Great 'What I wish I’d known before I bought my first home' Hunt

richiedc

good thread this

heres mine, just bought a house 3 months ago..

1) get a structural survey and knock down the price depending on the survey
2) get a electrical periodic done. We didnt (its £100) and we had to rewire at the cost of 3k.
3) dont buy a house with the horrid black mortar dust under the plaster. We cant have spotlights in the ceiling and drilling anything into the walls cause black dust mess and the hole crumbles!

And most of all... get a local reccomended solicitor. We tried to save £200 by going with a cheapo internet based one and the following happened....

they never answered calls or emails TEXT DELETED BY ABUSE TEAM

They got investigated for fraud and we had our deposit frozen, nearly losing our puchase.


get a local one you can walk into and shout at!!!

money_maker_3

Let me see, apart from the great ones so far, mine would be

1) measure the rooms yourself as the report is at its biggest and not the actual usable bit of a room
2) get your will done with your solicitor at the time as most will do it for free since they are already being paid
3) read and re-read your mortgage offer including all fees
4) Budget in for paying extra fees, like moving vans, chippy for the 1st few nights, and your first oil fill !!
5) Make sure you get a full list of everything that is being left in the house and what isnt. My 1st house, we didnt and they took all light fittings, the ends off the areil cords, the black bin and the fire grate !!

Thats all the little things that I forgot about, hope it helps

DGX

I moved 200 miles south, and obviously didnt know the area I was moving to
So I took a map into the police station, explained that I was looking to buy a house and asked the policeman on the desk to mark on it "where the bobbies live", and "where they get a lot of calls"
10 years later, and I'm still living in the same house, with no intentions of moving

cymro

1. Never trust an estate agent - they will tell you anything to sell the house
2. Never believe what the seller tells you unless you can verify it - e.g. sight receipts for work the isy say they have done by the reputable builder etc.
3. Always have a full survey - over the time you have the property the saving will dwarf the cost of the survey
4. Beware of buying off plan - like the friend who found out all 20 manholes from the row were in her back garden
5. Try to view the property more than once and at different times of the day e.g. you can see more in daylight but perhaps parking is Ok during the day but what about at night when everyone is back from work?
6. The value-adding time of house buying is probably not more than a couple of hours - the rest of the time is waste caused by lazy solicitors, lazy conveyancers, estate agents and mortgage companies who take days and sometimes weeks to rubber-stamp paperwork and blame each other for the delay - be proactive and don't let them fob you off saying they are waiting on somebody else.
7. Be honest about the affordability of the house - how much is it really going to cost to do that work you 'think' is only going to cost £500? and how much does it really cost to run a house this size?

Kendo2424

ciano125 wrote: »

Solicitors are expensive, full stop. Having said that, the other side will pay your legal fees if you tell them you're not buying if they dont! This should also stop them from messing about later if they have to pay two lots of fees.

If someone tried this on with me they'd be told where to go very quickly indeed.

My advice to first time buyers; work out the max you can afford with an independent mortgage advisor, then knock a bit off and stick to it. Its all very well buying the house of your dreams, but no fun if you can't afford to do anything else.

And BTW, it's not all doom and gloom!

killerkaterina

poppy84 wrote: »

One thing that is important when buying a flat, make sure that you are aware of any ground rent/service charge/maintenance fee that you have to pay in addition to any mortgage. Check how much you are liable to pay towards repairs on the entire building or you may get stung for thousands for double glazing, updating door entry systems etc.

Very true. We bought our Shared Ownership flat about two years ago and were told by the housing association the factor's fees were "about £25 a month". They're nothing like that, much higher, come at random times and are always a shock. Make sure you know how much factor's fees will be before you sign! Otherwise you may find yourself struggling.

I think this is a particular problem with Shared Ownership as you get people on low incomes living in moderate income areas. There are ups and downs to the system. It's also true that new builds are made of cardboard and papier mache (figuratively speaking) but they don't have the same amount of old things conking out and needing replaced. Swings and roundabouts.

Have to disagree with the person who said don't get a flat if you plan to have kids, though. There are lots of people who will never be able to afford to buy a real house, and kids can survive in flats.

BB78

Don't get me started on this subject!! I took the massive step of buying my first home in 2006 and have gone from loving it to completely loathing it!!
My absolute number 1 golden rule has got to be get a FULL survey!! If you have only saved enough for a valuation WAIT and save some more money BEFORE buying. A full survey could save you a lot of time, money, frustration and heartache in the future.

Also give yourself a "moving in" budget of a couple of hundred pounds or so for things like light bulbs, lamp shades, toilet brush, washing up bowl, door mat(s), hooks, extension leads etc etc. There are so many little things that you forget you're going to need & take for granted, its amazing how quickly it all adds up!!

jennyb_2

I bought my first home in February 2006, a one-bed flat in a nice part of southeast London where I was already living. I got it for a stupidly low price, as it was very shabby and the owner was desperate to sell. The gamble was that it was in a council block, and I am pleased to say that this never proved a problem - I had lovely neighbours, lovely views, the council maintained the estate well and there was a good community feel so I got to know other people on the estate.
I had come within a whisker of buying a bigger flat a few miles away, and although it was gorgeous, I am so glad I didn't. There was a covenant which stated that you had to be an owner-occupier, and I realised if my circumstances changed and I wanted to move out I would have to sell, as I would not be allowed to rent it out. As it happens, I subsequently met my fiance, had a baby and moved out of London, and the housing market took a dive! I simply would have been absolutely stuck there.
I was also rejected for the mortgage my first financial advisor recommended as the first flat was supposedly non-standard construction - he had picked it solely on the basis of it giving the cheapest overall payment. I later used a different financial advisor who also took into account which lender was likely to lend on that type of property - crucial for a council block.

notsayingaword

Buy with your head, not your heart! It may look fabulous during a viewing but you only find out the truth once you move in. Our house looked fab during the viewing but we soon nicknamed our vendor 'Bodgit' !!:( Also don't jump in too soon with a higher price if your original offer is declined. Vendors will push for as much as they can get but if you are prepared to play the waiting game then you can get a lower price.

trying_2_b_good

Kendo2424 wrote: »

And BTW, it's not all doom and gloom!

Are you sure?! I'm now terrified!

Thanks to all for the tips so far! My rental agreement runs out in August, so I'm hoping to find the dream-house soon!