Timelines & Fees

KJH88

Hello all, first time posting.

My partner and I are looking to purchase a house at the end of the year (December) and are looking for clarification on a couple of things.

- If we want to move at the end of December, when realistically should we start the process (i.e. viewings, offers, etc.?). We're conscious of not starting to look too early, as we won't be able to progress with an offer and inevitably the house will sell, but likewise don't want to start too late and have a much longer lead time than expected, missing the target. In your collective experience, how long does the process typically take?

We will be applying for a HTB mortgage at 95% LTV, and while I think I have a good handle of the associated fees and costs, my understanding falls short at what point all of this is payable? I have a budget that we have been following for the past 9 months to eradicate existing debt and save for a house purchase, that will see us have £14,000 saved by the end of November, with £10k of that earmarked for the deposit. Is it the case that if we begin the process in say, October, and it completes at the end of December as hoped, we would just need to have all the relevant funds in place for that completion date, or would we need to demonstrate that we have all the required funds at the start of the process?

Thank you very much in advance for your help.

KJH

evansc1

Firstly....a move around Christmas is adventurous. Firms and lenders will shut over this period. Start of Jan is a safer option in my personal opinion if you want to move around that time.

There are so many variables to how long it will take. The place you find may have a chain, so will need everyone above you to find properties to buy and hope nothing goes wrong/gets slowed down with any of them. Your mortgage application may take a week or could take 2 months depending on the complexity of your case. The legal side of thing could take a few weeks or a few months depending on how competent yours and the seller's solicitors are or if there are any queries that need to be addressed or if you need to renegotiate price based on the valuation.

You may not find the property that ticks all your boxes. If you are determined to buy around that time then you may find yourself buying a home that you don't really love or regret a few months down the line.

If you want an average, i'd say 2 months from viewing to keys in hand. That's a number out of thin air mind as like i said, could be a 3 weeks, could be months and months depending on all the many variables.

Check out the mortgage application thread and the exchange thread you'll find on the forums here for loads of real life examples.

I've not added mine yet but for example, I found somewhere on the 12th June about a week after viewing first houses. Only submitted mortgage application 27th and already have valuation booked for the 5th July, all the searches are done. No chain and the vendor is looking to sell asap so the process should be pretty zoom zoom. Reckon the whole process would have been under a month for me if i'd not needed to wait 2 weeks to apply for full mortgage due to my OH needing her 3rd payslip.

If that is the mortgage guarantee scheme then bear in mind that it is finishing at the end of 2016. Not sure if it is a case that you have to request to use if or have completed by that date. Reason i mention that is so that you don't end up going past that date and then realising you can't actually use it.

Get yourself set up with a HTB ISA if you haven't already. Both of you if you are both FTBs.

You'll need funds up front for elements, and lenders will like it if you have it all ready but so long as you chat to your mortgage advisor it shouldn't be a massive issue. Mortgage fee will be up front unless you choose one without or add it to your mortgage. The latter two are advisable IMO as you don't lose the money if the mortgage falls through. Mortgage account fee likely up front. Legal fees as and when aspects are carried out. Deposit obviously one of the final things.

Think i covered a lot of it....apologies if some of it isn't what you want to hear.

KJH88

Thanks a lot for that, very informative. The December target is indeed driven by the current end date of the HTB scheme combined with availability of funds. I have been led to believe that the end of year cut off is for the process to start rather than complete, but will seek assurances on that.

We both has HTB ISAs, nifty little things that they are, and will most definitely look to add the mortgage fee onto the total as we cannot stand to lose that amount of money if it were to fall through.

I guess the concern is, what happens if you find a house you love, make an offer, and the whole things goes through very efficiently? Are you able to slow the process down/stall until all the funds are available, or do you just have to let it go? Apologies if the question is naive, just trying to get my ducks in a row.

Thanks again.

evansc1

Wouldn't advise it but you can slow the process down by not giving information promptly. You may end up annoying the vendor though, or alternatively some other issues crop up that cause issues.

If it were me, I'd find out for definite around the FTB scheme. Suspect you're right and have x weeks after the initial request for it to be completed. If you time it right then you are able to run in to the new year and not feel under constant pressure.

Like i said before, the lender (and sometimes the estate agent) will usually want to see proof of deposit and may ask questions around the money you have available for fees and then any furniture or appliances you need to buy.