+ How much can I afford? - How much can I afford?

Buying a house is, for most people, the single largest commitment they will ever make, so it is worth while taking the time to think about what you can afford before getting too involved with the search. After all, you don’t want to spend time searching out your ideally property only to have the disappointment when you realise you can’t really afford to buy it.

+ Getting a mortgage

- Getting a mortgage

Unless you have a large cash lump sum to buy the property outright, the chances are you will be looking to fund the purchase of your property, at least in part, using a mortgage.

Due to the credit crunch 100% mortgages are now a thing of the past. Typically you will now require a deposit of around 15% of the property’s value, leaving the mortgage company to lend you the other 85%.

There is a bewildering array of mortgage products and we work with several independent Mortgage Advisors who are able to offer free, no-obligation advice on those currently available in the market.

+ Locating your perfect property

- Locating your perfect property

There are several criteria you will need to consider when choosing your property:

• Location - For most people, location is by far the most important factor. For many properties, increasing the size, updating the look or increasing parking is simply a matter of time and money, location however is something you cannot change unless you move again, so it is worth while taking the time to establish if the property is in the area you want to live before even arranging a viewing.

• Size - When choosing your property, size really does matter. It is not just the number of bedrooms or specification of the kitchen but also the size of those rooms that you need to consider. We provide room descriptions, sizes, 2D and 3D floorplans to assist you with you search and limit the amount of time you will spend viewing potentially unsuitable properties.

• Viewings – Most of our viewings are accompanied and carried out between 8am to 8pm, 7 days for your convenience. Don’t forget to take a camera and tape measure with you so you can make your own record of that lovely en suite or measure the alcove to see if your sofa fits*.

*Accompanied viewings subject to staff availability and access (occupied properties especially). Permission may be required from the vendor before taking photos, please ask the agent or vendor before doing so.

+ Negotiating and making an offer

- Negotiating and making an offer

Having located the perfect property for you, it is time to make an offer. You will need to consider a variety of factors when doing so in order to achieve the right deal for you.

Remember that first time buyers, buyers with no chain, cash buyers or those who have pre-arranged mortgages may have a head start on most of the competition. If you are in this position, it is important that you let us know so we can advise the vendor accordingly as this might put you in a favourable negotiating position.

+ Conveyancing

- Conveyancing

This is the process of transferring the legal ownership of property or land from one person to another. We are able to assist with this too and work with some of the area’s most prominent law firms, seasoned professionals who are extremely competent yet competitively priced should you wish to employ their services.

+ Feedback

- Feedback

We will keep you posted as the progress of your purchase as soon as there is any sort of change or at least once every week, whichever is sooner.

What happens next?

Please take the time to view the properties on our website which are all available exclusively through Reades Residential.

Although we always keep our website up to date, we have new instructions coming on all the time. If you want to stay ahead of the competition, we suggest that you register with us and we will contact you as soon as we receive an instruction to make sure you are one of the first in to take a look.

Click to find out how best to contact us.

As an independent property agency, we pride ourselves on our discretion and ability to provide a completely confidential service. Reades Residential is registered with the information commissioner no.Z8533957; your data will be handled in accordance with Data Protection requirements and not discussed with or passed to any other persons or organisation outside of our company unless with your explicit permission.