First time buyer advise

liam81

Hi there,

I'm completely new to the idea of mortgages so thought this might be a good place to start, I currently rent with my girlfriend a one bedroom flat and have baby on the way in March so we have been thinking about renting a bigger place.

Well now a friend of the family has his house (which is steel construction) up for sale and has offered to let us buy it £76k which is a few thousand less than the asking price.

I have come into some money so will have between £15-20k to put down as a deposit.

Salary wise I earn £26k girlfriend £18k but as of March she will be going on maternity leave so finances are being worked out based on my salary alone (in case she decides not to go back to work).

Working out our monthly outgoings we think we could comfortable pay £300 - £400 on a mortgage.

Can anyone offer some advice, have had a look through the lenders sites and there are so many different types of mortgage, I'm told with the house being steel construction that not all will offer a mortgage, Woolich I'm told will and I think Nationwide.

Any useful advice is appreciated
Thanks
Liam

smcqis

What type of mortgage would you be wanting to go for? fixed, tracker? Woolwich and nationwide IMO are 2 good places to start

getmore4less

Start with background research on the price.
Look up sold prices for this type of property.
How long they take to sell.

Make sure it is fare and that you re getting a decent discount for the reduced costs.

Forget it is a friend selling, would you buy this place if it was on the open market?

happybroker

steel frames should come with a PRC to confirm that work has been done to the property to prevent certain issues arising so you need to establish if this has been done.

They are also less saleable than standard construction as not all lenders will entertain them, of those that will there are restrictions on how much they will lend.....regardless of how solid we think they are it's different and not every one likes that!

Survey costs may be high also also you as other reports may be required.

liam81

Hi thanks for posts,

Fixed or tracker? Well this I'm not sure, with my girlfirend being on maternity leave my thought was to get a fixed rate for a few years then when shes is back at work (if she goes back) we can review how much we can affford. Looking around trackers work out cheaper but is it too risky relying on the current low rate of intrest.

I have checked the price against similar ones and its lower than most, the last few that sold went for low 90k, this house was purchased by our friend for 85k.

PRC I will have to check on, he has mentioned that we will be advised to re-tile the roof which will cost between 2-3k but is not required straight away.

Also my girlfiend has been in touch with an idipendant mortgage advisor who is going to get back to her, so we will see what they can suggest.