Curious how much you ACTUALLY need

MrRightSA

I'd love to buy a house with my partner but we can't really afford it. I have about £5k saved which basically means we could go for a house up to the value of £100k.

Then I know you have lawyers fees, surveyors fees, postage fees and whatever else fees. Is this sort of thing worked into the mortgage or would it be 5k deposit for 100k house plus however many more saved over and above my deposit for all these fees? And what about all the white goods and general furniture? Can these be worked into a mortgage or does it need to be saved over and above the deposit?

Sorry if it's a stupid question, but there is so much information on mortgages all over the net I'd rather get it somewhere I can trust.

HappyMJ

MrRightSA wrote: »

I'd love to buy a house with my partner but we can't really afford it. I have about £5k saved which basically means we could go for a house up to the value of £100k.

Then I know you have lawyers fees, surveyors fees, postage fees and whatever else fees. Is this sort of thing worked into the mortgage or would it be 5k deposit for 100k house plus however many more saved over and above my deposit for all these fees? And what about all the white goods and general furniture? Can these be worked into a mortgage or does it need to be saved over and above the deposit?

Sorry if it's a stupid question, but there is so much information on mortgages all over the net I'd rather get it somewhere I can trust.

You don't use lawyers to buy houses. Solicitors are expensive so use a conveyancer. They cost a couple hundred pounds. You need to have all tha saved up. When I bought my house I spent about £800 on all the fees and charges...plus whatever stamp duty costs on £100k there won't be any. There were no mortgage application fees...you need that as well if your bank charges them. You need it on top of the £5,000 5% deposit. The furniture can be put onto a credit card once you've moved in if you have no money left and you NEED new...second hand until you've saved the money is fine. It's amazing how many people will help you out by off loading all their old stuff onto you so they can buy new...accept all offers and you'll have all the essential furniture in no time. Then save for new and off load all the old stuff onto someone else.

amnblog

1. 5% gets you help under the governments help to buy scheme
2. Don't use the cheapest legal service you can find when spending £100K
3. If you buy new a standard valuation is probably all you need which is free with a number of lenders.
4. Do not start spending on a credit card as soon as you have taken on the costs of a mortgage.
5. A £75,000 mortgage on a help to buy scheme will cost around £375 to £400 per month so make sure you have three months mortgage payments put aside at all times in case of redundancy or sickness (£1,200)
6. You need to be thinking about having £8,000 total for deposit, costs, and rainy day money - then you are good to go.
7. Get some advice from a mortgage broker first thing.

WellKnownSid

Many complaints on here re low-cost "online" conveyancing.

Cookers and washing machines are available under £200. Probably not worth the hassle of buying 2nd hand on something like a w/machine, but fridges usually soldier on forever.

Things like sofas are usually given away on eBay, local paper, etc.

HappyMJ

amnblog wrote: »

2. Don't use the cheapest legal service you can find when spending £100K

Why not? Cheap does not mean rubbish. The conveyancer I used was the cheapest possible I could find. Every single cost was declared upfront before anything even started. In the end only 1 extra charge was made and that was a fee from their bank for receiving an international money transfer - £7. The owner of the conveyancing firm now has 40 years experience and his partner now has 25 years experience. All they do is conveyancing....nothing else.

edit: yes I agree with last message don't use an online conveyancer...get recommendations for someone local with a physical presence on the high street.

amnblog

HappyMJ wrote: »

Why not? Cheap does not mean rubbish. The conveyancer I used was the cheapest possible I could find. Every single cost was declared upfront before anything even started. In the end only 1 extra charge was made and that was a fee from their bank for receiving an international money transfer - £7. The owner of the conveyancing firm now has 40 years experience and his partner now has 25 years experience. All they do is conveyancing....nothing else.

edit: yes I agree with last message don't use an online conveyancer...get recommendations for someone local with a physical presence on the high street.

Just my view based on 1,000's of purchases and remortgages done with our clients.

MrsHappy85

We have just bought a house for 180k.

We didnt have a big safety net of extra savings but this is what we what we spent:

£18,000 deposit
£1,150 legal fee's
£350 ish for survey
£120 buildings insurance
£500 miscelaneous household stuff
£795 mortgage broker fee

Our £1800 stamp duty was paid for by the halifax as an incentive.

We were gifted a further £500 by my grandparents after we picked up the keys. We used this for bedroom furniture.

We only had about 20k saved up, so to make up the shortfall, we moved back home for six wks (we were living in rented).

I agree with those that posted do not go cheap on the solicitor, we paida bit more for ours and we were given excellent service as we were with the mortgage broker. Deffinately not worth scrimping on.

Probaby spend less than a fiver on postage. Our solicitor is more or less next door to my work so I could just drop stuff of by hand. I only had to post a couple of things to the broker.
Best of luck.

ChopperST

Just a story on cheap conveyancing I did that with my first house.

When I sold this May, the "cheap" conveyancer had missed the restrictive convanents on my house that the previous owner had breached. That meant that when I sold the liability became mine, meaning we had to pay £300 for indemnities to insure against the breach.

As you have been advised use a solicitor to get the job done right.

inmypocketnottheirs

ChopperST wrote: »

As you have been advised use a solicitor to get the job done right.

It never ceases to amaze me how people will scrimp on the most vital aspect of the largest financial transaction they have probably made in their lives.

amnblog

My business partner fines me £1 if I ever say the C word (cheap).

He says 'cheap' sounds exactly like what is it.

The word is straight out of the 'no' list for anyone familiar with 'broad concept' sales training.

Look it up

Synonyms
adjective. inexpensive - low - shoddy
adverb. cheaply - on the cheap

I wouldnt look for a 'cheap' solicitor any more than I would a 'cheap' brain surgeon

lazer

I had about £1500 left over after deposit

That went on mainly 3 things

1) Solicitor Fees (£816)
2) Oil - the tank was empty when I moved in (£300)
3) A bed - was the only piece of Furniture you really can't live in the house without (£200) - although i did later get a second one for the spare room for £30

Second hand Furniture and hand me downs are the best - got the rest of my house furniished this way - and slowly but surely getting nice stuff as and when I can afford it.



My valuation fees were added to the mortgage (Or maybe free and arrangement fee was added to Mortgage)

That is £1,316 in immeadiate expenses