How to get your dream property when you are a self-employed.
How to successfully make the move into the housing market when you become your own boss? How to make the most of a unique employment status? Let’s see together the easy steps of getting your dream property and transforming the process into a positive experience.
Finding a new lovely home has to do with a well-planned strategy, wise choices, realistic expectations, enduring relationships of mutual value, the best professionals in the industry and the weighed investment. When having unlimited resources, anyone knows how to open doors and solve situations. But the art is to buy the right property with the right amount. Avoid contractors’ hassles they have had trying to arrange a mortgage. Instead, follow the advice from house-hunting experts and opt for investment solutions tailored to your unique needs as a Contractor.
- Visualization. Identify exactly what you want and define the area you’d like to live in.
Draw a mental image of the type of home that suits your personality. What home do you prefer? List the features you most want and identify which are necessities and which are extras. Be realistic and think long-term. How important is the home design, proximity to shopping, schools and other amenities? Take into account issues having a big impact on your quality of life. Think outside the box and envisage the potential of a property.
- Work wisely the local real estate and rental websites.
For many, the search of a home begins online. To find your property, you have to know how to search for one and be persistent in a search. Monitoring the Web for new listings on a regular basis is a key to success. Get a feeling for what is on the market in your price range by signing up for an alert service and visit a few open houses to see firsthand what you want. You need to adjust your agenda so you can see at least five-six properties. Check traffic and general activities by visiting properties you’re seriously interested in at various times of the day.
- Word of mouth is a powerful tool.
Surfing the web for listings is an activity that is, sometimes, exhausting. Tell acquaintances what you’re looking for. Friends and family members may have a great lead. Use your social media channels wisely.
- Make your good real estate agent your friend.
Stand head and shoulders above the other buyers by getting the agents on your side and making them your friends and saving precious time. If the agents like you they are more likely to find out what you want, they will represent you in the search and negotiation process. Submit your requirements and mortgage arrangements in writing. A lovely conversation will provide a comprehensive view of your case. Squeeze the agents for information and you will get the answers to a lot of questions like “How many offers have been made” and “What’s the lowest price they would accept.”
- Make a detailed forensic examination of the house
Don’t be shy to gather clues with your senses, by using online information, and signs available in the house. Test the systems and even the existing mobile phone signal in the house.
- Getting a mortgage as a Contractor
Broaden horizons, but narrow possibilities? Find a perfect mortgage specific to your contractor status. Hearing the word “mortgage” means stressful times, but getting a mortgage as a Contractor is easier today than it was some years ago. Mortgage lending takes account of the vast numbers of people who now work on short contracts or are classed as self-employed. Thanks to a specially negotiated Contract based underwriting, your mortgage will be based solely on your contract rate and what you actually earn rather than what the accounts of your limited company show.
Easily secure the same ‘High Street’ mortgages as a permie. Check the “10 step guide to buying your home using Contractor Mortgages.”
- The agreement in principle or How much you can borrow using a Contractor Mortgage?
The process of looking for properties can start only after you know how much you can borrow using a Contractor Mortgage. Working with an adviser is essential and can save your time, nerves, and resources.
Check before you start to work with an adviser if there are any payment for the services of the mortgage broker. Specialists like Contractor Financials, the specialist independent financial adviser for the UKs Freelancer community, will not to charge you for their advice. Great news: This can save you over £500.
Consider these eye-opening statistics: Contractor Financials are recognised as the leading IFA to the UKs Contractor community with over 11,000 clients and a team of over 30 advisers and support staff.
- Start the house hunting with ‘Buying Agent’ services.
As a freelance you are struggling to find the time to properly research the market. A ‘Buying Agent’ will source a property that fits with your needs and can help negotiate the price on your behalf. The usual ‘best buy tables’ found on the online property search tools are not ideal for a freelance, and the Buying Agent will do the extra homework. Check also the “10 step guide to buying your home using Contractor Mortgages”.
- Negotiation: what you can afford to pay and how much you believe the house is worth?
At this step, check what the house was previously bought for using websites. Find how urgent is vendors’ need to sell. To secure the mortgage you need, be flexible, but don’t increase your offer too much. Once you have agreed a purchase price for your future domain, you can kick start the mortgage application. After searches and building surveys are carried out on the property, your mortgage offer will be produced. Your dedicated mortgage assistant will be on hand to help manage the procedure.
- Deposit money and exchange contracts.
Normally around 10-20% of the purchase price will be requested as your deposit money. Now you agree a completion date and concentrate on the packing. The mortgage advance is requested and deeds transferred.
- The property is yours. You can focus on your contracts and your commitments.
You took all important first step towards buying a home. Once the purchase is completed, the estate agent will hand you the keys to your new home.
