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First time buyer with no clue where to start!

e_briggs
Posts: 9 Forumite
Hello,
I am currently living with my parents as is my boyfriend. We have discussed and feel that we are ready to buy our own place. However, I have no clue where to start. What do I need to know? Where do I start?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you in advance!
Emma
I am currently living with my parents as is my boyfriend. We have discussed and feel that we are ready to buy our own place. However, I have no clue where to start. What do I need to know? Where do I start?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you in advance!
Emma
0
Comments
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Hi
Welcome to the board.
The main thing you need to consider is how much money you have between you to go towards purchasing a property. You will need a deposit and will also need to have money to pay for solicitors fees, mortgage arrangements fees etc.
If you are happy to state how much each of you earn and if you have any outstanding loans, credits cards etc this will help. Also, what is the rough price of properties in your area that you would consider.
Hope this helps you make a start.
Foreversummer0 -
My only advice.
DONT OVERSTRETCH YOURSELF.
We all want to live in a 5 bedroom detached villa with 2 aces of land BUT if your budget says mid-terraced in a less desirable area of town then go for it.0 -
Hello,
I am currently living with my parents as is my boyfriend. We have discussed and feel that we are ready to buy our own place. However, I have no clue where to start. What do I need to know? Where do I start?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you in advance!
Emma
Hi Emma
First things first - how much deposit fo you have saved up?0 -
Ok we earn just under £60,000 a year in total. I am a Maths Teacher and he is a manager in Tescos so two secure careers in the current financial state. I have about £5500 in savings and my boyfriend has I think about £12-15,000. I have one years student loan that is being paid off through my wages. Also neither of us have credit cards. Houses in the area I live in are arounf £175,000 plus I think, havent looked for a while.0
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Hi Emma
First of all do you need to buy furniture and all the household items? It is easy for these to start adding up and I started buying things about 12 months before me and my OH moved in together.
Remember that solicitors costs and surveys also add up and if you have a house fall through you may lose quite alot of money so make sure you have plenty put aside.
What kind of lifestyle do you want? Are you still wanting expensive foreign holidays or are you happy to forgo these in order to pay a larger mortgage?
The best thing we did when we were looking was to go round as many houses as possible so you get a complete idea of what you want and don't want. It taught me there was no way I could live in a new build and wanted a 3rd bedroom even if it is only a box room.
Hope that helps and good luck!0 -
We have all the furniture for our bedroom including a kingsize bed, double bed two TVs DVDs etc. However there is a limit to how much we can buy as we are limited to the space of our bedrooms. So things like living room and kitchen stuff would have to wait.
We are trying to determine what price of house we can afford so we can look at which area we can afford to live in.
Do we need to make apppointments with Banks?0 -
It might be worth getting hold of a credit card each so that you can build up a credit history. This is not the same as building up a credit card debt. but it can be seen as proof that you can be trusted with a credit facility.
If your credit reports from the credit reference agencies are blank or unfavourable then you are not likely to be attractive to a lender. Some consider it advisable to check your credit reports before requesting credit as requests for credit may appear on your credit record. Too many requests can make it less likely that you will get credit.
J_B.0 -
Do we need to make apppointments with Banks?
No, because each bank will only give you information about its own mortgage products. If you apply for a mortgage, each bank will do a credit-search - several searches in a short period of time can look bad on your credit record.
Speak to a whole-of-market mortgage broker. With the information about salaries, debts, deposits etc, he/she will be able to advise you about how much you'd be likely to get, which mortgage providers would be most suitable for you, etc. Make sure that you understand exactly how mortgages (in general and specifically the one you apply for) work - it's astonishing how many people take out a mortgage without a notion of what it all means.
One last bit of advice: make sure that you are both agreed on how any equity or debt would be handled if the two of you split up. Settling this beforehand doesn't make you more likely to split up - it just makes it all much, much easier if you do.0 -
Based on the figures, your scenario looks fine.
Having a 10% deposit will limit the lenders/rates available to you though
Is there any chance of help with the deposit to maybe get another 5%?I am a Mortgage AdviserYou should note that this site doesn't check my status as a Mortgage Adviser, so you need to take my word for it. This signature is here as I follow MSE's Mortgage Adviser Code of Conduct. Any posts on here are for information and discussion purposes only and shouldn't be seen as financial advice.0 -
Does any one have any links or numbers for reccommended mortgage brokers? I am in the Essex area (Greater London).
I am sure we could get a little help if need be. In the mean time we are continuing to save and build on what we have. We have just come back from a holiday and know that it may be the last one for a bit until we are settled.0
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