It is a truly grown up affair when you begin house hunting, talking to mortgage brokers, reviewing your finances and think about spending hundreds of thousands of pounds. It is one of the biggest commitments of your life - greater than weddings and marriages which don't last forever these days, jobs which have a shelf life of 3 years on average and friends who grow up and get busy with families.
Like any major decisions, you need to do your homework, talk to as many people who have experience on it as possible, think carefully, don't be impulsive, assess the pros and cons and never ever be bullied or pressured by those horrible estate agents. They act like your best friend, and then they are your worst enemy, it is much like dating - they call, then they don't call.
Buying property in London is a minefield of terminology and scary as hell - gazumped - when you lose a few thousand and have nothing to show for it. There are lots of websites and books to help explain it all.
My favourite sites:
- the bbc mortgage calculator which tells you how much a mortgage will cost me and I can vary the interest rate to see how much it might end up hurting;
- zoopla for the sold prices - this gives you an indication of how much the property was ought for and how much property in the area has recently sold for. You can search by address or postcode.
- findaproperty - which sometimes is out-of-date but it has a good advanced search function and is faster that many real estate agent websites which are slow and not always great for navigation.
You might want to check these out:
- Show me the Money!
- Tips to Save Money on your Grocery Bill at the Supermarket
- How to be Frugal - Eating Out and Seeing the Real Londo
Like everything in life - you need to roll up your sleeves, work hard and find a little bit of luck. And just when you are about to give up, you never know what is around the corner. Happy house hunting!
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