Step 5: Choosing Your New Home

Once you’ve viewed a range of property in Malta, or property in Gozo if that’s your chosen location, you may come down to a single home that’s the one for you. Alternatively, you may finish up with a number of possibilities that you have to consider. Obviously, the more properties there are and the more that you actually go and see, the greater the chance of finding that perfect home.
This is a big decision and must not be rushed. It’s not just a case of real estate being a major investment, you are looking for a home where you will spend a considerable part of your life. It’s important, therefore, that you take your time, weigh up everything and make the correct decision. There is the possibility, of course, that someone else will snap up the property while you’re doing this but it’s a risk that has to be taken.

Making an Offer

You’ll eventually come to one home that you want to buy or may have several possibilities in priority order. You then need to focus on the top choice and decide your course of action.
The property will have an asking price and you need to decide if you can afford it and if you’re prepared to pay that amount. If you’ve got a pre-approved loan, as described at step 3, you’ll already have worked out a budget and will have an amount that is likely to be loaned to you to buy the property. There is no guarantee that you will actually be lent that amount but the company will have been through all the information you provided before coming up with that figure, so it’s reasonable to expect to get the stated amount.
Irrespective of the loan amount, you may not want to pay the asking price. You may believe the property is over-valued or may simply think you can get away with a lower offer, which may be true if it’s a buyers’ market and the owner is keen to sell.
What you actually offer may be based on the prices of similar properties in the area or may just be an arbitrary reduction on the state price. Either way, the seller may accept it, reject it or make a counter-offer. Eventually, after a certain amount of haggling, you may either fail to reach an agreement and abandon the deal or agree a price for the sale.
This part of the process is often the one that many buyers and sellers find most difficult. Negotiating a price is not something that comes naturally to many people and most don’t do it well. However, if you take the time to research the local area, know the state of the market and the going rate for similar properties, you are more likely to settle on a price that is fair for you.