1st House buying blog...

Pressleyno1

Hello all, I've just delved into the housing market. Well not yet. So I've diecided to blog our progress. I'll try and be as open and as honest as possible. In return, I'd welcome your views and advice !

Ok, so I'm 21 and getting my first place with my girlfriend. We are going for a £95k one bedroom apartment in my local town. Which is Broxburn, just outside Edinburgh - 11 miles - I can link to the house builders website which has the plans, and drawing etc, but I don't know if this would be allowed.

So It's a 1 bedroom which is in a 2 block development. We are in block 1, ground floor, which costs £95k, the 1st floor costs £97k. The development has,

''21 stylish one and two bedroom apartments. And we know it's the small touches, like chrome ironmongary, Procelanosa tiling and Smeg integrated appliances''

With car parking and everything you'd expect in one of these new developments.

So, that's a bit on the property, house prices inthe area are based on an 'offers over' system, where there is a price say offers over £90k, so this property would probably go for £110k, it's the way it works here, something like 25% on the value is what bid you'd put in. So we'd been looking for a while, but found, that almost instantly people were putting big bids in, and getting the place. We seem to find that the winning bidders were from Edinburgh, who were relocating due to the big prices in the city, sold their property, had a bit money and moved outwards.

So this 1 bedroom is FIXED at £95k, we have put down a £500 reserve on it, and they will want £1500 in Janurary, to kind of secure it. So we need to get a solicitor to do legal things, that I'm not to sure, maybe someone will enlighten me.

So I think that's it. We have put in out reserve, next step is £1500.

Any questions, let me know. I don't think I've structured this post very well, but hey !

skintscotsman

Where are you from originally?

I live a baw-hair away from Broxburn, would be interested to see what these properties are like,

Good luck to you anyway.........wise move getting property at 21, wish I had done it now.

Pressleyno1

Forgot to mention - I don't know how - but we have an AIP of £90k

Pressleyno1

skintscotsman wrote:

Where are you from originally?

I live a baw-hair away from Broxburn, would be interested to see what these properties are like,

Good luck to you anyway.........wise move getting property at 21, wish I had done it now.

Uphall !

The new properties are at the old community centre, next to the polis station !

Well I'm 21 and girlfriend is 30, so its an age difference thing, she had a place before, but has since been renting. So yeah, I'd like to get on the ladder, and see this as a pretty decent 1st place. We think we'll make a profit on it, seeing that alot of people from Edinburgh are escaping big prices, and the fact that the RBS world HQ's are 7 miles away from Broxburn.

lynzpower

yep course you are allowed to post links good luck

Pressleyno1

Nice one, this is the link to the development, our flat is a type B.

http://www.cruden-homes.co.uk/development/?development_id=37

leftieM

Very nice! It's like the one my brother bought in Dublin a year ago (for a tad more than you're paying for yours - he paid about £200k!)

Pressleyno1

£200k for a 1 bedroom !?

CharleneUK

Best of luck! I'll be subscribing to this thread as I hope to buy a home next year!

Look forward to reading it all.

Pressleyno1

I have to get a solicitor to do all the work for me, does anyone have an idiots guide to what I really need from the solicitor and how much it might cost me ?

Pressleyno1

Alright got the steps leading up to the purchace of the new build.

1. Our reservation fee - This was £500 and this has been paid

2. Now we need to find a solicitor, still to do this, any reccomendations ?

3. Finding a mortgate would be next step - we have an AIP from Northern Rock for £90500.

4. We need to sign a missive, and this missive is a kind of deposit, and once this £1500 is paid then once this is concluded then the transaction becomes legally binding !

5. The settlement - This should be the day the money goes to the house builder.

So we have done stage 1, at stage 2, and soon to be at stage 3.

I'll post the details of our AIP soon !