First time buyer - one off costs

electrodent

Hi All,

First time buyer wanting to make sure I've got my budget right. Below is what I think could be all the potential one-off costs of buying and living. Could people have a look at it and suggest if either the costs seem about right or if I've missed out any costs. I'd rather over estimate for now - e.g. the house I'm currently looking at has built in appliances so could reduce my one-off costs. But I'm also willing to look at purchasing bargain basement stuff (second hand furniture etc.).

I should add I come with nothing but the shirt on my back so will have to buy everything.

Legal, survey, mortgage arrangement, broker - 3000
White goods fridge freezer and washing machine, cooker - 1200
Laptop and desk - 800
Bed, bedside furniture - 500
Fixtures and fittings (curtains etc.) - 500
Tv, tv stand - 1000
Dining table and chairs - 500
Iron and board - 100
Vaccum - 100
Kettle, pots pans, cutlery, mugs, glasses - 200
Carpets? - 1000
Bathroom shower curtains and shower head - 500
Light bulbs and light fittings - 500
Sofa - 500
Spare bed - 300
Bed linning - 300
Towels, hand towles tea towels - 100
Bin - 10
Dvd digi box - 50
Arial - 50
Radio - 20
Book shelves - 100
Glass cabinet - 300
misc - 500
stamp duty - 2500

pinkteapot

Your legal, survey, mortgage arrangement, broker may or may not be right as these costs vary widely.

The mortgage arrangement fee can be £0-2,000 depending on which product you choose.
Broker fee can be £0-500+.
Survey fee varies with property value.

Nothing in there for removals? Will you need to hire a van at least?

Some of your items sound like non-essentials (glass cabinet?!), so you could add more furniture gradually, or buy cheaper second hand stuff to start with, if need be. Good that you're thinking ahead though.

Fluff15

Don't forget to budget for your first food shop and cleaning stuff. Buying all those things like spices, essentials like flour, sugar etc all add up, as well as bleach, hair products etc.

What about parking in your area? Is there plenty available, or is it permit parking? What's the crime rate like in the area, would you feel safer renting a garage?

I agree, you don't need to buy all these things new. I got my sofa and armchair free from preloved - have a look on there, or gumtree, or even local Facebook pages for stuff going free or cheap.

I got my bed off eBay, it's a memory foam one and it cost £140 for the divan and double mattress. It's lasted me a good 18 months and still going strong. They also do sofas on there.

The most we spent (joint expense) was our TV, it's a really nice one and cost twice as much as all the furniture we bought! :eek:

Check out Wilkinson or Ikea for sets of cutlery and plates etc, I think for a 12 set piece of porcelain is around £18, and cutlery around £12. Also they do glass sets for around £4. Personally, I spent a bit more on pans because I think you get what you pay for with those.

electrodent

Thanks both, very helpful.

pinkteapot wrote: »

Your legal, survey, mortgage arrangement, broker may or may not be right as these costs vary widely.

The mortgage arrangement fee can be £0-2,000 depending on which product you choose.
Broker fee can be £0-500+.
Survey fee varies with property value.

Nothing in there for removals? Will you need to hire a van at least?

Some of your items sound like non-essentials (glass cabinet?!), so you could add more furniture gradually, or buy cheaper second hand stuff to start with, if need be. Good that you're thinking ahead though.

Agree some are non-essentials but I'd rather I accounted for them than forget about them. I'm happy for visitors to sleep on the floor until I can afford a second bed :-)

No to removal van. I can fit all my worldly possessions into my (hatchback) car.

electrodent

Fluff15 wrote: »

Don't forget to budget for your first food shop and cleaning stuff. Buying all those things like spices, essentials like flour, sugar etc all add up, as well as bleach, hair products etc.

What about parking in your area? Is there plenty available, or is it permit parking? What's the crime rate like in the area, would you feel safer renting a garage?

I agree, you don't need to buy all these things new. I got my sofa and armchair free from preloved - have a look on there, or gumtree, or even local Facebook pages for stuff going free or cheap.

I got my bed off eBay, it's a memory foam one and it cost £140 for the divan and double mattress. It's lasted me a good 18 months and still going strong. They also do sofas on there.

The most we spent (joint expense) was our TV, it's a really nice one and cost twice as much as all the furniture we bought! :eek:

Check out Wilkinson or Ikea for sets of cutlery and plates etc, I think for a 12 set piece of porcelain is around £18, and cutlery around £12. Also they do glass sets for around £4. Personally, I spent a bit more on pans because I think you get what you pay for with those.

Didn't think of Food and domestics. Thanks! Added to the list.

Parking - it's a safe area and free. Finding a spot can be problematic in some areas, but that's an essential for me. My current favourite house has a garage.

I assume insurance can be paid off monthly (even if it works out more expensive overall). Are there any other one off charges such as telephone, gas, water, electricity etc.

pinkteapot

Insurers will offer a monthly payment option (at a premium).

There shouldn't be any upfront costs for phone, gas, water, etc, assuming the property is already connected to a supplier (even if it's not the one you'll be using).

D00gie72

Your first mortgage payment is likley to be higher than the usual one (to cover the part of month) so remember to allow a little extra for that. Also agree with Fluff 15 to allow a budget for your first grocery shop as you will want to stock up on a few staples and cleaning products. The list here could be endless - but get the bare minimum to start with.

G_M

If you are willing to rough it initially and take time, it is amazing what you can get free from Freecycle, pre-loved etc (fridge, freezer, furniture etc)

Depending on the property you might want to budget for paint etc - once current owners take their pictures down and remove furniture, houses NEVER look as good and re-painting makes a huge difference. Get friends round for a 'painting week-end' (supply food/drink)

There are also always little DIY jobs to do so budget for a decent DIY book (Christmas present?) which will provide years of use, + stuff from B&Q (screwdrivers. plyers, rawlplugs, drill ............)

Will you have to pay STAMP DUTY?

electrodent

G_M wrote: »

If you are willing to rough it initially and take time, it is amazing what you can get free from Freecycle, pre-loved etc (fridge, freezer, furniture etc)

Depending on the property you might want to budget for paint etc - once current owners take their pictures down and remove furniture, houses NEVER look as good and re-painting makes a huge difference. Get friends round for a 'painting week-end' (supply food/drink)

There are also always little DIY jobs to do so budget for a decent DIY book (Christmas present?) which will provide years of use, + stuff from B&Q (screwdrivers. plyers, rawlplugs, drill ............)

Will you have to pay STAMP DUTY?

Thanks - DIY/decorating costs added to the list.

Stamp duty - yes. I've budgeted it at £2500 but it's likely to be closer to the £2k mark. (Although my first go at the budget had me completely forgot about this *slap forehead*)

dominoman

Once you have decided to buy I'd recommend starting to look for the things you need as soon as possible.

You can find loads of what you need on freecycle, on eBay etc. A good second-hand item can be fantastic quality compared to what you'd be prepared to pay for a new one.

If you don't have anywhere to store it then it is even worth hiring a small storage unit at BigYellow or similar, so you can store things there until you move in. You'll pay around 80 quid a month for a unit that will hold most of the furniture you need, and you could save that many times over on each piece by not buying in a rush...

Paully232000

Not sure if it is a flat or a house you are thinking of moving to but if a house you will need (probably) some garden stuff, lawnmower, tables, broom, spade etc etc eventually.
We had always lived in flats before our first house and didn't have anything that could be used in a garden.