First Time Buyer advice needed

redev2005

Hi all

Apologies if this has been asked a 1000 times before and if it has please feel free to re-direct me.

After a few years of moving back in with my Mum to save some funds for a deposit, I feel in a position to make a move into the property market.

I am alittle daunting as to where to kick off the process. I know roughly where I want to live but not sure how to start. I have read the excellent guides on this site but have a few questions:

Should my first step be finding out how much I can borrow?

Is a broker the best place to start or should go to the bank i save with?

If I identify an area to live, how can I find out if the area is safe, friendly, etc?

Is there a way to determine if the asking price is a fair one?

I will likely buy a flat, should I be concerned about purchasing a leasehold property?


Any help would be much appreciated as I am a little unsure how to get the ball rolling.

Thanks
A worried FTB.

Yorkie1

redev2005 wrote: »

Hi all

Apologies if this has been asked a 1000 times before and if it has please feel free to re-direct me.

After a few years of moving back in with my Mum to save some funds for a deposit, I feel in a position to make a move into the property market.

I am alittle daunting as to where to kick off the process. I know roughly where I want to live but not sure how to start. I have read the excellent guides on this site but have a few questions:

Should my first step be finding out how much I can borrow?
Yes. Also checking your credit reports from each of the 3 credit reference agencies (£2 per report) to check for any unexpected blips. Are you on the electoral roll?

Is a broker the best place to start or should go to the bank i save with?
Banks will be tied to their own products whereas a broker will - if independent or whole of market - have access to a wider range of properties.

If I identify an area to live, how can I find out if the area is safe, friendly, etc?
police.uk website gives details of crimes reported. As for friendly, have a drive round at different times of the day??

Is there a way to determine if the asking price is a fair one?
Go onto nethouseprices or zoopla websites and look at sold prices for similar properties in the last 6-12 months. If you use Firefox (I think) you can download Property Bee which gives the history of a property's rightmove listing.

I will likely buy a flat, should I be concerned about purchasing a leasehold property?
Length of lease (short = unmortgageable); cost of ground rent / service charges; how repairs are funded. For starters.


Any help would be much appreciated as I am a little unsure how to get the ball rolling.

Thanks
A worried FTB.

See above.

redev2005

Thanks for great advice, nice to get someone else's input and ideas.

ACG

Should my first step be finding out how much I can borrow?
It would be well worth finding out what you can borrow, feel free to post on here. We can give you a ball park figure if that will help.

Is a broker the best place to start or should go to the bank i save with?
Im slightly biased here, although i do try to remain unbiased on the forums. If you can do the research yourself then by all means do that otherwise its worth speaking to a broker and then maybe comparing it to what your bank can offer. At least then you have the best of both.

If I identify an area to live, how can I find out if the area is safe, friendly, etc?
Drive round in the day, when kids finish school and at night. Do that a few times and you will get an idea. Only when its warmer though. Scoates only tend to cause trouble when its not too cold for them.

Is there a way to determine if the asking price is a fair one?
Have a look on rightmove, compare similar properties.

I will likely buy a flat, should I be concerned about purchasing a leasehold property?
To some degree, you will need atleast 70-80 years left on the lease.

redev2005

An update on situation.

I have found an area that I want to live and viewed two properties.

I am going to see one of them again tomorrow and taking my Mother for moral support.

Any advice on what to concentrate in the second viewing? All viewing are with the vendor rather than the agent.

Also if I want to buy it, what is the norm for an opening offer? I dont to be so cheap that they are offended but at the same time I do not want to overpay.

I am FTB, have a mortgage in principle, so I think I would be a desirable buyer.

Yorkie1

One line of thought about second viewings is to dispassionately check the practical things about the property - does the boiler work? shower? taps? toilet? check for damp. open the windows. look closely at the roof, guttering, etc. electrical consumer unit. loft space.

Another is to work out whether your furniture will fit etc?

Before making an offer, do research into sold prices as previously described. You may even find how much the sellers bought it for, and when.

Use this info to decide what your top offer will be, and offer a little under that. Some people use the 10% off rule of thumb for their first offer, but that is a little blunt if the property is either vastly overpriced or priced competitively to sell.

Also, if you have firefox as a browser, use property bee to see how long the property has been on the market and its pricing history.