Buying your first home is probably one of the biggest life decisions you’ll ever make so it goes without saying that you’ll want to be sure you’ve made the right choice. With that in mind, we’ve teamed up with Virgin Media to bring you an insightful new short form content series called “Buyers Bootcamp”, which brings to life the trials and tribulations of First Time Buyers on their home buying journey.

This series follows six couples who are at different stages of the process and Episode 1 features Sean and Mark on the search for their dream home, with plenty of helpful tips for First Time Buyers along the way. From shopping around to scoping out their potential neighbours, Sean and Mark could probably teach us all a thing or two!

Choosing an Area

On the home buying journey, we often spend most of our time thinking about the perfect house, but in reality the location is just as important. For some people, it all boils down to the transport links and distance from work but for others a lively social scene with an array of shops or cafés is what attracts us.

 “When I was buying my home, I felt like finding the right neighbours was just as important as finding the right property”

Whatever your budget, it’s important to sit down and think about exactly what you want in an area, for Sean and Mark it’s all about the community and the neighbours they’ll see every day. To find out how they went about getting to know the community around them, tune into Episode 1 of Buyers Bootcamp over on Virgin Media Player.

House Viewings

Nobody actually wants to spend their weekends exploring potential homes but it really is a vital part of the home buying process! You wouldn’t buy a car without shopping around and looking at a variety of different options, comparing the specs and prices to ensure you’re getting good value for money, so why should buying a home be any different?

“It’s really important to view a variety of properties when you’re on your hunt as this will help you decipher exactly what it is you’re hoping to purchase”

When it comes to house viewings, Sean and Mark have seen them all and along the way they’ve learned exactly what it is they want in a home! You can follow their journey and check out some of the properties they viewed along the way in Episode 1 and maybe even learn a thing or two to help you out at your next house viewing.

Bidding Process

It can often be hard to get a word in with the Estate Agent, especially if you’re competing with a line of other people at the house viewing but if you can manage to squeeze a few questions in, there’s a lot you can learn! Buyers Agent and Property Consultant Liz O’Kane shares her tips with Sean and Mark in Episode 1 along with three top questions to ask the Estate Agent at every viewing.

Once you’ve decided on the home of your dreams, you may think the hard work is done, but the bidding process can often be time consuming and difficult. There’s a lot to consider, do you offer the asking price straight away or bide your time by going in with a lower bid, how high are you willing to go with your offer if it turns into a bidding war?

“We just can’t seem to get that break….get someone to accept our offer”

Sean and Mark are no strangers to the bidding process, in Episode 1 they think they’ve found their perfect home but will it materialise for them or will they be pipped at the post? You can find out how their story ends and maybe even learn a few tips to help in your own bidding process by heading over to watch Buyers Bootcamp on the Virgin Media Player today. 

The content of this blog does not constitute advice and is for general information purposes only. Readers should always seek professional advice before relying on anything stated in the blog. Some of the links above bring you to external websites. Your use of an external website is subject to the terms of that site.