Advice for first time buyer

andy.t_4

Hi everyone. I'm a first time buyer looking for a bit of advice. I've always just rented in the past and its all a bit daunting.

Firstly I'm not even sure if now is a good time to be buying with prices being so high. Its tempting to wait a couple of years in the hope there'll be a slump but the forecasts seem to be for prices to stay about the same (or a small drop) over the next year or so.

Anyway ... my question: I've got a pretty good job at the moment, and could probably pay off a mortgage in about 10 years (I'm not after anything fancy, and house prices in my neck of the woods are cheaper than the national average). Obviously good to pay it off as quick as possible, save a lot on interest. The nature of my job means I might be back to an average salary in 3 or 4 years though, and wouldnt be able to afford the monthly repayments on a 10 year term. Would my mortgage provider likely allow me to increase the repayment length if this happened? Instead of doing this, should I get say a 20 year term and just make early repayments (I'd pick a mortgage that didn't charge for this) when I can afford it?

opinions4u

andy.t wrote: »

Hi everyone. I'm a first time buyer looking for a bit of advice. I've always just rented in the past and its all a bit daunting.

Firstly I'm not even sure if now is a good time to be buying with prices being so high. Its tempting to wait a couple of years in the hope there'll be a slump but the forecasts seem to be for prices to stay about the same (or a small drop) over the next year or so.

Anyway ... my question: I've got a pretty good job at the moment, and could probably pay off a mortgage in about 10 years (I'm not after anything fancy, and house prices in my neck of the woods are cheaper than the national average). Obviously good to pay it off as quick as possible, save a lot on interest. The nature of my job means I might be back to an average salary in 3 or 4 years though, and wouldnt be able to afford the monthly repayments on a 10 year term. Would my mortgage provider likely allow me to increase the repayment length if this happened? Instead of doing this, should I get say a 20 year term and just make early repayments (I'd pick a mortgage that didn't charge for this) when I can afford it?

Yup. Longer term. Be disciplined about overpaying. Then it's easier to adjust to a lower wage if that situation happens.

I would suggest prioritising a continency fund of 3-6 months next pay before overpaying though.

Georgie4

I'm really surprised that you think house prices are high at the moment !! It is a buyers market and there are some really good buys to be had if you do your research properly
You will also need a decent deposit in order to get a good rate mortgage