Clueless first time buyer needs lots of help!

triggerhappy_2

Hello all. It has come to my attention that, despite being reasonably bright, the world of house buying and all that it entails is an absolute maze for me. I am aware that some of these are most likely incredibly stupid questions, but please humour me - there will be many thanks and virtual beers for anyone who can help me.

I'll try and break it down because I have lots of questions! In case it's relevant for any of these things, I am in Scotland.

Repossessed property

I have had an offer accepted on a 2-bed, modern (2007) repossessed property, due to complete on 19th March and get the keys on 9th April.

1. The gas, electricity and water have been shut off and drained down. How do I get these reconnected and who do I call? I've had a look around and it looks like it's possible to DIY, but is this a stupid idea?
2. How much is it likely to cost to have everything reconnected? (Ball park figures are all I can expect here, I know, but would appreciate!)
3. Phone has also been disconnected. I see BT have stopped their free connection offer, so I assume I just have to suck up the £124.99 fee? I am an o2 customer so could get BT + o2 BB for c £18.50 a month. In my rented flat I have Virgin BB only, currently costing me £25 a month, so o2 BB + BT line would be preferable if it weren't for the blasted reconnection fee!

Insurance, Mortgage etc.

I bought through the LIFT scheme (Scottish Govt shared equity with FTB) and so will have a mortgage on 60% of the flat at £57,000. I got my mortgage through a broker (First Mortagage, recommended by someone here) and am fairly happy with the 3.99% fixed rate for 2 years they have gotten with Nationwide. I still have a few questions on this side of things:

1. They arranged my solicitor for me, who is seemingly well versed and experienced in conveyancing for the LIFT scheme. The conveyancing fees look to be around £1300 in total (puchase price of flat was £95,000) - does this seem like a reasonable figure? I understand that this may be a rather Scotland specific question due to different procedures applying.
2. They have recommended several insurance and payment protection plans for me and I'm not sure what to do.

• Income Protection Benefit Plan
  Monthly Income Protection Benefit: £925.00
  Deferment Period: Benefit payable from week 13 onwards.
  Monthly Premium: £27.89
  Premium Basis: Guaranteed*
• Mortgage Decreasing Term Assurance Quotation
  with Critical Illness Cover
  Initial Life Cover: £55,000.00
  Initial Critical Illness Cover: £55,000.00
  Your Guaranteed Premium of £13.35 Payable: Monthly
• Contents Insurance
  Contents Sum Insured: £40,000
  Contents Cover: Standard with Accidental Damage
  Monthly premium £13.55

Should I take these? I'm confident enough with contents insurance that I could shop around, but I don't know huge amounts about the other two and would be concerned I didn't get the right thing. For example, reading the guide on mortgage protection plans here, I went to iProtect (I think) and got a quote for about £7.60 a month - surely these can't be the same thing? Any guidance here would really be appreciated as I'm a bit lost!

I'm preparing myself for the worst in terms of charges for things I haven't thought of (and BoS will be rubbing their hands with glee at the extra £ a day they'll be getting from their not usually overdrawn customer - at least they're not getting the mortgage) but if anyone wants to give me a warning on things I might not have thought of, please fire away!

I think that's it for now. Again, many thanks in advance for any help anyone can give. Just a final thank you to everyone who frequents this forum - I haven't been around for long, but if you look at my early posts you'll see that it was here that I learned about the scheme that has enabled me to buy my own home, and I am so grateful fo the advice and info I have gotten here.

Three cheers to you all! :beer:

BASFORDLAD

All i can say is dont take any of the insurance they offer you, decide what you really need and shop around. They will be getting plenty of £££ from selling these to u

triggerhappy_2

That's what I thought, BASFORDLAD, but being an IFA I thought it would be better than your usual bank/mortgage supplier? I'm mainly concerned about not getting the right level of cover.

I'm 26, in a fairly secure job and earning £18.5k a year in case anyone has any suggestions?

BASFORDLAD

IFA?, what kind?, Free?/fee paying?, Being an IFA doesnt mean anything really unless you know what kind they are etc . Plus a lot of these income protection things have loads of clauses.

