If you’re a buyer looking to buy a property in the Medway Towns right now then here’s some questions you should be asking when you’re out there viewing properties.

A good thing to know before you start is your monthly budget. So you’ve already taken into consideration your mortgage payments but what about how much it’s going to cost for you to run that particular property. Ask the estate agent or the owner how much the council tax is going to cost you a month, your electricity, your gas bills, your water bills. Then you can build that into the offer that you’re looking to make so you don’t over stretch yourself. You also you might be able to offer that little bit more if the running costs are nice and low.

Ask the owner why they are looking to sell or the estate agent why the owners are looking to sell. This will give you a good idea of how quickly they’re looking to move and also ask if the property is involved in a chain. The last thing you want to do is make an offer on a property that you think you can move in straight away and you find out that you’re going to have to wait for the chain to go through. Even if the property is empty that could also mean that the property is involved in a chain you just need to be making sure that you ask that question.

Find out how long the property has been on the market. If it’s just come onto the market then obviously the owners are probably going to really want to explore their options and give it time for the property to be exposed to the market. If it’s been on the market for that little bit longer then they may be more receptive to an offer that you make, so it’s important to know how long it’s been on the market for.

Not all work that’s been done on properties is evident so ask if there’s been any major works done to the property recently so things like a boiler, new radiators, anything done to the roof or guttering that might not be evident to you but it could be something that’s been done. It’s important to know or if it hasn’t been done then obviously you can bear that in mind in terms of the offer that you make.

Make sure to find out what’s included in the sale. When you go to view properties that are lived in you do see a lot of furniture there and that can sometimes influence your decision making but just remember when you get the keys it’s likely that you’re going to be walking into a completely empty property with walls and flooring so make sure to ask what’s included in the sale as you can build that into your offer negotiation. If they are going to be leaving a lot of things then obviously you can build that into your offer as well.

Lastly find out about the neighbours, not necessarily asking if there are any bad neighbours but find out what the general demographic is for the people who live there so if you’ve got young children yourself is there young children in the road as well obviously the children possibly can make friends and then you’ll know that it’s a safe family area as well.

I hope you found these tips helpful and if you do have any questions about buying or selling please call me on 07557783325.