Last Updated on Mar 5, 2020 by James W
Finding a new home can be stressful at the best of times. Whether you’re looking to buy or to rent, the sheer volume of real estate jargon and the various taxes can be a real headache. We’ve compiled a handy guide to give you an idea of where to look for a new home.
Local Newspapers
The best way to find a new home is to scour the private home listings in local newspapers. Local landlords advertise homes in the local papers and because they’re not advertising through an estate agent, the rent is usually cheaper. Plus, there is no need to pay an administration fee that would be requested by an estate agent. This is a handy way to find a property for slightly cheaper. As always though, view the property before committing to anything and make sure you get a contract drawn up that takes into consideration your needs, as well as the landlord’s needs. More and more landlords are going private to keep costs down, many of them using tools such as Rentify to manage their properties.
Gumtree
Another tool to use when looking for private listings is Gumtree. On Gumtree, you can search by local area and view listings advertised by private landlords. Again, because listing an ad on Gumtree is free, the rent is more often than not cheaper than if you were to rent through an estate agent. Even if there are pictures on the website, book a viewing with the landlord so that you can see first-hand if you like the house.
Rightmove
Rightmove is one of the biggest property websites on the internet. It takes all the estate agents from around the country and lists their properties in one place. You can search by area and then refine your search to look for a specific type of property. There is a cost for using Rightmove though and that is that private landlords won’t list properties on the site, meaning you’ll have to pay administration fees and higher rent through an estate agent.
Zoopla
Like Rightmove, Zoopla lists estate agents properties in one place. Sometimes Zoopla will list properties that Rightmove hasn’t, so it is worth checking both sites daily to see if any new properties have been listed.
Estate Agents
Of course, the old fashioned way to find a new home still works. Walking into any high-street based estate agent will still bear fruit. Just remember that renting a property through an estate agent will incur an administration fee and will likely have a higher rent as the landlord will pay a percentage of the rent he earns from the house to the estate agents.
