September: the right time to relaunch your property project!

During the summer period, you set aside your property project. The holidays may have given you time to reflect and take a step back on the property you are looking for. It is now with entirely new desires that you approach the autumn term. All the more so as the offers have certainly flourished since your last prospections. The best time to relaunch your searches!

Evaluating your property buying capacity

For your searches to be effective, you will need to organise yourself well and, above all else, a visit to your banker or to a mortgage broker is essential in order to know your budget. To do this, think about gathering together all the elements that will help determine your deposit. It is from this that your mortgage will derive. Without surprise, the higher your deposit, the lower the interest rate on your mortgage will be. Currently, rates are low, take advantage of it!

To read our article on the fall in mortgage rates, click here.

Establishing the location

You need to define your search zone with a primary zone and a secondary zone. Zone A will thus correspond to your ideal while Zone B will be the one for which you may possibly make concessions. The latter may, for example, better correspond to your budget but with a longer commute to your work, for instance. To determine the location as well as possible, also take your plans into account. Are you about to live together? Perhaps it would be wise to check that a school is located near the location you are targeting. Are you expecting a happy event? The nurseries and childminders in the area can be checked in advance.

Determining the type of property

Many types of property exist, it is for you to determine what you want. This is one of the first questions to ask yourself. When buying a plot of land, you need to check that it is buildable. If you want something built, think about the type: city centre apartment, village house, detached house, villa, etc., but also whether you plan to buy new or not. The cost of any work will then need to be included in your budget.

Defining your criteria

Several categories need to be delimited in order to make your searches effective and not to let a property slip through for the sake of a detail. On one hand, important criteria: the number of bedrooms, the presence of a garden, whether there are stairs or not. These are the essential elements for which you will make no concessions. On the other hand, desirable criteria: having several bathrooms, having a pool or having an open-plan kitchen. These are conditions that could tip the balance in favour of a property but which you may potentially forgo. Finally, accessory criteria such as the presence of a wine cellar or an electric gate are more about detail and should not influence your choice as they are quite feasible afterwards.

Organising your searches

First of all, you need to be market-aware thanks to all the tools available to you. There are online offers, easily accessible via the various agency websites. You also have the option of creating alerts which will save you a lot of time and enable you to be responsive. Specialised or not, newspapers can also be a way of finding a property. Some owners are not digitally focused and still prefer to go through this type of communication. Estate agencies will be able to inform and advise you directly in their offices. They have good knowledge of the area and will be able to guide you. Finally, you can use solicitors who know the property market very well and will be able, following a succession or divorce, to perhaps find the rare gem you are looking for.

Beware, be aware that when dealing direct with a private seller, you will need to devote more time to buying your property but also be more attentive to its possible defects. The administrative side represents an important part of the work to which you must be prepared if you do not go through a property professional.

Preparing your viewings

At this stage, you have already spotted a property that seems to match your criteria but beware, even if at first glance you are charmed, you must not leave anything to chance during your viewing. You will therefore need to check technical details first and foremost such as the insulation, the condition of the floors, walls and ceilings as well as the electrics. It is also essential to inspect the garden carefully. Finally, it is worthwhile to take a look around the neighbourhood if you do not know it well in order to soak up the atmosphere there.