Never rent! There are easy rules to follow to find your perfect house!

You can’t get rich renting. You can’t get rich renting. You can’t get rich renting.
If you rent for a lifetime then you will spend hundreds of thousands of pounds and end up exactly where you started – owning nothing. If you buy a house and pay down your mortgage you will eventually own a tangible asset. Unfortunately for us, Houses aren’t available for £99 down at your local IKEA. Most of us are going to need to take on debt in the form of a mortgage in order to make a house purchase. At the moment, due to the Credit Crunch, many people are seeing renting as a better alternative to taking on a mortgage, and who could blame them? Mortgage rates are the highest they have been for decades, large deposits are required – and what for? The house you buy is likely to be worth a lot less this time next year. Remember though that you can’t get rich renting! So how do you work your way through the maze and decide how much of a house is enough? Here are the easy rules I would follow:

· Visit www.rightmove.co.uk
· Search for properties for sale in your town.
· In the search filters only look at resale houses with 3 bedrooms and display with lowest prices first.
· Ignore properties in the worst two areas of town.
· Write down the first 3 properties you come across which are available with Off Road Parking.
· View all 3. Offer the same amount of money on all 3 (at least 10% less than list price). Work upwards until the first acceptance.

I recommend offering the same on all three houses because this is not a beauty contest. From the outset I would make my intentions clear to the Estate Agent. I would say something like, “I am interested not only in this property you have to offer Mr Estate Agent, but also another two with your competitors. I have no particular favourite – I just want one of them at the cheapest price possible”. I guarantee you that as soon as the Estate Agent knows that you are also looking elsewhere they will redouble their negotiation efforts with the vendor. If two agents come back at the same price then pick the one you prefer – thinking long term.
I guarantee you that in three quarters of the UK you will find a property available that fits within the above criteria at under £125,000.
Have a look at www.uncommonadvice.co.uk to find out how you can then go on to purchase that property and pay the mortgage off within 10 years.