Hunting for a House: Top Tips

• Finding the perfect house is all about knowing your priorities and order of compromise.
• Making a winning offer starts before you even start house hunting, with your mortgage in principle.
• If you're struggling with serious competition, you may be able to catch a property before it comes on the market.

Hunting for a house is an exciting time! You're ready to move on to the next chapter of your life and start visualising yourself in a new space.

In the ever-evolving housing market, you've got fluctuating prices, changing trends, and unpredictable mortgage rates to contend with, so finding your dream home takes extra planning and strategy.

House-hunting tips for preparation

• Get a Mortgage in Principle (MIP)

  This is a preliminary (non-binding) agreement from your lender which gives a rough idea of what you can borrow to buy. It will enable you to budget for buying a property and sellers won't take your offer seriously without one unless you're a cash buyer.



• Set a realistic budget

  Your MIP will help with this, but you need to make sure you factor in the other expenses, including SDLT, conveyancing fees, disbursements, surveys, removals, insurance, redecorating/furnishing costs etc. Don't shop at the limit of your budget, you'll need some contingency funds for inevitable unforeseen expenses.



• Include properties 5-10% over budget in your search

  You may find an overpriced property which you can negotiate down to meet your price bracket, especially in a difficult market. A recent study highlighted in The Guardian in 2023 reported that more than 36 per cent of properties for sale have had their asking price reduced at least once, which is the highest level since January 2011.



• Work out your priorities

  Before you start looking, you need to decide what your 'dealbreakers' are and what you're willing to compromise on. For example, can you live without a garden? Do you need to be within walking distance of a gym, supermarket, school, or a major train station? Do you need to prioritise off-road parking, renovation possibilities, or quality of light?



• Register your interest with multiple agents

  Monitor the market in the areas you're interested in and be aware of how quickly they're moving. Register your interest with multiple estate agents and call around regularly to ensure you're at the top of their minds when an interesting property becomes available. This means you can find out up to two weeks before a property is listed online. Find out more on the right questions to ask an estate agent when buying.



• Instruct your solicitor

  While you don't have to have a solicitor until your offer is accepted, having one instructed and ready to go when you are can make all the difference when your sellers want to move fast. Compare reviews and quotes and consider having a solicitor ready to get the transaction underway immediately, especially if you are a first-time buyer and not bound by an onward chain.

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How house hunters should handle viewings

• Prioritise location

  Your neighbourhood is likely more important to you than the property itself. Choose locations which tick your boxes as you might end up unhappy in a good house in a bad location. You want to visit at different times of the day to get a feel for the early morning traffic, the daytime hustle and bustle, and the late-night noise complaints. Check out the local high street and ask yourself if you could be happy here. Read more in our article on neighbourhood safety.



• Open your mind to potential

  Most homebuyers make changes when they move in. Look past the seller's décor if not to your taste, or the poorly selected bedding plants in the front garden. Focus on 'good bones', imagine the house stripped back of its cosmetic quirks and decorated with your own, superior style. Take note of attics, basements, or outbuildings for conversion which may increase the value of your investment and give you room to grow.



• Attend viewings

  Walking through the house in person is the best way to get a sense of space, light and 'vibe'. It also presents a wonderful opportunity to ask the seller or agent questions, which will help you decide on an offer, for example:
  • How long has the house been on the market?
  • How many viewings/offers has it had?
  • When was it last rewired/When was the boiler last replaced?
  • Why are the owners moving? How quickly do they want to sell? Is there a chain?
  • Are there any problems with subsidence? damp? neighbours?

• The negotiation starts at the viewing

  You've probably been warned not to be overly eager, as it can reduce your negotiating power. However, you do want to show your interest. Complimenting aspects of the property you appreciate can show the seller that you are a serious buyer and help you stand out when they are reviewing offers.



• Factor in hidden costs

  Keep an eye out for things that will add to your costs. Much of this will be revealed in a home survey, but if you have a savvy eye, you may be able to pre-empt some of these and factor them into your initial offer. For example:
  • Is there moisture between the panes of glass in the double glazing? Heating costs will be higher until someone reglazes the windows.
  • Is there a draft around chimneys, doors or skirting? This may indicate poor insulation and higher heating costs or remedial costs.
  • Is the house finished in high maintenance materials? You may be saddled with expensive ongoing upkeep.

Are you feeling stressed about buying a house?

How To Buy A House Without Killing Anyone could be the difference between every mover’s dream, buying and moving into your new home stress free, or, stress, missed deadlines, legal disasters, building defects, and possibly the collapse of the whole transaction. (Costing you a small fortune, a head full of grey hairs, and, driving you to threaten the life of your solicitor, lender, co-owners, family, partner, or some combination of all five).

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Winning the house hunt - when you've found your next home

• Be realistic about maintenance

  The white lino in the kitchen and the manicured walkway through the garden might look appealing now, but is this house going to be too demanding on your time? Don't waste your money on assets you can't realistically upkeep.



• Make a winning offer

  When the hunt is almost over and you're preparing for the pounce, be sure to read our article on How to make a winning offer. Use our tool to calculate the value of the property. You can then under or over-offer depending on the market and how badly you want this property.



• Don't skip the survey and searches

  As soon as your offer is accepted, order your survey and searches. However, it's best to hold off until the whole chain is in place, so as not to waste money on a survey while there's still a good chance for the transaction to fall through (particularly on larger chains). If you choose us to handle your conveyancing, your SAM Conveyancing executive will monitor the progress of your purchase and prompt you when it's time to get these underway.



• Find your council tax rate and research utility companies

  The property's council tax band can be found on the local council's website. Additionally, you will need to manage the electric, gas, water, and internet utility providers.



• Don't stop looking until you exchange contracts

  Anything can happen along the way so keep your eyes peeled in case a better property comes up. Plus, if you lose your first choice, it helps to have a fallback ready to go.

16% of homeowners discover defects

In our recent survey, 16% of homeowners found defects; including 2% who were able to pull out of a bad purchase, 7% who were able to negotiate a better price, and sadly, 7% of homeowners who did not get a survey and discovered defects after the purchase.

12 of the 39 who remembered how much these defects cost to remedy spent over £5,000

Don't burn your money, book a survey.

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