1st time buyer help

casson2006

Hi

Just some advice needed. Me and my partner are looking at buying our 1st house, we've got a deposit saved both have decent incomes and no debt etc.

I've done a lot of reading into buying a house/mortgages, but just abit confused over what to do 1st!
Do we find a house we like, put an offer in and then apply for a mortgage? Or the other way round?
Because I'm unsure how much we'd be able to borrow yet when I've looked online at applying for one it asks how much you want to borrow! Any advice appreciated!

Yorkie1

You can get a decision / agreement in principle (DIP/AIP) from a lender, which gives you a fairly concrete idea of what you can borrow.

Then you go house-hunting. Some estate agents may want you to show them your DIP or see their mortgage advisor before your offer is put in or accepted, but the general advice is not to reveal your financial situation.

Once you've had an offer accepted, you then make a formal mortgage application. This need not be with the lender you got your DIP from.

It is possible to get a mortgage without the help of a broker, but if you're really uncertain then one will help you with this. Get copies of your credit reports (3 different reports each) and take them to a broker to ensure there's no nasty surprises on them. Look for an independent broker - go on unbiased.com (.co.uk?) and switch off sponsored results.

lxpeanut

I looked at a few mortgage calculators to see what they said they'd lend me. I then around on rightmove and got an idea of where I wanted to buy and could afford to see how much I needed. I then applied for a mortgage for the top price for that area and got the decision in principle.