My first-time home buying experience!

I was 29 and wanted to buy a home! I did not have the faintest of idea of where to begin from. The first thought was to look for online property sites. With so many sites and most of them allowing brokers or dealers to promote properties, I was sceptical.   

I turned to my dad for advice. With years of experience he told me, “Know what your priorities are. Buy what you need and not what you want. And for that, you will have to choose between location and space.”

A home in a premium location would cost me more than a spacious house in a not-so-developed area. If I chose a spacious house over a premium location, I might sometimes miss the hustle-bustle of staying in the heart of the city.

With a slightly flexible ceiling limit for a budget home in mind, I did a bit of research for property sites marketing properties only from developers. I was particular about personally talking to the seller and also visiting the house before finalising on it. I looked into many websites and shortlisted homes from online property portals. I went on an endless site visit spree. At first, either the houses were out of my budget or I didn’t like them. With a few visits, I understood home-searching better and streamlined my search. I got better with finding a more suitable house.  

It was a long, tedious process but at the end of two whole months, I found the right house. I liked the layout of the house. It was a small 1 BHK apartment with an appealing layout. The house was close to my office too and I couldn’t ask for more. I already had plans running on my mind on how to decorate the interiors of the house!

Excited, I asked my dad to go with me and take a look at the house. He asked me if I did a background check on the property. I had totally overlooked this aspect of buying the house. With his guidance, I got the ownership of the property and legal documents verified and also did a background check on the property. With this, my home search ended and I bought the new house.

I was soon going to move-in to my new home, a comfort which many of us aim for in life- I had finally achieved it! With the help of online property sites and of course the guidance of my dad, Searching for and buying a home was an invaluable experience which I will cherish forever!