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5 Tips For Planning A Successful Property Inspection Trip
So you
have scoured the internet for hours and hours and noted down hundreds
of
properties you would like more information on and to visit. The agent
tells you
they can arrange a viewing trip for you or you can of course make all
the
arrangements yourself, but how can you ensure you have a successful
viewing trip
and that you get the most out of your visit. Here are 5 tips to
planning a
successful property inspection trip.
1.
Before you even start
to arrange any viewings or a trip over, have a
clear picture in your mind as to exactly what you are looking for. If
you are
not at all interested in being in a rural village with just a small
shop, no
nightlife etc, then there is little point in looking at properties in
these
types of areas. If you do not want to be restricted to hiring a car to
get to
your holiday home on each visit, then you are going to require a
property in a
town or village with good rail links or on a coach route. Your time on
any
viewing trip is at a premium so do not waste hours, or even days
looking at
properties that do not meet your requirements. Make
sure you make it
clear to any agents you are using for viewings
exactly what you want. Any respectable and half decent agent will not
push you
into seeing properties that do not match your criteria as this wastes
yours and
their time.
2.
Next make sure you have
enough time on your trip to accomplish everything
you want to do. You cannot realistically visit a country for 2 days and
get a
good feel for the place, see 10 properties, get any necessary paperwork
sorted
and so on. Give yourself plenty of time. Carefully research the areas
you are
interested in and make a short list of the regions you want to visit.
You should
estimate spending at least 2 or 3 days in each area to get a good feel
for the
place and have adequate time to view properties, so make sure your trip
is not
going to be too rushed. You should aim to limit the number of
properties you
view in a single day to around 5 or 6 at the absolute most, otherwise
it will
all become a blur of hopping in and out a car, bumping along roads,
taking a few
photos and before you know it, you’ll not remember one place
from the next.
3.
Then look for agents
that cover the regions you want to visit. Email or
telephone the agents directly with details of what you are looking for
to see if
they have any properties that may be of interest. Look for good
communication,
helpful advice, friendly manner etc. If the agent will not disclose the
area
where the property is, then give them a wide berth. You do not want to
waste
time viewing a property that is not around where you want to be. Find
the towns
on a map where various houses are and see how far away they are from
the
airport, motorway, large cities etc. Once you have narrowed down your
search
arrange to view a few properties with a couple of different agents.
There is no
point in listing thirty or forty houses that interest you, narrow it
down to
maybe five or six a day to fit in with your trip. Also do not get too
hung up on
a particular property you see on the Internet. It may not turn out to
be
anything like what you are imagining or it may be sold by the time you
are in
Bulgaria.
4.
It is a good idea to
print off the details of any properties you are
intending to visit so you can make reference to the details when
viewing the
houses and you then have something to scribble notes on for easy
reference at a
later stage. Also make sure you take the agent’s contact
details, including
mobile phone number in case you are delayed or cannot make a viewing
and give
him your contact details so he can get in touch with you should he need
to.
5.
Make sure you have a
camera to take with you and a notebook and maybe
even a video if you have a video camera so you can refer to these
later. After
visiting 5 or 6 properties, it is very easy to get mixed up and start
thinking
the first property had the lovely barn and large plot, when actually
this was
the second property you visited and so on. If you have photos and notes
to refer
to, you can take your time to review these later.
So if you
keep in mind the above, you should have a well-organised and enjoyable
viewing
trip.
For more
tips and advice on buying property in Bulgaria get yourself a copy of My
Bulgarian Property Nightmare: A
Cautionary Tale for Would-be Investors. This
ebook is full of
useful tips straight from a Brit whose first Bulgarian property
experience
turned into a nightmare. It allows you to see what can go wrong and
avoid the
pitfalls as I share the benefit of my experience. In this true account
you'll
learn what can go wrong, what to do if it does and why Bulgaria is
still a great
choice for people keen to invest, holiday or live there.
TheTravelBug
Website - Bulgarian Advice and
Property For Sale
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