Buying a house: absolutely clueless

dutchcloggie

Malmo wrote: »

We have sold in the town at asking price within half a week of listing the house, as the specific neighbourhood is in demand. People do want to live there and it does have plenty to offer, especially for commuters to London or Birmingham, which are both reachable in either direction. There is a lot of regeneration under way.

I will PM you with a recommendation for a great Northampton-based mortgage broker that we are using.

Thanks. I was kidding. I like Northampton a lot. I wouldn't consider buying here if not. So yes, your offer is much appreciated.

jjlandlord

Regarding interests, at this time you should budget with rates 2 percentage points above whatever mortgage offer you can get now, IMHO.

This is important in general, but even more so if you do not expect that your income will increase much: If you max out at current rates you will go belly up in a couple of years.

dutchcloggie

ringo_24601 wrote: »

Maybe a mortgage advisor would be that person - but this is all part of being an organised grown up

I live in the south east so I'm use to shoebox-sized flats costing £200k upwards!

If you go on your income alone then you can look at houses of about £130k (25*4 + 30). You'd be looking at a LTV of 77%. If I look at my own mortgage provider (First direct, you can't get it through a broker) then this would give you a mortgage of £479pm - on a 5 year fixed 3.09% repayment.

Now.. bare in mind your partner isn't included in this - doesn't that give you a lot of headroom for rate changes? Maybe if you include your partner you'll be able to borrow another 20k and still be ok for rate changes.

Regarding the 'protection' of the deposit you'll need your solicitor to sort that out.

Thanks. That does sound ok. Less scary. I don't want to be an organised grown up!!!!

[Deleted User]

If you think this is hard, try buying AND selling a house at once, and your wife giving birth in the same week That happened to us 4 years ago

Also during the house buying process you'll discover people are absolutely horrible when it involves money and houses.

hbomb

By the way, you may still be a first time buyer. Each mortgage provider will have their own definition of what is and what isn't a FTB. We (partner and I on joint mortgage) are with the Nationwide, and I think they said that neither of us could have "had a mortgage in the last 3 years" in order to be FTB. If you just sold your share and never had a mortgage, you are probably still a FTB (which is great as you can get a better rate).

It will depend on the provider though!

clint_S

What you can afford and what you are offered are two very different things. Make sure you know what your total costs are going to be after you've moved in. We were offered a mortgage for £375K, even a AIP on that figure, yet felt the repayments were higher than we could afford, OK if we lived on bread and water, settled on a property at £230K as the monthly payments were more affordable.


If you want to know what you can get a mortgage on speak to a IFA, independent Financial Advisor, and they'll walk you through the whole process.

Malmo

clint_S wrote: »

If you want to know what you can get a mortgage on speak to a IFA, independent Financial Advisor, and they'll walk you through the whole process.

An IFA does not necessarily offer mortgage advice and should not be confused with the role of a licensed mortgage broker/advisor. The OP needs either a) an IFA licensed in mortgage advice OR b) a licensed mortgage broker/adviser.

clint_S

When I advised to speak to an IFA, I assumed that the OP would understand I meant one that specialised in mortgages. It would be pointless speaking to an IFA that dealt with pensions.

Addiscomber

May be worth seeing if your local library has a fairly up to date book about the buying process so that you get familiar with the terms that estate agents and solicitors use.

For what it is worth I don't think you are clueless because you have had the sense to come and ask here. I think people have got into trouble before, especially just before 2007, because they didn't fully appreciate what they were getting themselves into.

-taff

Also, don't just go with the first solicitor you find, or the cheapest etc, do some homework first.