Buying a flat step by step – loan and agreement, part 1

Buying a flat is a serious decision in anyone's life. Having a place of your own is usually a milestone on the road to adulthood. For many of us it is one of the first and most important dreams, embodying responsibility, maturity and stability. Since, however, it requires large financial outlays, often funded by a mortgage, it also frequently arouses fear and worry about whether we will be able to meet the challenge. So what does buying a flat look like in practice? In today's article and those that follow we present this process in detail, step by step.

Buying a flat – how will you pay for it?

Of course, everyone dreams of buying their own flat for cash. The whole transaction would then be far easier and would not require third-party institutions. In reality, though, few people can afford to invest several hundred thousand PLN on the spot. Fortunately, that is what banks are for. So before we decide on our dream property, let us visit a bank branch of our choice to check our creditworthiness. It is good to know this limit before we start trying to buy a specific flat. It may turn out that it is not as high as we expected, and we will be forced to aim for a smaller property or one of a lower standard.

When taking out a mortgage, you should also factor in all the additional costs. The price of the flat is one thing, but other expenses come on top, such as renovation (if we are buying a flat on the secondary market), the notary's fee, the estate agent's fee, or buying furniture.

Choosing the ideal property

Once we know the extent of our creditworthiness, we can start looking around for a place of our own. Here another challenge appears, namely the choice of whether we want to buy a property on the secondary or the primary market. Each solution has its pros and cons, which we have already written about in more than one article. It is therefore worth weighing them up before making a decision.

Remember also that when choosing a flat, regardless of whether it is new or used, you should carefully check the condition of the building and the legal status of the property, inspect the flat itself scrupulously, and get to know the neighbourhood and the neighbours. All of this will affect the comfort of your life in the property for many years. It is therefore not worth settling for half measures. To be sure everything is checked properly, it is worth enlisting, at this stage, the help of an estate agent, who will make sure we find a home that perfectly matches our requirements.

If you have already found the property of your dreams, whether on your own or with the help of an estate agent, it is time to move on to dealing with the necessary formalities. You will find out how this process works in the next article.