big deal and even more so when you are going to buy your first house. My purpose of writing this article, which is to make you conscious about ‘what to look for when buying a house - checklist for taking a decision’, shall be fulfilled only if the checklist goes to help you in taking decision in owning your first dream house with full peace of mind and minimum risk.