First Time Buyers- Central London- Advice on Starting!

tsg20

Hi all,

I've found the advice on the mortgage thread very helpful, and already have some questions about the process of finding a property.

We're currently renting from a private landlord. When we renewed after a year, she would only agree to a six-month lease, and then going to month-to-month. We knew we would be her last tenants before selling, but don't know when that will be. Current lease has a two-month get out clause on either side for those six months.

My main question is about getting out there to view properties and timing. We aren't in a rush to buy, but don't want to get into a situation where she needs us out in two months and we only start then.

I understand that it's best to get an Agreement in Principle from a mortgage lender, which will show estate agents and vendors that you're serious. However, they seem to last only 3 months. What happens if that three months pass and we haven't found anything? Go through the process again? Is that bad in terms of our credit report or anything else?

Or should we just start popping into the local estate agents without the AIP just to get a sense of what's on the market-- I don't know whether the online listings are accurate, how fast stuff is moving, etc. But will they not take us seriously if we don't have an AIP?

Advice is very welcome-- we've been reading loads of books and forum posts, but still are a bit fuzzy on a few points.

housebuyer2

My advice is to be all over rightmove (and other websites) looking at your price range and in the areas you like - that way you know how fast things move, how often similar properties come up an how long things have been on the market. Even if you think it's 6months away, start looking at rightmove now... It's kept well up to date an gives you coverage of all estate agents and online only agents.

Once you have your AiP, then you should go into a few agents offices (you will know which ones are the bet options from your rightmove research) and explain your budget, area, type of property and asked to be notified as soon as similar come on their books (so you can look round first or get an offer in before it even appears on the web).

In my experience (others may disagree) getting an agent on your side is really good idea - probe that you are a serious buyer by getting your finances in order before viewing, and don't waste their time, and it might give you an edge over other buyers

Good luck and hope tht gave you a few pointers!

Fire_Fox

The legislation provides that tenants only have to give one rent period's notice - one month assuming you pay monthly - coinciding with a rent period. You also do not have to permit any viewings on your home whilst you are tenants, you have the right to quiet enjoyment. In both cases clauses in your tenancy agreement do not trump this.

Get an agreement in principle, it doesn't really matter if it expires, the point you are making is you are/ were mortgage worthy and you have looked into finances. You may see your dream home and suddenly wish you had started the ball rolling. Then go and view places, keep watching Rightmove to see what sells, research land registry sold prices, get Firefox browser and the Property Bee add on.

tsg20

Thank you for the advice Fire Fox and HB2!

We have been pretty obsessively searching rightmove, as well as researching sold prices on zoopla. There isn't a lot of movement, either adding listings or removing them, so it's hard to tell whether there just aren't that many things currently listed in our area, or if things are selling before they even go online, etc.

So I think we'll start getting organised to get an AiP as suggested by you both, and then start visiting estate agents. Good to know it's not the end of the world if it expires, I was a little worried about that.

maninthestreet

So what is your budget? How much money do you have saved for a deposit and to cover buying costs such as stamp duty and solicitor's fees?

housebuyer2

In addition to maninthestreets comment, it's worth factoring in that your first mortgage payment will be alot higher than the normal monthly payment , so may be worth building that in to your budget. Also don't fret too much about timing your rental to end exactly when you complete on a flat - you will probably have at less a few
Weeks overlap, so factor in a bit of extra money for that and use the time to do some decorating etc...

tsg20

We have about £85,000 available for a downpayment. (although I learned from other threads not to mention that part to the estate agents, which was a helpful tip)

In the area we'd like to try for, prices seem to be in the £250,000-400,000 range. I know that's a big window, but it's hard to tell what's really out there and what it's really like. We'd probably prefer to stay closer to £325,000 if possible but hopefully will have a better idea of what you can get for that money once we've viewed some places.

tsg20

And I crossposted with HB2, but that downpayment is taking into consideration the costs of stamp duty and fees, plus leaving an emergency fund for us, so a week or two of rent shouldn't blow the deal.

housebuyer2

You can get some really lovely 2 bed flats around 325k in London, very central locations- i don't have much experience of what you can get a bit further out tho I suspect it won't be much different. The price of flats in London seems to have increased significantly per the last 8 months

Good luck

tsg20

I'll cross my fingers that's the case, but there doesn't seem to be a lot in Zone 1 that's under £350,000, including 1 bedrooms and sometimes studios!

Would be nice to discover all the relative "bargains" are available through the agents and just not listed online, but I suspect that's wishful thinking.