What You Should Take Into Account Before Buying a House or Apartment

For us it is very important that our clients successfully choose the flat or house of their dreams. Buying a home is undoubtedly one of the most important and thoughtful decisions of our life and encompasses many aspects. In this context, it is normal that you have many fears, since buying a home means investing the savings of a lifetime to obtain a more satisfactory future. That is why, in this post we will help you not to miss any point to take into account before buying a flat and what things you should know before buying a flat.

Before buying a house you should take two things into account:

• That you will have to go to visit homes and that is where you should pay attention to what to check when buying a house, among which we highlight the correct operation of the devices that they leave at your disposal (if it is a second-hand home).
• That all the seller's papers are in order . You should be very attentive to this aspect, since it is the most important step and will mean signing and having a new house or not.

What is essential to know before buying a house?

If you are here it is because you have no idea what aspects you should look at before buying a flat. There are many and it is easy to forget one along the way. So, now yes, we are going to show you the things to consider when buying a house:

1. Define the price you want to spend: this is the first step you must take before buying a flat. Ideally, the money you spend on buying your home should be around 35% of your monthly income. To this add the savings you have.

2. Determine the payment method:  once you determine the budget that you are going to use to buy a house, the next thing is to think about how you are going to pay for it. You can do it in cash (pay the entire price of the house at once by means of a bank check), by means of a mortgage loan (you will have to speak with your bank to specify the terms in which to return the mortgage loan) or by means of mortgage subrogation (change of ownership of the mortgage debtor (in this way, the buyer continues to pay the remainder of the seller's mortgage).

3. Decide the type of home where you want to go to live: ask yourself if you want a newly built home, a second-hand one or a protected home (this has a cheaper price than the one on the market and is intended for those sectors of the population with economic difficulties. For this you must meet a series of personal and financial requirements).

4. Decide the location where you want your new home to be located: If you want it to be central, close to public transport, hospitals, schools or your work ...

5. Choose your seller:  once you know how much you want to spend and where you want to live, your search will be more precise and easier. The next point is to decide who you want to buy it from. For this you have several options: individuals (with these, the negotiation will be more agile and accurate) through Internet portals, real estate (with a real estate you make sure you have an advisor to accompany you in the purchase process), promoters (with them you you insure a new home but many times you have to buy off plan, and with this you can have uncertainty about the correct completion of the house) or banks.

6. Make a visit to the bank: you must check the conditions of the mortgage loan for a new home or have the bank's acceptance for the mortgage subrogation. As a buyer, you are not obliged to carry out the subrogation, you can request a new mortgage.

7. Make visits : now comes the visit process. You will have to inspect the entire community, in addition to the apartment you want to buy. We advise you to bring someone close to you during the visitation process, who will help you and both of you can take notes. In addition to this, you can ask the questions you need to the neighbors, who will be the best advisers in that regard.

8. Make an economic offer: once you have opted for a type of home, you must give way to negotiation. This depends on each autonomous community, but normally buyers usually ask for a discount that ranges from 10% to 30%. This does not imply that the seller agrees.

9. Sign the deposit contract: this refers to an economic "signal" before completing the payment of the house. In this, if the buyer cancels it, he will lose the signal given and if he does so the seller will have to pay buyer twice what the buyer contributed.

10. Sign the deed: what you should know before buying a flat is that this operation is reliable, both parties attest that they agree with what they sign. This deed provides legal security by verifying that the aspects contained in the document comply with the law.

11. Expenses derived from the sale and purchase operation: you will know that you will not only have to bear the costs of paying for the home, but also add the notary fees that arise from this operation. If neither party agrees to anything, the contract will be according to law (according to the autonomous community). But in the private document, it will be specified what expenses will be assumed by the buyer and what the seller. It is prohibited by law that the buyer assumes expenses that the seller should bear.

12. Be clear about your rights as a buyer: know when you can enter your home. If it is a second-hand home, have the seller of the house provide you with the keys.

Aspects to review before formalizing the purchase

You may think that you already have enough with what we have told you, but before signing any document you must attend to the following aspects:

13. That all the papers are in order: before buying a flat you must make sure by means of the Simple Note (it is an informative document) that the owner of the house is the same one who is selling you the house.

14. Whether or not the home is free of mortgage charges. One of the things to keep in mind when buying a house is to know this fact well. Normally, the notary who accompanies the tenant and the lessor, is in charge of informing the buyer of all the information they need to know. At this point, the seller must either do everything possible to cancel the mortgage and be up to date with the payment or subtract the amount pending payment from the buyer from the sale price.

15. Before buying a house make sure that the quota of the community of neighbors is up to date of payment or if on the contrary there is any outstanding debt.

16. Another aspect that you should check when buying a house is to make sure that the electricity, water and gas bills are up to date.

17. Another thing that you should take into account when buying a flat is to ask for the certificate of habitability: if it is a property that is going to undergo a reform after the purchase, if it is a building in ruins or if it is going to be a local to a home.

18. Another aspect that you should check when buying a house is the proof of the last IBI receipt: knowing when you paid the Real Estate Tax.

19. Before buying a house, you should know whether or not the house has an Energy Efficiency certificate.

20. Another thing to keep in mind when buying a house is to see if the house has damage insurance against any accident.

21. Know if the house has a Building Book (it is a document signed by the construction company and the developer and provided by the property manager).

22. What you should look at when buying an apartment will also be the status of the Technical Inspection of buildings (It happens every 10 years in buildings with more than 20 years old).

23. Another thing you should know before buying a flat is if there are pending works to be done in the building: Know what has already been done and if there is any planned.

24. Knowing the rules of the neighborhood community (for example, if pets are allowed) is another aspect that must be taken into account when buying an apartment if this is something important to you.

25. Another thing you should look at when buying an apartment is, without a doubt, knowing the state of the plumbing and electricity in the home. This is that you check the pressure of the taps and make sure that the light box works correctly.

26. The minimum sale value established by the community: it is important that you take into account what the price is to know what will be the payment to be made in the Patrimonial Transfer Tax.

27. The most important aspect that you should take into account when buying an apartment is that the price of the house is defined exactly (do not pay for a price lower than the real price of the house) and in what way it will be paid (cash, check…).

Now you know all the aspects that you should assess before buying a flat. However, you may find yourself overwhelmed by the number of legal issues and papers that need to be addressed. From Finance of Home Mortgages, we propose an easier option. You choose the house of your dreams from our catalog of apartments and we will sell it to you with the most complete certifications on the market, taking care of all the paperwork. And, as if that were not enough, we give you a year of home insurance. We help you achieve your purpose quickly, easily and transparently so that your only concern is to decorate the favorite corner of your new home.