We all love looking at properties but if you are really determined to find the right place for you to buy/rent, you can save time, money and wasted effort by following our Belvoir Tunbridge Wells top tips.
There are a host of tools at your fingertips to make any property search more efficient whether you are looking for a property to rent or to buy.
1. Check out the floorplan first
We would recommend you look at the floorplan before you look at the property photos. You won’t be swayed by stylish furniture or gorgeous home accessories because you will focus purely on the practical i.e. are the rooms big enough for our requirements and is there a good flow to the rooms? Overall square metres should be shown on a good floorplan and will help you judge how the size of a property compares to your current home. Be sure to check whether the space of an internal garage or external store has been included for an accurate comparison.
Sadly not all agents offer a floorplan for rental properties like we do at Belvoir Tunbridge Wells and almost more frustrating, some have a floorplan with no dimensions on it! Don’t be afraid to call the agent and ask for indicative room sizes and an idea of layout as a tiny bedroom or a ground floor bedroom next to the kitchen might mean that a property advertised as a 3 bed for example is just a 2 bed to you.
2. Use Google Maps/Street View
Google maps and street view allow you to have a look around the neighbourhood from the comfort of your sofa! If a property price appears to be too good to be true, a look at the close vicinity might reveal why e.g. that towering phone mast next to the property. Is there a busy junction in front of the house or is it next to a busy pub? Maybe people park across the drive as they pull up for school pickup or the neighbour’s trees are huge and overhanging. It saves a wasted viewing where you would immediately dismiss the property for these reasons and then be left following the agent round making polite conversation but having written it off as an option.
3. Compare previous sold prices
Rightmove and Zoopla have a website whereby you can check sold prices in the area. You won’ t be able to see very recent property sales but there is usually sufficient data for the last year or two to provide a very clear view on whether the property you are looking at is reasonably priced. Be sure to use the facility to select sold prices for similar properties only e.g. select semi-detached or detached, terraced or bungalow, house, flat.
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices.html
https://www.zoopla.co.uk/house-prices/
4. Watch the virtual tour
A good virtual tour will give you a proper feel of the property – layout, light, storage etc. A big plus is that it can’t be manipulated unlike photos so if the photos appear to be a little ‘stretched’ (which is a silly agent ploy in any case, in our opinion, as clients are only disappointed at a viewing), you’ll have a much clearer idea of space and dimensions when you see the video. Watch the video more than once because you will spot something different in a second or third viewing and really have an idea of whether this might be the one for you before you view for real. Belvoir Tunbridge Wells have virtual tour videos for our rental properties as well as our sale properties and most agents have now started to do the same since Covid-19 lockdown. If you are a homeowner selling a property or a landlord looking to rent out your property and your agent doesn't offer virtual tours, consider moving to one who does.
5. Study the photos
Study the property photos with a critical eye. Try to see past the current occupant’s furnishings because they will take them away when they move. Look for areas that have been excluded from a photo and try to figure out if the agent may have done that deliberately e.g. if the garden can only be seen from one angle, is that because it is overlooked by a large block of flats on the other side? Google maps will help you with that as we said in Tip Two. When agents feature an internal room as the main picture it should automatically make you suspect that the house might not be particularly attractive although it could just be hard to photograph (because of the municipal car park in front perhaps!). Although we are all easily tempted by a beautifully presented property, or turned off by a tired interior it’s the overall number of rooms and their sizes that counts which is where the floorplan comes into it’s own alongside the photos which brings us nicely back to where we started with Tip One!
If you are considering renting out your property or selling, Belvoir Tunbridge Wells would love to talk to you about how we do business. Please call our experienced team on 01892 615333 and let us help you to get your next tenant or make your next move.
