FTB - Where to begin?

clueless_FTB

Been lurking in this forum for a while and now looking for a bit of advice.

Decided that I need to get on the property ladder - I was waiting for the crash but feel that its not going to materialise and that if I wait any longer prices are going to be outwith my reach.

I'm looking for properties approximately 3 to 4 times my salary and there are a few houses available. The main problem I've got is I've no idea where the process starts.

From reading the forums I understand that the house buying process does take a while to complete but where does the first time buyer start?

Do I approach the estate agents where the properties are advertised or do I approach a mortgage lender initially? Do I need to appoint a solicitor before embarking on any purchase? Just looking for advice and any experiences of recent FTBs.

Also, I’m in Scotland so understand the process of buying is slightly different. A lot of properties are listed as offers over - do you always have to offer over the price stated? Does being a FTB offer any advantages?

Many thanks for any responses given!

toontastic

I'm also a FTB so I'll tell you what I've done, I'm not in Scotland but I believe I read somewhere on here that you can offer below the asking price in Scotland as well. Anyway what I did. I first went to a couple of mortgage brokers and to my bank. I went to my bank because it's HSBC and I am a graduate and we get very good deals. All the brokers said they couldn't beat HSBC for what I wanted so I went with them. For you it may be different you might have a large deposit, you might be after 100% if you have none you might be after more if you need more money (not usually a good idea)

Anyway went to see HSBC they went through all my details told me what I could get as a mortgage and then gave me a form which basically shows the EA that I can afford to pay what I say I can.

My next step was to start looking for a house knowing how much I could afford this is something I'm still doing now but I've recently (about 2 hours ago wahooo ) put an offer in on a house. It's a few thousand under the asking price and I doubt they will accept but you never know and it's all I can afford and I love the house.

Next job if this gets accepted is to get a solicitor and get surveys done. I've already shopped around a bit for costs of both so I know how much I'll be paying out but I'll need to get one as soon as my offer is accepted. It's then a case of going back to HSBC and getting my mortgage all agreed and signed up which involves taking a few forms of ID, 3 months of wage slips and a bank statement.

Hope this helps you a little you may also want to read http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=257372 which seems a canny little thread for us FTBs.

lynzpower

hi there
I dont know much about Scotland Im afriad,

But the best place to start is with an all of market mortgage broker, you get a mortgage agreed in principle. this will mean you know exactly how much you are able to offer. No point in going round viewing places if the banks wont lend you anywhere near enough to secure it.

Once you have your AIP then go round viewing.

Ive no idea how it works with offers over im afiraid

toontastic

This should also help you http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library3/housing/gthp-00.asp

Rimo2021

clueless_FTB wrote:

Been lurking in this forum for a while and now looking for a bit of advice.

Decided that I need to get on the property ladder - I was waiting for the crash but feel that its not going to materialise and that if I wait any longer prices are going to be outwith my reach.

I'm looking for properties approximately 3 to 4 times my salary and there are a few houses available. The main problem I've got is I've no idea where the process starts.

From reading the forums I understand that the house buying process does take a while to complete but where does the first time buyer start?

Do I approach the estate agents where the properties are advertised or do I approach a mortgage lender initially? Do I need to appoint a solicitor before embarking on any purchase? Just looking for advice and any experiences of recent FTBs.

Also, I’m in Scotland so understand the process of buying is slightly different. A lot of properties are listed as offers over - do you always have to offer over the price stated? Does being a FTB offer any advantages?

Many thanks for any responses given!

Find out from lenders how much they will lend you.

Find a solicitor to make your offer(s) on your behalf (they generally don't charge for submitting offers for you so check this first)

The 'offers over' price is almost always less than the property is worth and will be sold for, so offering less is unlikely to secure you the property however do not be too influenced by the idea that properties tend to go for x% over the offers over price. You should try and ascertain the value from what other similar properties sold for (and this is where a good solicitor will be a huge help) and offer that - even if is only slightly above the offers over price. Your solicitor will know how many 'notes of interest' have been received on the property which is an indication of how many other bidders you are up against and might influence the amount you bid.

Often where a seller has been too optimistic/greedy and doesn't get the offers he expected/wanted at the closing date he will not accept any of the offers and will then put the property on at a fixed price (This fixed price is likely to be higher than the original offers-over price but not as much as the 20-30% above the offers-over price that he was hoping would be bid at the closing-date). The first person to offer the fixed price then gets the property but you can offer less than the fixed price. (In my opinion if a property is put on at offers-over and doesn't get sold in this way to the highest bidder it is because the seller wants more than the property is really worth therefore i would assume that the fixed-price is also too much and would offer less)

Offers are generally submitted 'subject to survey' these days in Scotland which means you only fork out for a survey if your offer is accepted. (Your solicitor should organise this survey for you) You can then decide if the property is worth what you offered based on the survey result and can drop the value your offer at this stage which drop may or may not be accepted by the seller.

The great thing about the scottish system is the shorter time between the offer being accepted and the deal being binding (i.e when missives are exchanged) which means less messing about and chains and keeps gazumping/gazundering to a minimum.