When we bought our house, over five years ago now, I knew that this time round, I needed to get it right. Having learned the hard way with previous properties, I was adamant that we would be thorough in our checks pre-purchase and sensible in taking out the right policies to cover ourselves in the future. Thankfully we haven’t had any issues in our new home, even when things inevitably did go wrong, and I thought I would share our top five things to consider when buying a house in the hope it helps others.

1. The location

For me, this was always going to be the main one and I was determined not to let our heart rule our heads when exploring new properties. Although we saw lots of houses we loved during our search, I knew that they were not in the areas I wanted to live and although it was hard stepping away from what we thought was our dream house, I knew it was the right decision.

As a parent the main question we asked was, what are the schools like? It was important for us to live in a location with good primary and high schools as well as making sure we were within the catchment areas for those schools. It was also important for us to be close to our family and friends, to have local facilities nearby, and to be somewhere rural enough to enjoy the countryside. In the end we found the house we had been looking for right there in the village which Gaz and I grew up in, and it just felt like the right decision to go back there and give our children the childhood we had both shared.

2. The size of the house

As a family of six the size of our house was important, giving us adequate room for a large family, not just then but in later years when our babies were teenagers. I think if you are looking for your family home it’s important to consider whether you plan to add to your family and, should you do that, whether there will be room for you all in the coming years.

We also wanted a property which we could expand on should we wish, which we have done twice over during the last five years, with plans to add a third extension in the coming year. Having the space to do that was important to us as it meant we would not need to move house again and go through the added expense of buying and selling, and we could really put down our roots and make a forever home right here.

3. The mortgage repayments

It’s all well and good finding the house of your dreams but ultimately, can you afford it? It’s also important to look into the future and ask yourself whether your personal circumstances will stay the same for you to meet the monthly mortgage repayments, and if for any reason things changed, how you would cope financially during that time.

We decided that we would stick to our budget when buying a house, despite seeing some lovely houses just out of our range, so that it was more manageable each month and should things change in the future, we would still be able to afford the mortgage.

4. Cover the boiler!

This was perhaps the biggest lesson we learned in that within two days of moving into our home, the boiler broke. In the depths of Winter we were left without heating and hot water over Christmas and New Year, and completely at a loss as to how to afford a new one. With nothing to fall back on and the previous owner no longer liable to replace the boiler, we ended up taking out a loan to cover a new boiler and the first thing we did was to take out boiler cover.

Hometree offer comprehensive cover, far out-weighing their rivals, and offer evenings and weekends as standard, cover against boilers of all ages and models, no limits or caps on claims, a 24/7 helpline and cover starts straight away. Even better, subscribers receive a £25 Amazon voucher as a special thank you and honestly, I can’t stress enough how important this cover is!

5. The Neighbours

The last thing I would say to consider is the neighbours, something which we were affected by quite badly at our previous house. We are so lucky where we live now to have a lovely man living next door who is friendly and helpful and really looks out for us while we are away. To the other side we have an elderly lady who we rarely see, and as a result our garden is lovely and quiet but for the sound of our own rabble!

Disputes with neighbours can be hard work, and there is nothing worse than feeling uneasy in your own property. I would always recommend speaking to the seller about the neighbours and trying to judge their reaction to check how truthful they are being. It’s also worth popping back to the house at different times to see if the neighbours are around for a quick chat and trusting your instinct on the kind of neighbourhood you are moving into.

So that’s my top five tips on things to consider when buying a house and, if you are currently looking for a property, I wish you lots of luck in making the right choice!

** This is a collaborative post **