Some key considerations when buying a home.
Buying a home for the first time can be an exciting experience for anyone.
Even if you’ve bought a home in the past, the process of figuring out what you want can be thrilling.
However, it’s important to not get caught up in the rush.
There are many factors people forget to consider when buying a home.
1. Parking arrangements
Parking arrangements are particularly important to consider if you’re buying a home in a crowded area or an apartment in a busy city.
Your best option is to find a property that has a lock-up garage or at least shelter for your car.
This will contribute to a tonne of savings on your car insurance premium.
Many properties will have off-street parking available to you.
In these cases, you will want to check to make sure it’s actually easy to park in front of your potential new home.
You don’t want to end up having to park a long walk away after spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a mortgage.
2. Flight paths
People don’t tend to consider flight paths when buying a home.
However, if you’re sensitive to noise and vibrations, it’s crucial that you consider whether the properties you’re looking into are under a flight path.
You might want to chat with locals in the area to see how large of an issue it might be.
You’ll also want to see if the property is close to an airport, since aircraft engines are the loudest when they are taking off.
Sometimes, smaller airports or aerodromes are used to host circuit training that will likely create persistent noise.
Hence, you’ll want to be on the lookout for these as well.
3. Land size
If you’re looking into buying a home, you’ll want to be considering the size of the land itself rather than just the size of the building that sits on the land.
With Australia’s constantly growing population, land size will become more and more valuable as time goes on. This is particularly true in major cities.
Having lots of land has many benefits. For instance, you’ll have more room to create the outdoor living space of your dreams.
Whether you want to build a deck or install a pool, having land gives you more freedom.
You can also decide to extend your home or subdivide the land so that more properties can be built.
4. Phone coverage
Mobile phone coverage is a relatively easy factor to check but is still often forgotten.
Many suburbs around Australia have poor mobile phone coverage, making it frustrating to use your smartphone.
If you’re inspecting a house, be sure to make a phone call or try to load a webpage to see what the connection is like.
5. Crime rates
It’s vital that you don’t overlook local crime rates when buying a home.
Most importantly, a high crime rate can affect the quality of your life.
Though properties in high crime areas might be cheaper, safety for you and your family should always come first.
State crime statistics break down the levels of crime in different suburbs.
Even without considering the lifestyle factors influenced by crime rate, finding an area with low crime is also important for property prices.
When crime rates fall, property prices increase.
On top of this, high crime rates can make insurance premiums more expensive and even affect your mortgage prospects.
Ultimately, the process of buying a home can be long and complicated.
Even so, it’s important to remember the small things that will affect your lifestyle once you’ve moved in.
Consider whether or not you could actually live comfortably for a long period of time in the properties you’re looking at.
Guest author: James Pointon is a Commercial Manager at OpenAgent.com.au, an online agent comparison website helping Australians to sell, buy and own property.
Click here to find out how roller shutters can increase the value of your home.
Looking for inspiration? Check out Australian Outdoor Living’s inspiration gallery for tips and tricks to turning your backyard into a luxury outdoor space.
Australian Outdoor Living is passionate about helping people love their life outdoors. We offer a range of products, including:
- Outdoor blinds
- Artificial grass
- Roller shutters
- Concrete and fibreglass swimming pools
- Carports
- Timber decking
- Pergolas, verandah and patios
Have you been thinking about renovating your home? Fill out the free measure and quote form at the top of this article and a member of our dedicated sales team will be in touch.