A luxury home is one that is often made with the best materials money can buy and expertly finished with a designer’s touch. Typically much larger than most properties, a luxury home often provides every family member with more than adequate space, with several communal rooms designed for different purposes. There are also added extras that are not usually part of a normal property, making a luxury home even more luxurious.
If you’re looking to invest in one, whether it be your main or holiday home, here are our expert tips for finding the right one for you.
Know the Search
Understand that you are not looking for a typical property – you are looking for something unique in its own right, deserving of being classed as a luxury home. Just as the experts at Novus Homes state; a luxury home is a major investment. Therefore finding listings of properties online may not produce what you are searching for. This is because owners of luxury homes often want to maintain their privacy, meaning you have to differentiate your search methods. Many luxury homes will be for sale via more discrete measures, such as through the seller’s agent, instead of an estate agent.
Understand the Viewing
Although it is said a picture paints a thousand words, in the case of photos of luxury homes their beauty is not always accurately portrayed. Nor is the size of different aspects of the property truly reflected. It may be worth using Google Maps to further examine the location as well as to get a different perspective of how the home looks in its surrounding area. For instance, are there local amenities or will you need to travel by car to get to them?
Use the photos as a guide to the potential of the luxury home, noting the indoor rooms and any outside amenities on the property, itself. Use this as a precursor to an actual viewing because photographs enable you to hone in on what you want to specifically focus on when you’re physically at the luxury property to view it.
Use a Local Luxury Home Expert
This is an important tip. When looking for a luxury home in any area, you need to be advised by someone familiar with the location during all seasons as well as during any time of the day. This way, you will receive a more accurate picture of what it would be like to live in the area of your luxury home than someone who has no real knowledge of it. Furthermore, a local luxury home expert will have more access to luxury properties than you would have as a potential buyer. They would be able to advise whether the property is being sold at the right value concerning similar properties in the area. This would help you make an offer more favorable for yourself. They would also have more success at obtaining viewings on your behalf and would also be able to sell you as a serious buyer to sellers.
Select appropriate Property Professionals
As already stated, a luxury home is an investment and for it to potentially provide a good return, you need to ensure that it is worth its selling price. Particularly, it is safe and has no serious defects requiring immediate repair. This is where your home inspector and structural engineer are invaluable. The reports they provide can make the difference between being refused or accepted for a mortgage. However, both need to be experienced in inspecting properties in the luxury home market because inspecting a typical property is not the same.
Be Aware of the Location’s Future
This is where your local expert will also be of use because they will be able to tell you of any future plans concerning the location of the luxury home. With this knowledge, you will be able to decide whether the location is ideal for you. Particular things to be aware of is potential regeneration and planning permission. If you’re looking for a luxury home in a quiet area, the last thing you will want to discover after you’ve relocated there is planning permission has been granted for a holiday resort within walking distance to your home.
Have a Local Lender
Many large banks or financial institutions have challenges acquiring loan approval on the day when the closing sale occurs. Such delays can only make a stressful situation worse. You can avoid this by obtaining a pre-approved loan from a local mortgage broker. Select one that you trust. They will telephone the listing agent, directly, during the negotiation process to confirm details. This will enable a smooth transition of the sale of the luxury home, without any unnecessary delay.
Use a Good Lawyer
Hiring a good lawyer will help ensure the smooth acquisition of your luxury home. They should advise what requires paying, the purchasing procedure, and deal with any legal queries or disruption that arise. Knowing the law surrounding such an important purchase will ensure you do not break it. Although word of mouth is often a good way of finding a reputable lawyer, also look at firm reviews by their past clients, possibly even approaching your local law society to find a specialist lawyer.
Keep a Paper Trail
The more valuable the property, the more scrutiny of paperwork concerning the sale there will be. With this in mind, ensure all paperwork is kept in a safe place, preferably in some kind of order. In the event you will need to retrieve any of these documents, you will be easily able to do so, dealing with any related queries in a quick and hassle-free manner. Some sellers want to see proof of funds before entering into any agreement with a potential buyer so it may be worth having the appropriate documentation ready to avoid any delay.
A luxury home is something many of us aspire to own but only a few actually manage to achieve. Therefore it makes sense that the one we want meets all our needs. This means the search for such a home is very much a personal journey and one that needs to be done the right way to ensure it is unproblematic. Hiring professionals you can trust to help you along the way will help ensure this.