No-one obsesses over property quite like the British, even though buying and selling a home can be a personal headache and a financial lucky-dip. British newspapers groan under the weight of property supplements; TV reports constantly track house prices; young people fret about getting on the property ladder, while established homeowners worry about how to increase the value of their home or the market crashing.
Buying a property is rarely straightforward and can be very time-consuming. There are numerous choices to make, from the style of building and location, to proximity to schools and other amenities. Most of all, there are plenty of opportunities to make the wrong decisions.
Selling your home is also fraught with stress; from deciding to move and evaluating your property’s worth to finding an estate agent and putting your home on the market, every step comes with it’s own difficulties. Plus the advent of the Home Information Packs has also created a new headache for potential vendors.
Buying and Selling a Home For Dummies, 2nd Edition covers everything from finding a property and getting a mortgage to preparing your home for sale and moving on. It is also one of the few guides to cover England, Wales and Northern Ireland as separate entitles from Scotland, and to cover the Scottish property market. This updated guide also contains coverage of HIPS (Home Information Packs), which were made compulsory in September 2007 and apply to all properties with three or more bedrooms.
Spis treści
Introduction 1
Part I: So You Want to Buy Your First Home? 7
Chapter 1: Why Getting Your Foot on the Property Ladder Is a Smart Move 9
Chapter 2: Deciding Whether You Can Afford to Buy and Getting the Timing Right 17
Chapter 3: Determining What You Want 25
Chapter 4: Dealing with Estate Agents 33
Part II: Finding the Right Property 41
Chapter 5: Handling Viewings 43
Chapter 6: Looks Are Everything: Period Homes 55
Chapter 7: New and Self-Build: No Previous Owners 73
Chapter 8: Renovating Wrecks: Property In Need of Work 93
Part III: Making an Offer and Finding the Readies 109
Chapter 9: Making an Offer: What Happens Next? 111
Chapter 10: Going, Going, Gone: Buying Property at Auction 127
Chapter 11: Getting a Mortgage 139
Chapter 12: Insurance: Ignore at Your Peril 169
Chapter 13: When Money’s Too Tight to Mention: Low Cost Routes to Homeownership 181
Part IV: Selling Your Home 189
Chapter 14: Deciding When It’s the Right Time to Sell Your Home 191
Chapter 15: Creating the Right First Impression 201
Chapter 16: Using a Pro to Sell Your Home: Getting the Most from Estate Agents 211
Chapter 17: Going It Alone: Selling Your Property Privately 223
Chapter 18: Negotiating a Successful Sale 243
Part V: The Legal Process of Buying and Selling 255
Chapter 19: Conveyancing for Buyers and Sellers in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland 257
Chapter 20: The Scottish House-Buying Process 277
Chapter 21: Selling Your Home in Scotland 289
Part VI: The Part of Tens 299
Chapter 22: Ten Things for a First-Time Homeowner to Do 301
Chapter 23: Ten Ways to Sell Your Home 307
Chapter 24: Ten Tips on Dealing with Estate Agents 313
Appendix: Resources 319
Index 325
O autorze
Melanie Bien is a property writer and a Director of Savills Private Finance. She is the author of the bestselling Renting Out Your Property For Dummies.
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