Buying A Property

In the past couple of years the property sector has boomed and has become one of the most lucrative field and rapidly growing markets. A huge number of manufacturers, producers, consultancy companies, finance companies and international funds have got increasingly involved into the field of property, either through joint ventures or independently buying and developing different kinds of properties. There are a number of ways in which you can look for buying a property. These include via estate agents, looking in local newspapers with pages dedicated to the property sector, directly contacting house building companies and surfing on the internet.

Before buying a property you must first ascertain your affordability with respect to how much you have saved and how much more u need to borrow. You will also have to account for the additional costs associated in buying a property which includes your monthly outgoings, fees in case of using estate agents, charges like survey fees, valuation fees, Stamp Duty Land Tax, land registry fee, local authority search fees, the buyer’s solicitor’s costs, insurance costs, VAT, any outstanding bills to be settled like gas and electricity.

A property can be either freehold or leasehold. In the case of freehold property, the land on which the property is built is part of the sale and you don’t have to pay for any ground rent or service charge. I case of a leasehold property, the land on which the property is built is not part of the sale and requires you to pay ground rent to the owner of the land.

A very important part of purchasing a house is documentation. An exhaustive and indicative checklist of documents needs to be verified before acquiring a house. These documents are also required by banks before they sanction a home loan. Another important point of concern is to find whether the property is under any disputed land, or in case of a house whether the property is into any kind of family dispute. If you are buying the property directly from a builder you need to look at the proven record and reputation of the developer.