If you’ve ever felt this way, chances are you were a hopeful purchaser! Vendors obviously love a hot market with plenty of competition to drive up the price. But as a purchaser, you can feel like you’re on a roller coaster of emotions, never quite knowing if you’ll arrive at the house, and all the while paying for the whole experience.
You can’t control the property market, but there are some things you can do to help improve your situation, and to be ready to jump when the right property comes along. Consider the following:
- Get pre-approval for finance from your Bank. This tells you how much you can pay for a property. A mortgage broker can help you with this.
- If you’re a first-home buyer, find out how much you can withdraw from your KiwiSaver fund and the timeframe needed for the withdrawal.
- Do your homework on the area, and on the type of house you are looking at. Are there ongoing issues with similar cladding, structure, or property type?
- Can you get insurance?
- Have your building inspector ready.
Buying a property is a big investment. You still need to carry out due diligence in a hot market, even if it means you have a shorter timeframe to do that. Watch out for properties that have serious issues – you often see vendors trying to offload these during a hot market, when buyers aren’t so choosy. See us first before you sign an Agreement, and we can talk with you about the types of due diligence needed for your choice of property. We do not want to see you buying someone else’s problems.
By Jude Spicer | Director | (07) 571 7968 | jude@bchlaw.co.nz
The information contained in this article is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice on any subject matter.
