Purchasing a home can be exciting if you are a first-time buyer. The pressure builds up if you are looking for a home in Dubai, as its real estate market is highly competitive.
However, the key steps mentioned in this home buying checklist can help you pick your ideal home. Let’s go through these steps to buying a house.
Steps to Buying a House
To ensure that your property purchase goes as smoothly as possible, familiarise yourself with the procedure through our home buying checklist.
- Set your budget – Setting your budget is the most crucial step in buying the first home checklist.
- Get your mortgage pre-approval – If you have a mortgage pre-approval, your purchase will be straightforward. However, if you do not have it yet then get it arranged from any bank proactively.
- Find a real estate agent – Once your budget is set, find yourself a RERA-qualified real estate agent. Hiring a real estate agent can help you streamline your purchases.
A licensed broker can represent you in your negotiations and help you in finding the right fit.
- Make an offer – Once you have your property finalised, make your offer. You can have the upper hand in negotiation over the property if you make your offer quickly.
- Pay the deposit – Once the price has been agreed upon by both parties, a legal agreement, MOU (Memorandum of Understanding), also known as Form F under RERA, will be signed. The MOU outlines every aspect of the agreement, including any payments made for rent or services rendered as well as the time frame before transfer.
At this stage, you will be required to present a current-dated cheque payable to the seller. The cheque will be a 10% deposit of the property value in the seller’s name. While a PDC (Post Dated Cheque) will be made payable to the broker’s company for the commission.
- Hire a Conveyancer – A licensed conveyancer transfers the legal rights or property from the seller to the buyer.
- Get the NOC – The property seller must get a NOC from the property developer that ensures that the property is free from any outstanding dues.
- Property Transfer – Once property purchases are made, the property can easily be transferred from one owner to another at the DLD (Dubai Land Department). At the DLD, a new title deed is drawn. Also, remember that you will have to pay the DLD transfer fee, which is 4% of the property value and the registration charges as well.
Once the transfer process is complete, DLD gets the sale registered and the new owner receives the title deed.
With the title deed in your name, you now own your new home. Also, you must get all the utilities registered under your credentials.
Let’s now quickly go through a brief, yet informative, checklist which enlists all the things to look for when buying a house.
Home Buying Checklist
By following this checklist before buying a house, the stress of home hunting can be significantly reduced.
1. Investigate the Market
Do your study and always keep a lot of options at hand. Never purchase before doing your research, and control your urge from buying the first home you see.
You can also get help from a real estate agent in determining a home’s value.
2. Save than Spend
Make sure that you have saved your finances for any unforeseen costs. Saving up can get you to pay a higher deposit. This in turn can lessen your instalments. Underestimating the extra expenses is one of the common home-buying mistakes buyers usually make.
3. Stick to Your Budget
Once you have set a budget for your rent, try not to overspend from it. Also, try not to consent to spend more than 30% of your monthly income on accommodation, as per the 30% rent rule of thumb.
4. Get a Loan Pre-Approval
By getting a loan pre-approval you can hasten your purchase while staying within your budget. You should better prepare your funds ahead of time to give yourself more negotiating power.
Also, you should be aware of the pros and cons before buying a house in cash or mortgage. Make your property purchases over a well-structured strategy, with the input of a real estate agent.
5. Be Mindful of the Future
While purchasing your first home, be mindful of the things you will require in the future. Look for nearby amenities such as decent hospitals, well-reputed schools, shops, etc.
6. Negotiate More and More
First-time home buyers do not negotiate more for fear of losing the deal. You must negotiate until you get satisfied with the terms of the property purchasing contract.
7. Visit Open Houses
Our home buying checklist emphasises buyers visiting open houses and every property that is on their favourite list. Make sure that you are fully prepared for visiting the open house.
Keep your list of queries related to the property before every visit, take pictures, and make notes to help you shortlist your ideal property.
8. Hire an Expert Real Estate Agent
By hiring a seasoned real estate agent you can avoid the common mistakes by real estate investors. A real estate agent can easily streamline the property purchasing process.
9. Avoid Affecting Your Credit Score
Every mortgage lender, usually a bank, first goes through your credit score before lending you the loan amount. Therefore, when you plan to purchase a property, make sure that you avoid any activity that could affect your credit score.
The simple steps to avoid affecting your credit score is to stop switching jobs and bank accounts, and making any more purchases.
10. Read Your Contract
Make sure you’ve read the entire contract carefully, even if you have a team of real estate experts at your side. If you don’t agree with anything, ask questions and confront it without any fear.
That is all for our home buying checklist. Although it can be very tempting to settle for the first house that suits your budget and other needs, it is advised to look for more options.
You can go through these properties for sale in the UAE to find your ideal house in your house-hunting expedition.
Stay tuned to the UAE’s top property blog for more information on property buying and selling.
