There are many reasons why people sell up and move or relocate. Maybe they want to be closer to family or it could be due to work commitments, but whatever the reason, chances are they will be moving into an area they are unfamiliar with.
If you are thinking of selling up and relocating, it might be worth taking heed of the following:
Delay selling your home before moving. Remember, if after spending time in a new area, you realise it’s not what you were expecting, there’s no going back if you’ve sold everything up.
You may require additional funding, so delaying will give you time to secure a loan from the bank. It will also enable you to wind up all your affairs before moving.
The area you are moving to may seem familiar to you, due to you having attended a past family event or maybe an annual holiday. But before you think of buying a new house or apartment, it’s important that you become intimately familiar with the area. You may know the major roads or the main attractions, but do you know the best schools, or the best routes and ways of commuting? Do you know which neighbourhoods have the best resale values? What are you expecting to pay for a house or an apartment in the area? What is the level of crime? These are just some of the things one should be asking oneself before rushing out and outlaying hundreds of thousands of rands on what could become a very costly mistake.
So what would your options be? You could let your house out on a short-term month-to-month basis, which would enable you to find short-term accommodation. A self-catering apartment or inexpensive BNB would be an option, unless of course you were lucky enough to move in with family or friends. Whatever the option, you would now have the needed time to look around and familiarise yourself with your new surroundings.
Where would you start? Making friends with your neighbours is a good start. They invariably know a lot about what’s going on in an area, especially if they have been there for some time. Get in touch with reputable estate agents. They will give you a better understanding of home values. It will also help find which suburbs are best suited to your personal lifestyle with regard to schools, sporting facilities, shopping centres, etc. It goes without saying that the internet will supply you with a wealth of information.
At the end of the day, the more you information you can glean, the more successful your decision-making will become.