I need an idiots guide to buying......

[Toastandstrawberryjam]

am about to put my family home on the market and start looking for a house for just me and DC to live in. I've realised that I know nothing about what I should look for. I've lived in several houses with DH but he's always been the one to choose and had the knowledge of what to look for. So it's all new to me.

I have no idea what I should be looking out for in a property. How do I know if it's a good buy? I've viewed one house, on my own, and found it so difficult to have nobody to bounce thoughts about it off afterwards.

Any advice?

Meant to say I know the area I want so I do have at least that sorted!

Kirstie and Phil have a book/kindle called How to Buy a House, which is a good starting point. Obsessive watching of Location, Location, Location will give you some idea of how to set and prioritise criteria. Also, lurking on the support thread for buyers on this board will yield much information.

I too have faced this alone for the first time, can't say it hasn't been a little stressful at times but much less stressful than divorce

Familiarise yourself with the market in that area so you know what a reasonable price is for what you want. Decide whether you want to do any work to it or want to be able to move straight in. Set a list of essentials ie no of bedrooms and then desirables. But to be honest if you know the area already then it will just come down to how much you can get for your money. A 'good buy' is quite subjective I think, for example we have just bought a slightly smaller house that needs loads of work for a higher price than our old house, but it's a lovely period property in a very nice street and that was more important to me than having loads of space (as long as we all actually fitted in!).

I would recommend doing lots of viewings. Have a good look at what's out there and that will help you to decide what you need. Good luck!

Also depending what the market is like where you are try not to do too many viewings until your house is on the market! When I was looking last year I 'lost' a couple of great places because I wasnt under offer, and lots of vendors won't accept offers until you are under offer yourself.

Set a limit and stick to it. Do not go over it.

I will have a look at that book.

My overriding worry is that the market round here is moving very quickly. So things are gone in days. Which also means my house will go quickly (hopefully) and then I will panic if I can't find anything.
I don't mind doing work, or getting it done but I will be on a really tight budget for that.

I'm in the same situation as you and hopefully a week or so off completion. Found it helpful to save houses I like/all in the pricerange (and all I viewed) on rightmove so I've now got lots of sense of how things are being priced, how people arrange the houses on the estate I want, and features I like (to build into the ultimately v small house we're getting.) So it'll be a smaller knock off version of the ones I really like...

Market moving very fast here too. I sold first and moved to rented to stagger the stress and to get to the top of the estate agents lists. In the end I have decided one of my priorities is maximum control/not too much extra stress for me, so have for example avoided lovely houses with long chains to be realistic on where I'm at as a single mum of teenagers in time of major change.