7 House-Hunting Mistakes To Avoid When Moving
man and woman looking a new home

7 House-Hunting Mistakes To Avoid When Moving

Aug 30, 2019 Newcastle has emerged as an excellent option to settle down as it offers a city lifestyle without being as expensive as Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. A lot of people are looking for their dream house in this beautiful place that is packed with exquisite coastlines and stunning vineyards. However, house hunting is not as easy as you might think. People usually get carried away and make mistakes. Thus you need the right mindset and planning to find the best property without getting stressed. Before we explain the house-hunting errors, we need to solve the mystery – why is Newcastle grabbing all the attention among home buyers?

Why Should You Choose Newcastle For Buying A House?

The following reasons make it a perfect location to purchase a house. • This beautiful city in New South Wales has experienced stable growth over the past five years. • With its airport, university and top hospitals, this place is a self-contained coastal city with appropriate housing that is still reasonably priced in comparison to places like Sydney or Melbourne. • Apart from the airport and the North Coast railway line, the Sydney Newcastle Freeway, the New England Highway, and the Pacific Highway provide the connectivity it deserves. • The unemployment percentage is quite low and there is almost 50% price difference in c6omparison to Sydney. • Infrastructure-based projects worth $6.5 billion are underway or planned and almost $2 billion is invested in private projects. • The university is most likely to double the number of students, so the scope for better education is very bright.

The 7 Important House Hunting Mistakes to Avoid

Although it’s a great place to purchase a house and settle down, searching for a home can be challenging. People often find it difficult to search for their dream house within a limited budget and sometimes make a mistake due to desperation. Here is a list of house hunting mistakes you should avoid.

1. Delaying The House Hunting Procedure

The house-hunting process is a time-consuming, challenging, stressful and complicated process. Thus you should start it as soon as you get the moving date. Ideally, you should start this procedure at least six months before moving. Visiting different areas of the city, meeting numerous agents, discussing the amount etc. requires a lot of time. So, if you delay the process, you will find it challenging to find the right house at the right price. The moving process doesn’t end here. You also need to transfer the utilities, contact cleaning professions, hire removalists in Newcastle, and do other similar things.

2. Falling For The Decoration Of The House

The vendors often play smart and hire experts to decorate a house for selling. Proper placement of furniture and other decorations uplift the atmosphere in the house, and this leads to a higher price. So it is vital to understand their strategy and act smart. Inspect the home properly and look past the furniture and see if it has sufficient space or not. Also, have a look behind the cabinets to check if there are any power points or TV outlets where they have placed a big and attractive TV set. You should have a close look at the furniture and calculate it with the available space. Always remember that smaller items in a small area can make it look bigger.

3. Depending On The Vendor-Supplied Reports

You may think that you can save a few hundred dollars by using various reports supplied by the vendors such as Building inspection report, Pest inspection report and Survey report. But experts believe that depending on these reports can be a huge mistake because you don’t know precisely when they were created. So there is always a chance that the reports are out of date. Thus you don’t get an idea about issues that could have gotten worse or if there is any requirement for rectification work. When you are ready to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on buying a house, do not try to save a few hundred dollars more on something significant. Prepare your own independent report to see if a balcony has been enclosed without approval and whether you are allowed to extend your property in the future.

4. Overlooking The Significance Of A Budget

Once you have liked a particular house, it’s difficult to back off. You start dreaming about how you will utilise the space, decorate your home with expensive furniture and appliances, colours for the walls and set up of the overall property. However, if you don’t have a sufficient budget, you’re just disappointing yourself by imagining it as your home. This will only give you a feeling that you are settling for less than what you deserve, but that’s not true. To avoid the temptation of purchasing it and managing the amount somehow, it’s best to only look at homes that come within your price range. You cannot afford to spend more than what you have planned as you need to take care of other things like brokage, hiring removalists in Newcastle, cleaning professionals, and so on.

5. Getting Desperate To Buy A New House

House-hunting is a complicated process, so it is possible that sometimes you may not like a house, sometimes it will be out of your budget, and sometimes you will get outbid. And all these things can make you desperate to get into your house as the earliest. But always remember that this desperation can actually backfire and you may end up with a home that you don’t like and regret the purchase in the long run. And let’s not forget that the transaction amount to get rid of this house will be too costly. You’ll have to pay commission to an agent (5% to 6% of the total sale price) to get things done quickly. Also, consider the closing costs for the mortgage and the expense and hassle of hiring cleaning professionals and removalists in Newcastle yet again.

6. Neglecting The Major Flaws Of A House

If you have found your dream house, you might be tempted to neglect the major problems in that house. But before doing that, you should remember that it can be expensive, and challenging or even impossible to rectify it later. Thus, it is advisable you should carefully consider all the options you have before making your final move. If you are not confident enough, you should wait until you find a better option. Every day, new houses come in the market for sale. It is okay if it requires a little bit of repair work because more or less, every home needs some modifications before you move in. The problem is with major issues like water, power, dampness, etc. The repair and labour cost can be a considerable amount.

7. People Do Not Care About The Neighbourhood

When you look for a house, make sure you also spend some time to explore the surroundings of the property. Examine the area and see if it is clean enough and is there a playground nearby where the neighbourhood kids play. Check whether the cars reduce their speed on the street that your kids might cross every day. It is essential to get the answer to all these questions because the last thing you want is a spacious and beautiful home in a dreadful neighbourhood. Apart from this, spend some time to get a basic understanding of the community and ensure you are making the right decision. Notice whether the neighbourhood is active or quiet; whether it attracts singles or families; and whether neighbours are friendly or not. It is also crucial that you have sufficient space outside the house so that the removalists in Newcastle do not face any difficulty to unload your belongings. Check for restaurants, local shops, other amenities that are essential to you, as well as access to public transportation and freeways.

The Bottom Line

House hunting is more than just popping into a few open houses and choosing the one you like best. As a matter of fact, there’s a lot of thinking, planning, strategy and effort behind it. A smart house-hunting approach means you’ll not only save time, but also money and effort during the entire process. If you can avoid the mistakes mentioned here, you will find the right home in a hassle-free manner.