Top 10 Tips To Find Your Dream Country Property

News at Fox Grant | 02/06/2015


1. Make Good Use Of Property Search Sites

Searching online for country property has never been easier. Rightmove and On The Market offer fantastic property search platforms. You can register your search criteria, compare the price of country properties, draw a search area, look at the location of the property through google maps and see detailed floorplans. You can even send any potential properties to friends or partners by the share facility.

 

2. Talk To Your Local Property Specialists

Building a good relationship with your agent can reap benefits. Local property specialists have a good knowledge of the local area and also know what's coming to market before it even reaches the property portals. If you are in the fortunate position of have nothing to sell and can see a property before it's even advertised you have a better chance of securing your dream property. Talk to Fox Grant today to start your property search.

 

3. Do Your Research

Find out what other houses in the area have sold for. This will give you a good benchmark and will show you how far your budget will stretch. There's nothing worse than drawing up a list of all your requirements to only find it isn't realistic against your budget in your chosen location. It's far better to have done your research on country property for sale and know what you would be willing to compromise on.

 

4. Check Out The Local Area

House buying is an expensive business. You want to make sure you are going to be happy in your new country property. Make sure you visit the area a number of times so that you get a real feel for it. Talk to the locals and visit the local shops, pubs, cafe's and restaurants. You will be able to build a picture of the area and a feeling of whether you will be happy there.

 

5. Make Notes & Take Photos When Viewing

It's easy to go and view a property and forget all the things you saw, size of rooms, garden etc. It's a good idea to take photos and notes, particularly noting anything you need to ask the vendor.

 

6. Research Planning Applications

It's good to know what's planned for the area and how the area might change. Searching local planning applications will give you a good idea of what's in the pipeline. It's also useful to see what shops are opening up. Waitrose and Starbucks are usually one of the first to move into an up and coming area. Speak to the local planning authority for further information.

 

7. Set Up Property Alerts

Call local agents or register on their websites for country property alerts. Also, register with Rightmove and On The Market. These alerts can be sent to your mobile phone or to your email. When you receive them act quickly because they will be going to a number of people and it?s good to get in there first.

 

8. How Saleable Will The Property Be When You Want To Move?

It's important to factor in how easy the country house you buy will be to sell when you decide to move on. If you buy in a good area, with accessible transport links and within close proximity to schools you should not have too much problem. Just remember that the things you compromise on may be off putting to others too and could mean the house takes longer to sell, e.g a small garden, close to a main road, near a mobile phone mast etc

 

9. View The Property More Than Once

It may sound obvious, but it's strongly advisable to view a property more than once before placing an offer. The first time you look at the property it is very easy to overlook the condition or even the size of the property. It is also good to see the property at different times of the day. You may find the area is considerably more busy at school pick up time or during rush hour.

 

10. Check for Risk of Flooding

One thing to remember about living in the country is that severe winters can take their toll. As well as the risk of snow on country roads, flooding is becoming a real problem and can have a knock on effect to your insurance.

It is well worth checking the environment agency website. Fox Grant have a vast array of country houses, village properties, equestrian smallholdings and tourism and leisure businesses for sale. Start your search with Fox Grant today.