Whether you are a first time buyer or buying a second home as an investment, there are a number of things you should know before you commit to buying a property.
The first is obviously financial and this is can you afford it? An online mortgage calculator can give you a good idea of how much you can borrow, for how long and whether you can afford the repayments, and in the case of a buy to let mortgage calculator will give you a good idea of how much to set you rent to make repayments easy.
After this there are questions you should ask the estate agent about the property to make sure it is the right financial investment for you.
Ask how long the property has been on the market for. If it is a very long time you should ask the estate agent why that is. This will help you to identify potential problems with the house or area. If it is just simple maintenance or aesthetic reasons these can be fixed but if it is a severe problem with the area or neighbourhood you might be better looking for a property in another area.
Find out how much interest there is in the property to help you decide how quickly to put in an offer. But do your research as well as estate agents are not renowned for their honesty when trying to make a sale. Like with if a property has sat on the market for years, a lot of viewings with no real interest may indicate a problem with the property that once you have put down your money it will be difficult to get around.
Financially, try to find out what the utilities and council tax is like for the property and area. All of this will need to be paid up within the first few weeks of you moving into the property (or just owning it) so you will need to add it to your calculations. With utilities, if the prices are very high you may be able to switch to a cheaper provider before you move in to take advantage of lower rates and save yourself some money. If these costs are still too expensive you should seriously think about whether you can afford the property. if you cannot afford your mortgage repayments you may still lose the house.