There’s something pretty special about buying your first home. No matter how many houses you’ve lived in before this one is YOURS! (OK, mainly the Bank’s, but who cares!)
Looking to be a first time buyer soon? Here are a couple of bits of advice for first time buyers:
1) Firstly…..know what you can afford: Knowledge is power. Do your sums or, even better, get a mortgage adviser to do them for you. Make sure you can afford the monthly repayments based on your current budget as well as all the other costs associated with buying a house i.e. stamp duty, solicitors fees and surveys.
2) Now you know how much money you need to borrow……find a mortgage: Find out which lender will offer the best deal for your personal circumstances and then get an agreement in principle. It will make you an attractive buyer.”
3) Next……find the home of your dreams! Identify the neighbourhood and sign-up to alerts from Rightmove and/or Zoopla. This is the fun bit! Have a good look around the general area and scrutinise the properties closely until you find ‘the one’.
4) Make the seller an offer: don’t be afraid to negotiate a lower price if you feel the property is over-priced or needs extensive work. Hopefully between you and the seller you’ll settle on something that works for you both.
5) Offer accepted? Now call in the professionals……..: Tell your mortgage adviser, hire a conveyancing solicitor to deal with the paperwork and you’ll also need a survey done. The survey will be completed via the mortgage lender.
Good luck. It can seem a daunting process at first but you’ll be amazed what you know by the end of it!