Factors to consider when buying a house

What you need to know:

  • Buying a house is less troubling though a little more costly as compared to building one.
  • Therefore, if you are to sacrifice that hefty sum, you ought to be sure that the house offers you much needed comfort.

Choosing a house is one of the most difficult things because we might look at petty factors and miss out the key issues that can affect you for a life time or even make you hate your own home.
Here are some of the factors that you should consider before buying a house.

Location
Steven Kayiwa, an engineer, with Home Plan, says the house’s location is key. “Buy a house that is strategically located, one that is near social services such as water, electricity, schools, hospitals and roads,” he advises.

Neighbourhood
Be sure of the people and kind of activities that take place near the house. It is so uncomfortable living near a noisy place such as a bar or night club. Jamilu Baguma, an engineer, adds that you also need to know the kind of crime rate around the place.
“If it is one that constantly registers high cases of theft and murder, you should give it a second thought because you don’t want to rush home very early every day in fear of thieves,” he says.
He adds that you should check the security of the area, for example, how far is it from your house to the nearest police station.

The environment around
No one will be comfortable in a dirty environment. Kayiwa advises that you check around for the dirty trenches, gabbage disposal and how clean the place is. Check the topography of the area or the situation in case it rains if the house was built in a valley because some areas flood.

Development
We all aim at developing at which ever cost. Baguma advises that look around if there is any chances of development in that particular area. “If the area has no chances of development then it’s not worth buying,” he adds.

Land title
Baguma advises that you see an approved land title on which the house is standing before paying your cash. Otherwise, you might buy a house that has been sold to more than five people.

Materiality
To Kayiwa, it’s important to know the materials used in construction, are they the kind of materials you want your house to stand on. Are they strong enough to take you for years? Look at important features such as foundation, walls and roof because these are the basics of a house. Buy a house bulit with material you would have used if you were to construct a house.

Accessibility
Is the house accessible in terms of roads? This should be one of the basic questions you should ask yourself. Some houses are on hilly areas where a car cannot reach, that is automatically not what you want. And others may be difficult to reach due to so many houses surrounding them where you have to pass via other peoples corridors to access them.

Height and type
Check the height of the house and see if that’s what you want? Is it a bungalow or storage house. Compare that with what you had in mind and see if that can work for you before investing your money.

Design space
According to Kayiwa, different houses have different designs and spaces. Check if the house space is within your interest or if you are comfortable with the interior designs and space allocated to each room. Check how the house was planned.

Interior
Look at the number of rooms, the house structure inside and how rooms are allocated, the floor type or inbuilt cabins if any and see if they are within your comfort.

Exterior
Check on the outside designs, the porch, verandahs, fence, compound and how it’s designed and all the important outside features. If your checklist is ninety per cent, you may compromise.