Compare the prices with others on google etc

googler

triggerhappy wrote: »

I have had an offer accepted on a 2-bed, modern (2007) repossessed property, due to complete on 19th March and get the keys on 9th April.

1. The gas, electricity and water have been shut off and drained down. How do I get these reconnected and who do I call? I've had a look around and it looks like it's possible to DIY, but is this a stupid idea?
2. How much is it likely to cost to have everything reconnected? (Ball park figures are all I can expect here, I know, but would appreciate!)

They arranged my solicitor for me, who is seemingly well versed and experienced in conveyancing for the LIFT scheme. The conveyancing fees look to be around £1300 in total (puchase price of flat was £95,000) - does this seem like a reasonable figure? I understand that this may be a rather Scotland specific question due to different procedures applying.

• Contents Insurance
  Contents Sum Insured: £40,000

Should I take these?

You may want to get a CORGI gas engineer, who may also be a plumber, and a suitably qualified electrician in. If you DIY the gas or plumbing, and flood other flats, or set off a gas explosion, do you have public liability insurance? Will your home insurance cover you if you DIY it? You may also want to get any CH boiler or other appliances checked before you use them. There's no guarantee they're in perfect working order, and they've evidently been idle for a while.

Get a gasman/plumber & electrician with the appropriate qualifications and insurance. You'll have to phone round a few to find the good ones and find out their rates.

I think £1300 sounds high for a £95k purchase, but it sounds like you're committed to them now, so.....

Your premium for contents insurance will reduce if you reduce the sum insured - do you have possessions, etc to the value of £40k? Even adding in domestic appliances, carpets, furnishings etc?

triggerhappy_2

Thanks googler. I figured the DIY route was a silly one, thanks for pointing out the dangers! Any thoughts on costs? (I wondering whether it's a £50 job vs £250)

Yeah, locked in with the solicitor now I suppose. Wondering if there's any way I could haggle with them, obv not on search fees etc. but other things?

Definitely don't have possessions to £40,000 - almost no furniture (eek), a few computers, a camera, a TV and beyond that just clothes, books a couple of small pieces of jewellry. I'll do an inventory to see how much I come up with, but I seriously doubt it's much more than about £5,000.

Fire_Fox

If you opt for mortgage protection insurance check it is paid directly to the lender, if it goes through your bank account it is income and any benefits you might be entitled to may be reduced accordingly. Check whether your fitted kitchen is covered under buildings or contents insurance, I always get confused by this. Carpets are certainly contents, it isn't just your personal belongings that might go up in smoke.

ETA: http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/30/30-ins.htm

triggerhappy_2

Fire_Fox wrote: »

If you opt for mortgage protection insurance check it is paid directly to the lender, if it goes through your bank account it is income and any benefits you might be entitled to may be reduced accordingly. Check whether your fitted kitchen is covered under buildings or contents insurance, I always get confused by this. Carpets are certainly contents, it isn't just your personal belongings that might go up in smoke.

ETA: http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/30/30-ins.htm

Great tip Fire Fox, will defintely check. Thanks!

far2812

Hi Triggerhappy - well done on buying your property.

I am in a similar position that I have just had an offer accepted on a repossessed house and the water/gas/elec is all switched off. I would also be grateful for advice.

Have you had any info so far?

triggerhappy_2

far2812 wrote: »

Hi Triggerhappy - well done on buying your property.

I am in a similar position that I have just had an offer accepted on a repossessed house and the water/gas/elec is all switched off. I would also be grateful for advice.

Have you had any info so far?

Thanks far, and congratulations to you too!

I'm in Scotland, so the info might be different but I found this which has some handy numbers:

http://www.renfrewshire.gov.uk/ilwwcm/publishing.nsf/AttachmentsByTitle/HP-KW-HomelessInsert6.pdf/$FILE/HP-KW-HomelessInsert6.pdf

I haven't arranged as yet because I don't complete until the 19th but I'll update as soon as I know