5 things I learnt when buying a house

LIFE UPDATE: I've moved out and bought a house with Ryan. 

You probably already know this, and if you didn't then you definitely are not up to date on our videos *tut tut* - or you just prefer our blog to our videos and fair enough, I guess honesty is the right policy. So for the past 3-4 months Ryan and I went on the crazy adventure or finding a property, trying to get a mortgage, trying to get the property and successfully buy the mortgage. And boy wasn't it a journey. Here are 5 things I learnt, and I thought i'd share.

1. When you look around that property with an estate agent look everywhere, I mean inside those kitchen cupboards, inside that wardrobe, under that rug on the floor, inspect those floors because there is a huge chance that they are hiding something. I mean I don't blame the sellers, they want to sell there property without having to spend a tonne of money on the place so they hide the problem... but just make sure you don't feel guilty looking around a property properly. It doesn't matter that an estate agent is watching you, this a very expensive purchase and you have a right to inspect it! 

2. You haggle on that price. If you had the opportunity to try and make a little bit extra on your property by being cheeky and putting the selling price up higher just incase, you would, right? I know I would! So don't for a second assume that the asking price is what the property is worth, or what you should be buying it for. If you are buying with your partner discuss the maximum you are willing to pay, start lower than that and keep making higher offers gradually until they accept or you can't go any higher. It's very rare for your first offer (if lower than asking price) to be accepted, in fact I'd be worried if that was the case, as they must be desperate to get rid of that property.

3. Buy things gradually. If you can, buy things before you move into your property gradually to spread the cost out. Moving into a house can be expensive - especially if this is your first time moving out. TKMAXX and HomeSense is a great place to look for some great deals and always look online for the best price first before buying in a shop. You'd be amazed at the price difference's online to in a shop or vice versa, For instance when buying our television for some reason it was £50 cheaper in store than online - do that research. 

4. Sofa's take ages to deliver. Who knew a sofa could take up to 12 weeks to be delivered/ made? Certainly not me. Don't do a Grace Mandeville and decide that it doesn't matter if you don't have a sofa for 6 weeks when you've moved in - It does. Sitting on the floor or in bed for the next 6 weeks in the evenings is not fun. If you can, order the sofa as soon as possible or choose a sofa that doesn't take so long to be made and delivered. 

5. This is your property and nobody else's, So have fun, do what you want to it, and don't let anyone else be too interfering (unless you have an uncle thats a builder like me, he can be as interfering as he wants)