So far, we’ve seen that having a budget is more than essential when you’re looking at a mortgage for a new home — right here. We’ve also understood how important it is to take a close look at your savings — here — but today we’re shifting the focus to something else. Specifically, how you can get to your dream home.

Ready for the journey?

Experience has shown that finding the perfect home isn’t exactly easy, but along the way it’s best to enjoy every moment, because you’ll probably only do this once in your life.

And to make sure you find exactly what you want, we’ve put together a few tips & tricks on the best sources of information.

Tip 1: Everything is online now

The first option you can try is right from your own bed — it’s just a click away. Exaaactly: you can now find absolutely everything you need on the internet, so why make an extra trip when the offers come straight to you?

Whether you’re thinking of sites like  Imobiliare.ro, Remax or Compari Imobiliare, we’ve gathered a few more to make your search easier. You can find them all in the guide created especially for people like you, right here.

Tip 2: What are friends for?

What do you mean, what for? With them, complicated decisions seem to find a solution much faster — especially when it’s about a new home. So tell all your friends you’d like to get your own place; that way, the search will get much easier, because a true friend will never let you make a mistake… or at least will be there to offer their own expertise.

Tip 3: The right real estate agency

Hmmm, let’s see. If you don’t have much confidence in the online route, don’t worry. You can always turn to specialists who will carefully handle your needs and requirements and do the searching for you to find the best options that fit both your plans and your current budget. And speaking of budget, if you go this route, be sure to include the cost of this service in your expenses.

But how do you choose the right real estate agency — one that suits you and is trustworthy? Here are a few things to go by:

• check that it has a company registration certificate, a registered office and valid phone numbers that someone actually answers
• when you go to viewings, note the agents’ professionalism and how well they can provide details and advice about the properties you see
• check whether they are members of a professional association or union
• ask people you know or search online for details about their reputation in the local market
• find out upfront what the agency commission is and whether it can be negotiated. It is usually between 2 and 5% of the price and is paid by the buyer, the seller or both, but it can be negotiated down to 1–1.5% of the price.

Tip 4: What does the developer say?

If you want a brand-new property, fresh out of the box, you can always buy directly from the developer — you might even get a better price than in other cases. Still, be careful: if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. So before you make such an important decision, take all necessary precautions and start your “research”:

• check the developer’s reputation and track record, based on other real estate projects they’ve delivered
• look at the stage the project is in — whether a building permit has been issued, whether works have started or it’s only at the design stage
• is the investment financed by a bank loan or from own funds?
• are there ongoing lawsuits — you can find this on the courts’ portal
• check the company’s financial situation — you can find filed financial statements and other tax information on the Ministry of Finance website

Whichever option fits your style best, remember you make the best decisions when you’re well informed. So before you say, “This is it!”, scan the whole market — you never know what might surprise you 😉.

Editor: Mihaela Ban, Marketing and Communications Officer, Banca Transilvania