Naturally Healthy Parenting The parent's guide to a healthy family
Househunting can be very difficult, especially when you have a whole family to think about in the process. Finding a home that is suitable for not only yourself, but your partner and children is paramount for your well-being and happiness as a family. You need to find a good balance between the following 5 points to make sure you can do this effectively and be happy with your new home:
1. Is it Affordable?
Usually, mortgage lending principles state that you’re allowed to borrow up to 3 times your annual income. Couples could generally borrow 3 times the bigger salary and 1 times the smaller income, or 2 and a half times the joint salary. You may even be able to borrow more, but this could land you in financial trouble if you aren’t careful. Your repayments shouldn’t be more than 35-40% of your total monthly income, or you could struggle.
2. Is it Suitable?
If you’ve found somewhere you like and it’s in your price range, you need to weigh up a few points before making your decision.
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Is this place convenient for your work?
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Are your family and friends nearby?
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Are there suitable shops nearby?
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What other things are there to do in the area? E.g cinema, parks, etc.
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What is the parking like?
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Is the local school any good? Is it in the catchment area?
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Is there room for your family to grow? You don’t want to move again too soon!
3. Is the Location Right for You?
When you are choosing a home, location should be at the forefront of your decision-making process. You can renovate a property, but you can’t change where it is located. Evaluate not only the current look of the neighbourhood, but also what it may look like in the future. Once you have selected a location, you have two options: either buy land and build a new home (in which case you may want to check out this new home builder) or buy an existing home and move in with your family.
4. Is What You Want Available?
If you’ve worked out what you can afford, and included the cost of improving a property, you need to know that the kind of property you want is available in the area you want. You may have to compromise on certain likes and dislikes to get something suitable. Use many estate agents, like these estate agents in Bury St Edmunds, to conduct your search, as well as the newspaper and internet.
5. Is it Worth the Price?
You need to get a good idea of how much the properties you’re looking at are actually worth by comparing them to similar properties. However, there are many pages on the web that can help you out. You will also be able to see whether prices are rising or falling in the local area by doing the right research.
Consider the above 5 things when house hunting, and finding the perfect property for your family should be made a breeze. Let us know how you got on in the comments. Thanks for reading!
