Moving out of home for the first time is very exciting! The thought of having independence, the freedom to have friends over when you want and being able to leave your bedroom in any state you like, can feel extremely liberating.

Here are 8 practical steps to help make your first move out of home a great one.

Set a realistic and accurate budget

Before you get carried away and get locked into a rental you can’t afford, it’s important to understand exactly how much you can afford. First step is to sit down and work out your budget. Look at your income and your regular expenses such as mobile phone, health insurance, eating out including your daily coffee, the costs to run your car and the commute to work. How much do you spend on your weekend night life, clothes, gifts and food at work and how much do you want to save for that holiday or first home?

Once you have a clear idea of how much you are earning and spending, you’ll have a good idea as to how much you can afford in rent each week / month. But don’t forget to allow extra to cover the cost of utilities.

It is worth keeping in mind that some experts suggest that you shouldn’t spend more than 30% of your monthly income on rent.

Do a thorough inspection of the rental property

Making sure you visit the rental property before you sign a lease is vital. It’s tempting to sign away as soon as a landlord says yes, but be patient. There could be issues that aren’t visible in an online listing. It is recommended to visit a property for a midweek viewing as well – weekends can be packed with rival tenants, whereas visiting on a Wednesday might see you leap to the front of the queue.

For a complete checklist on what to look for click here.

Carefully interview potential flat mates

If you are moving in with flat mates, it’s a good idea to sit down and have an honest talk about your routines and lifestyles. If the potential flat mate is a morning person but you’re more a night owl, then perhaps it isn’t going to work. Or you may find that your potential flat mate loves to throw spontaneous parties and have loads of friends around all the time, but you prefer your home to be a sanctuary for quiet time, then again perhaps this isn’t going to be the ideal place for you.

Treat this process as an interview and try and find someone who has something in common with you. Of course if you’re moving in with friends you already know a lot about them but talking about their routines is still important as everyone has their quirks.

Talk to friends about what you’ll need

If you’re living at home, you most probably have a fully kitted out place, but you’ll find you don’t need all of this when you are renting and certainly not when you start out. Talk to your friends and family who are renting or have rented recently and write a list of items they say you’ll need, things they found to be a necessity. Use this list as your starting point.

It is also worth asking your family and friends if they have any items that they don’t need any more or ones they would be happy to lend you for a while. Items such as kitchen utensils, cooking equipment, an old table you could use as a coffee table. This all adds up and can save you a fortune.

If you’re a young renter, you might find some of your friends are heading off overseas to backpack around the globe. It’s worth asking if they have any furniture or household items they would be willing to sell to you cheaply or even better give to you…everything helps and it helps keep things out of land fill.

We buy houses in Hurst Tx

Only buy the essentials

Some rentals are fully furnished, however the majority aren’t. At a bare minimum you’ll need a bed, somewhere to put your clothes, a sofa or comfy chair, chair and table for eating on, or a stool if there is a bench. All of this comes with a price tag. The best advice here is to be conscious of the quality you are buying. Better quality products will normally last you longer, therefore you won’t have replacement costs for a while. While you don’t need to spend a fortune, spending wisely and focusing on quality will be a good longer term decision.

Have a budget in mind and take someone with you who is already renting to help keep your spending in check.

Getting paperwork in order

After looking at countless rental properties and moving all your stuff in, you probably just feel like kicking back on the couch and turning your brain off for as long as possible. The hard part’s over, after all – now it’s just a matter of settling in.

If only it were that easy! In fact, the first week or so of moving in to a new place is one of, if not the, most crucial period for a tenancy. By checking the following things off your list, you’ll be able to sleep easier for the remainder of your lease.

Photo records

You may have already snapped up the rental property, but there’s more ‘snapping’ left to do. Along with having filled out the property condition report, it’s a good idea to take detailed photographs of the house or apartment, particularly the parts noted in the condition report. This way, you have some hard evidence of the condition of the property when you’ve moved in, and will help eliminate the possibility of he-said, she-said
disputes.

Create a cleaning schedule

Last but not least…if you’re renting with others, creating a weekly cleaning schedule is a must. In fact, according to a realestate.com.au survey, flat mates get most annoyed if the people they are sharing with don’t clean up.

So your property has been on the market for a while, all the media you’re reading is saying properties are being snapped up left, right and centre, so why isn’t your place selling? This is a common question but the answers aren’t that much of a mystery.

Here’s a look at four of the most common reasons why properties don’t sell.

Poor photographs of your property

Most people’s first impression of your home will not be up close and personal, it will be through the photographs you present in listings. To really put your home a cut above the competition, it’s vital to capture your home’s best side on film. One of the easiest ways to get this done is to hire a professional photographer to really make your home look like a star.

This means you can get crisp, clear, stunning imagery right through your photoset. A higher-quality set of photos is more likely to attract buyers, and is a must when selling.

You haven’t invested appropriately in marketing and advertising

Marketing your property is an essential part of achieving a successful sale. If your property isn’t selling, have you spent enough on the marketing plan to ensure your property has had maximum exposure in the market?

A bad first impression

You only get once chance to make a first impression so you want to make a good one. With competition high in the market, to help make your property stand out from the crowd, and attract more buyers you need to spend time styling your property to sell.

Property styling isn’t as hard as you think. It’s all about employing design and presentation techniques to create a visual marketing tool which will increase the potential of your home attracting the most amount of buyers and ultimately a quicker and more lucrative sale.

You haven’t priced your home to sell?

Your home is probably your most valuable asset, so making the most out of the sale is paramount to you. But to sell your home in a reasonable time frame, the price must be right, it must reflect what the market is prepared to pay for it.