Navigating the housing market can be pretty scary for first-time buyers, in fact, it can be pretty scary even if you’ve bought a house before.
There are plenty of pitfalls that you can fall into, even if you think you’re pretty well-informed.
However, there are a whole host of new technologies that are aiming to make it easier than ever to get your foot on the property ladder and buy the house of your dreams.
If you’re concerned that you’d like to speed up the mortgage process, catch any of those snagging issues before the purchase goes through, or spot any trees that might cause a problem before signing on the line, then you’ve come to the right place.
These innovative new pieces of technology will help to smooth out the buying process and make sure you’re getting a good deal for your money.
Blockchain Mortgages
There are all kinds of fascinating things coming from the world of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology at the moment, which you can click here to find out more about.
One of the most pertinent to new buyers though is the move to blockchain mortgages.
There aren’t as yet a lot of estate agents using these in the United States, but they’re beginning to take off in Europe and are slowly making their way overseas.
Blockchain mortgages are becoming popular because they remove some of the vulnerabilities of traditional mortgages.
As they’re stored on a ledger they can’t be lost or edited without the other party’s knowledge.
There can’t be fraud and there won’t be waiting times to get things signed and agreed.
As soon as a mortgage is agreed it can be shared with both parties via a blockchain, enabling transactions to happen more quickly.
Already Sweden has moved their entire land registry to a blockchain-based platform for exactly these reasons.
If you’re concerned about getting approved for a mortgage and moving quickly on the purchase of a house then a blockchain mortgage can offer you the opportunity to execute a smart contract quickly and safely, without the need for an expensive go-between.
Area Searches
Many people already have a good idea of where they would like to live.
It could be that your family has always lived there, it might be that you need to live a certain distance from your place of work, or it could be that you spent a whole load of time vacationing there and want to start the next chapter of your life in a place that you love.
Whatever the reason for searching for a house in a certain area, there could be aspects of this area that you might not be aware of when you begin the house hunt.
There are a handful of apps that allow you to find out important statistics about your chosen area, or if after learning about those statistics you change your mind, they can suggest new areas that more closely fit your criteria.
Trulia is a very user-friendly choice that provides maps of the neighborhoods that you’re interested in.
You can view a color-coded map of an area based on statistics such as how many banks or grocery stores are within a ten-minute walk or drive, how many excellent schools are nearby, what the crime statistics are, and even how many tornados have hit within the past fifty years.
Whilst some of this information might not be important to you, it’s still worth knowing about. When you come to sell your house, it could be a great selling point that it’s in the catchment area of a great local school.
Keeping Your Information Safe
Searching for a home can take months. There are so many things to consider and keeping all of those variables in your mind is almost impossible.
Thankfully, there’s an app that can help you out, in fact there are dozens, but we’ve found House Hunter to be particularly good.
You insert your criteria for a new home into the app and fill in the details for each of the homes you’re considering.
Using this information, the app will give each of your choices a grade based on how they will fulfill your own criteria.
As well as this you can add photographs, add your own notes, and single-click favorite homes that you particularly like.
Whilst this app doesn’t do the same kind of legwork as Trulia, it’s incredibly useful to have a dossier of information on each of your chosen houses in your pocket at any given moment.
It’s certainly a case of ‘the more you put in, the more you get out’ with this app, but with a decision as important as buying a home, you should be finding out plenty of information anyway.
Snagging Made Simple
One of the most daunting aspects of buying a new home is being absolutely sure that there isn’t anything wrong with it that could be very expensive to fix.
Whilst a good real estate agent should make you aware of any large pitfalls in the property, they aren’t contractually obliged to do so, meaning it pays to do your own research.
The team behind the BuildScan app have created a tool to help new home buyers ensure the property they’re paying for is built well.
Using this app you can inspect your own home, looking for snags as you go. The app will prompt you on common problems and offer you a place to store this information in case you need it at a later date.
If you’re buying a new home, then you can even collaborate with your builders to ensure that your snag list is satisfied before you move in.
Having this resource available to you might not be a complete replacement for a qualified building inspector, but it will give you the bare bones that you need to spot issues that you might otherwise have missed.
Plus, Buildscan is also free to use for new buyers, so there’s no reason not to give it a try.
