words Al Woods
Buying a home is a famously stressful process; with lots of admin involved and a considerable amount of money being spent, this isn’t surprising. However, there are things you can do to help decrease your stress levels and try to enjoy the process.
Here are some useful ways to remove some of the stress of buying a home:
Be realistic
Buying a house can be particularly stressful if you overstretch yourself and take on too big of a project. It will be a much smoother process if you are realistic with both what you can afford and the scale of the project you are able to take on, as well as the timeline you have to work with.
Speaking with a mortgage advisor will help you to determine exactly how much you can afford based on the size of your deposit and your income. It is also then worth factoring in the hidden costs of moving house to help give yourself a better idea of how much you are going to be spending.
If you are a first-time buyer, or you don’t feel confident taking on a renovation project, then consider looking into new build homes. This could also be useful if you need somewhere that you can move into straight away.
Being realistic with these types of things means you are far less likely to feel overwhelmed later on in the process.
Document everything
Organisation is absolutely essential when purchasing a home. Dealing with estate agents, mortgage brokers, banks, solicitors, insurance companies, and moving firms, you are going to both receive and need to provide a considerable amount of information. This can be stressful, particularly if you are trying to move at speed and need to send the required information quickly.
The best way to avoid this stress is to make sure you document everything, right from the beginning of the process. Here are some of the best ways to organise house admin:
- Create a dedicated folder within your emails to help store all home-related emails in one place.
- Make a spreadsheet to track the homes you are viewing, including the address, time of viewing, asking price, and any questions you have about the property. If you are buying with someone else, make this a shared document so you can both make additions and edits.
- Purchase a box file to store any physical documents you might receive during the process, such as contracts or letters from your insurance provider.
- Request information ahead of time – once you have had an offer accepted and you have chosen your solicitors, ask them to send over details of everything they are going to require from you once checks have been carried out. This way, you can begin compiling all these documents, meaning you have them ready to send off as soon as they are required.
