First Time Buyer

sportyspice

Hi, am just starting to look around to buy my first home and was woundering if anyone knew any good web sites to look at about mortgages for FTB's and other information which may be useful.

Any information available would be great as i'm a bit lost at the moment, and being single, doesn't look like i will be able to get much of a mortgage on my own!

Many thanks!

payless

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/buys.phtml#MORT

Is a good start, in fairness there's little difference between most mortgages marketed at FTB to others

I have produced a guide ( no sales patter)
https://www.payless.me.uk/Guide.pdf
and so have L&C ( larger brokerage)
https://www.lcplc.co.uk/pdfs/firsttimebuyersguide.pdf

lisyloo

Try reading some of the articles on this site

http://www.housepricecrash.co.uk/

House prices are now starting to fall, so in my opinion you would be better off saving your cash towards a deposit, furniture and costs and buying in a few years time when prices may be lower (in real terms at least).

Woby_Tide

looks like it's going to be a well balanced viewpoint being called www.housepricecrash.co.uk! bit like having a medical reference site called https://www.youregoingtodie-soon.co.uk

sportyspice

Thankyou, all helpful info, which i will have a look through.

Anything else would be great.

Reaper

Try reading some of the articles on this site

http://www.housepricecrash.co.uk/

House prices are now starting to fall

Despite the obvious bias of this web site even they are lacking evidence. My view is a long period of static prices, drifting lower in a few areas where they got over heated.

Looking at this web site the most recent 10 headlines are:

20/09/04 Reuters House prices 'going nowhere'
20/09/04 Independent House prices are unchanged since middle of August
20/09/04 SKY News Home prices hit a wall
20/09/04 Find a Property Prime London At Standstill
20/09/04 Guardian Housing market reaches stalemate
19/09/04 Observer Are house prices really falling like the leaves?
19/09/04 Independent A blip, not a burst bubble
18/09/04 Telegraph Landlords: get out of the house and buy the paper
18/09/04 Guardian Can retail be the new buy-to-let?
18/09/04 Scotsman Loans plan to beat high house prices

You have only got to read the headlines to realise they all support my view!

So I'd say go ahead and buy if you are ready to. Don't rush into the market in the hope prices will go up, nor stay out of it for fear they will go down. If you can find a property you like for a price you can afford then buy it.

lisyloo

I would agree that this site is heavily biased, however I think you only have to look at the reports to see that things are changing.
It is not only house prices that are down, but mortgage lending is down and First Time Buyers are at record low levels.

Over the last 2 months it looks like things have changed.

The market has definitely turned, the debate is now whether there will be a gentle slow down or a crash.

Spendless

Well I keep saying this

Depending on where you are.

Here the house prices are still on the up, but the boom has only been going just over 2 years.

lisyloo

Yes, agree very much so.

The housing market it not one big market, but lots of local ones.

It also depends on what type of property you are buying.
Studio flats are likely to be worst effected if there is a crash.
When prices are low, first time buyers will leapfrog these into 2 bed homes, so they can be practically unsaleable.

Also areas where there have been loads of housing put ut with lots of usold appartments (just means lots of competition).

As always good quality homes near good schools will always sell well.
Location, location, location and all that.

Rising interest rates will however be affecting everybody (with variable rate credit) on a national level.

Spendless

Yep - the leapfrog thing happened to me. In my case this was a 2bed MTH - as this is the 1st rung of ladder here.

Good schools are definately a key to rising house prices.Even tho my hubby thought I was bonkers to only consider the catchment areas of the top secondary schools when looking to move.

lisyloo

I can't provide a link but I did hear on the radio recently about a survey that was done recently that showed a high correlation between the quality of school and house prices.

I think you are right about that.