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My first property

Well, not quite as the title suggests, not my first property to buy, but rather, to rent. BTW this isn't a love story. Having lived in London my entire life, more specifically the beautiful town of Kingston, I've never really wanted to move out of this town, I was born here, grew up here and had a spectacular life, with the riches of Richmond park and getting chased by more than a dozen dears (pretty scary) Kingston really has been a wonderful part of my life. Our town centre, I believe is next to nothing, don't compare any other town centre to Kingstons, because it really can't compare. So as you can already guess, I'm a fan of kingston...now here's the harsh part.

I'm moving to Birmingham. Whilst I have nothing against Birmingham (honest...not) it might be wonderful for those that grew up there, as they may feel an attachment to it, that I feel with Kingston. But I don't think I've seen a place really quite as dreary as Birmingham, alas, I must move. 

So I started my search, all enthusiastic, and low and behold, I soon found that the rental market is moving so fast that even the agents can't keep up, properties being snapped up before viewings are even taking place, how on earth does that work?! My problem is that being in London, or moreover greater London, I can't travel up to Birmingham all the time, properties were going before I even had the chance to see them. So the first rule is, if you are moving to another city, you might actually want to stay there with some friends, get soem sort of short term bedsit or live in a hotel for a week or two. 

You might say a week in a hotel is bloody long, but trust me, what I did next was a facepalm moment. I was getting utterly frustrated with properties going, and being a businessman I'm always haggling trying to get a good deal, because it makes me feel good, better, like i got a good deal. I hate feeling like they got one over on me, rather I prefer feeling like I got one over on them. I found a property that I loved (from the image) and as properties were going so fast I visited this property and just put a bid in, without taking any family or friends, I put an offer in and things started moving, I was feeling well chuffed with myself, until...I went there with my family. Went with my mum, dad and sister, and they started pointing out things that I hadn't realised as I was getting so frustrated and annoyed with searching, I soon came to note that I had made a mistake and I started thinking, I'm not going to be happy here.

Renting property, although not as big a deal as buying, is a long term commitment, if you're on 12 months I consider that quite long! It can have quite an affect on your well being, if you're unhappy, then your health goes a bit crap. So when renting, never rush, don't do what I did. Don't make a decision in the spare of the moment, even though properties are going fast, and especially if you're in a different city, rent out a room in a hotel for a while and make a good and proper decision, cram in as many viewings as possible within that time, and you can make all the offers you want, but remember you can always pull out and say no I like that one when you find the one you love. You've got no commitment with anyone, it's business, so choose the property that you love and don't rush.