When you finally manage to buy your own home, it can be an incredible weight off your shoulders.
Buying a property can be an incredibly lengthy process and it can also be very expensive. Whether you are moving from your parent’s home or you are leaving your rental property to move to your new house in Manchester, there are many things that you’ll need to sort out. To help you with this, we have put together a list of things to do before moving into your first home. This will include everything from choosing your own style to checking for issues. Read on to hear some of our ideas.
Choose Your Style
If this is your first home, you’ll probably be very excited to decorate it in your own unique style. This is your space to be creative and add some of your personality to, so it is important that you plan it out. Most homes that you buy won’t come with any furniture and might even have white walls that act as a blank canvas. You’ll need to make sure that you think about how you are going to decorate it and pick up some of the key pieces before you move in. These pieces include a bed, a wardrobe and essentials like a fridge and washing machine. Choose your style, use a mood board and get planning before you move in.
Sort the Bills
As a new homeowner, you will have the pleasure of paying for all of the bills. If you are moving into your new home with a few friends, a partner or even a family, you will be able to split these. If you are going it alone, you’ll need to spend a lot of money on your bills each month. This, on top of your mortgage and the council tax, which we’ll discuss next, will be hard to deal with. For this reason, it is important that you don’t forget to compare gas and electric deals before you move in. If you compare gas and electric, you can save a lot of money and find the right deal for you.
Set Up the Council Tax
After you move into your new home you will have to sort out council tax. This is something that you’ll want to sort out sooner rather than later so that you don’t get a large bill that will be tricky to pay.
In Manchester, there are a few different council tax bands that your property could be within. The bad news is that you can’t avoid paying this, but you can get some discounts if you are eligible. Make sure to look into this before paying it so that you don’t overspend.
Change the Locks
Something that many new homeowners fail to do involves changing the locks on their property. It can be easy to get excited when you get the keys and want to use them to move in right away. However, you will find that spare keys for your property could be out there and the previous owner might not have handed all of these over. While it is uncommon for them to come back and steal from you, changing the locks will offer you the peace of mind that you need. Find a local and reliable company to help change your locks quickly.
Check Everything
Finally, before you move into your brand new home, you should make sure that you check everything. It is possible that there are some factors that you hadn’t considered when you were buying the property but are immediately obvious to you now. You might find that if you alert the solicitor you used to these problems that they can arrange for the seller to deal with them before you move in. This isn’t always the case, but it is certainly worth trying out. When checking the property, look at the door handles, check for leaks and anything else that doesn’t seem right. Make a list and send it on to see if you can get any of it sorted quickly.
Get Started
Now that you have purchased your first home, you’ll be itching to get moved in and start living there as soon as possible. Make sure to take on board all of the tips that we have given you in this article and you will thank yourself later on. Remember to compare prices for energy providers and change those locks before the big move in day. Soon, your new home will feel like somewhere that you have lived in for many years.
