1st time buyer help!!

gemmaxxx19

Hi, I'm quite new to all this and am just looking for some friendly advice.... here goes....

My partner and I are looking to buy a home. We called all the agents in the area we are looking and advised them of our requirements and our budget. One of the agents called us to arrange a viewing of a house out of our budget, but she said the vendor has agreed he may take an offer. The house is on the maket at 105k and the VERY top end of our budget is 97.

Anyway, the house was beautiful, just what we are looking for, so as we already have our agreement in principle we are hoping to make an offer.

I spoke to my dad, he advised us to offer 90 then work up to our max, and not go over it. I'm concerned that as the agent knows our top end she will tell the buyer this.... so we will pay our top end for it. Also the agent want us to speak to their own mortgage broker, and says if we complete the mortgage thru them we get 1k cashback.

So, any help is appreciated....... what do we do?
Also could somebody help with what kind of insurances are needed? I don't want to go in blind and be sold a load of policies that we dont need. Especially as I will be job hunting when we get their, so things will be tight until I find something. (the mortgage itself is based solely on my partners earnings who will not be changing his job)

Thank in advance!

Gemma

NyimaR

Decide what you really are prepared to pay for it and don't go above that. Even if you could afford more. If they reject that (having been tipped off that you can afford more) then leave it a while and they may well come back to you and accept if there is no other interest!

betmunch

Sounds like you are dealing with the Connells/Sequence group due to the cashback.

One price for one person, £1000 less for someone who uses their MA and Sols - Clearly not conditional selling!!!

I worked briefly for them and couldnt get out quick enough, the way the cashback deal works was one of the many reasons for leaving!

Anyway, dont go for it, you will have to pay £300 for the Mortgage Advice and aproximately £700 moer than what you need to for the Sols, co-incidentally £1000, the same as the cash back.

Also, you dont actually get the cashback unless your mortgage is placed with one lender on their small panel, any of the others and the purchase price is reduced by £1000 as far as the mortgage lender is concerned.

Anyway, the thing to do is to make your offer and agree to see if their mortgage advisor can help you. You must appear to be co-operative with them so they will push your offer hardest, try to delay seeing their advisor until you are told the offer is accepted, book an appointment a week ahead. Then when you see them and they cant get you a better deal than the one you have you let them know you wont be using them, but thanks for the time. If this then jeapordises the £1000 off you can either accept that, or renegotiate your offer down by £1000.

As for insurances, only you know what you need, if you speak to an "advisor" they will discuss your needs with you and recommend a package that best suits what you need protected. If you see a "salesman" they will push whatever they can on you. Sadly many "salesmen" call themselves Advisors and you wont know which is which until its too late!

gemmaxxx19

Hi :-)

Thanks to you both. It is the sequence group.....
The original independant broker we spoke to made sense and won our trust, and we are happy with her, the sequence broker keeps pushing us to see him, he says it may be too late for him to help once we actually find a house.
The cashback is tempting, but if we are going to be paying the extra anyway then we are not gaining so just wastig our time. Thanks for the advice, also, where would I find an advisor/salesman for insurances? I was advised not to use the broker for it as they want you to buy everything.....

Would we be stupid for going for a direct mortgage? found a good one that brokers dont access from brittania..... is it as daunting as it seems without a broker guiding you? I don't even really know what the solicitors etc really have to do!!

I feel a bit out of my depth.....I hope this is normal for FTB's

:-)

betmunch

Its not stupid to go direct - However, if you feel it is too daunting to do it yourself then go to the broker, one of the advantages of using the broker is that they make applications day in day out they know what they are doing and will hold your hand the whole way. Its your call on this.

If the Advisor you first saw has won your trust they could be a good starting point for discussing insurance. An advisor will ask you probing questions to find out what you are worried about happening and then provide insurance to protect you if "it" did happen all the while working to a budget that you set. A salesman will tell you what you should be afraid off and put the fear of god into you, then write as many policies as they think you will pay for.

Dont do to a bank for insurance, they are highly pressured to hit targets and will also chalk things up as "non-advised" sales so if theres any problem with the protection they can say you choose it rather than them recommending you took it.

It is normal for FTB's to be nervous about these things, thats why a good Broker can be a godsend.

evening_all

We've recently moved into our first home and we dealed with a few different mortgage brokers and plunged into the deep end and went straight direct to the bank. We gained alot of knowledge talking with the advisors. We didn't use them to get the confidence we needed to go straight direct, we just learned loads off them then saw a mortgage with the HSBC that none of them could match. I'm glad we did go direct though because we've learned much more about how buying a home works.

Don't be scared or worried, there's so much info on the net and people on here always willing to help you out.