Speak to Your Local BSPC Solicitor

BSPC’s member firms are well known and widely respected within their own areas of operation, in some instances for more than 100 years. Speak to your local BSPC solicitor and use his or her local knowledge to determine what you can realistically afford.

Contact a Solicitor

Tips & Advice For Buyers

Work Out The Finances

Buying a house invariably costs more than you think.  Before you start looking at properties, work out your finances and find out how much you can borrow, then only look at properties within your budget.  It helps to secure a ‘mortgage in principle’ subject to finding a suitable property.

Make a Second Viewing

Location is the number one selling point. Drive around the area and check out the nearest schools, shops and other facilities.  Always view properties in daylight as it makes spotting flaws easier.  If this isn’t possible, for instance during the winter months, try to make a second viewing at the weekend.

Ask Searching Questions

Don’t simply walk round a house and say nothing. Ask searching questions – how long has it been on the market/what renovations have been done/how old is the wiring/what are the neighbours like?

Try not to let colour schemes and décor that is not to your taste sway your decision.  If everything else about the house is right, re-decorating should not be an insurmountable obstacle.

Open doors and windows, look for peeling wallpaper and condensation on windows (possible damp), check water pressure, look at the roof and outside walls, look at the condition of neighbouring properties and consider resale potential, assuming that you won’t want to live in the property forever more.