HOW TO FIND YOUR DREAM HOME

I've moved a whopping eight times in my life so far, and I'm only 31. From leaving home to university, to moving to London and having a city pad for a year in Leeds, I've lived in everything from a house share to student housing to the gorgeous apartment I've settled in now.

Amazingly, on average, we each move home an average of 10 times, and we are doing so more often. The pressures of modern life are forcing us to move more frequently than we once did.

People are having to move to secure a good education for their children, find  well-paid work, look after relatives or find affordable housing. The fact that we are moving more often means that the skill of being able to track quickly down the right home for you and your family is an increasingly important one.

Employ a good estate agent

By far the easiest approach is to find a good real estate agent to help you with

the search. Whether you are looking for estate agents in Leeds, New York or Madrid there are a few things you need to bearing mind when choosing an agency.

Local knowledge

It is especially important to find an estate agent that is local to the area that you are interested in moving to. Doing so is the best way to ensure that you are shown properties that meet all of your needs.

Good listeners

You need to look for, and use, an agent that you feel comfortable with, and with whom you can communicate. A good agent will start by sitting down with you and discussing what you are looking for, and doing so in detail. They will listen to you carefully and explain whether the type or property you need is available in the area that they cover. A good agent will not waste your time by showing you properties that are not suitable for you and your family, or are too expensive.

Properly accredited

Wherever you live, you will find scammers taking advantage of the gullible by running bogus estate agencies. Naturally, you need to avoid these people. It is all too easy to end up paying a deposit to an unregulated agent, who then disappears overnight taking your money with them. The best way to do so is by checking that the estate agent you are planning to use is properly regulated, and accredited. Most legitimate companies list the trade associations or regulatory bodies that they are members of on their websites.

This is very helpful, but before you proceed, it is always worth checking that those details are genuine. The best way to do this is to go to the website of the regulatory body and carry out a search for the firm you are planning to use. For example, if you are looking for property in the UK you will want to find, and use, a National Association of Estate Agents company. You can easily do so on the NAEA site, which is here.

*Partnered post - please read my disclaimer here.