Offer Accepted - Advice on the first few months!

WKT16

Hi Everyone,

Subsequently since my last post 2-3 days ago our offer was accepted on a 4 bedroom detached house in Gainsborough (Lincolnshire) at 135K. My deposit is 14K. I don't mind mentioning that I earn on gross around 39-43K a year but my basic is 31K.
I (being a the sole signature for the mortgage) was so excited but then immediately terrified :rotfl:(I hope that is a normal feeling?). My goodness, I am sure most of you remember that feeling; excitement then just shear terror of what lies ahead. It's also worth noting all my family and very, very close friends are down in Somerset whilst I work and will potentially live up in Lincolnshire (I've been doing this for the last 4 years). Anyone else been in this situation?

So my main question(s) is/are to you amazing people; What's it like the first few months of owning your first home?
I have the bare necessities like a bed and some furniture but things like fridges, washing machines, etc..... I haven't purchased yet. Would anyone know of how to start off this whole experience cheaply? i.e: Gumtree.

Any tips or money saving tips would be great. It's worth adding I am away from the UK a great deal sometimes but have a brilliant bunch of family and work colleagues to help (I.e: house sitting for home insurance purposes). I have obviously been shopping around for things like home insurance, etc..... and utilities but anything just to get me started off would be fantastic.


Thanks everyone,

Pandilex

Congratulations! Don't get too ahead of yourself until contracts are exchanged though - try to remain realistic and impartial as surveys might flag up issues you'll need to negotiate etc.

First few months will be spent fixing all the little things that the previous owner didn't do, like loose cupboard handles and faulty window catches etc.

If you plan to live there for a long time, don't necessarily buy the cheapest stuff you can find.

You need to set up mail forwarding as well, which has to be done in advance of moving (once you have exchanged).

Use comparison sites for all your insurances.

HTH

Rain_Shadow

As there is only you and a few possessions in a four bed house I presume many of the rooms are empty or nearly empty. This is the ideal time to polish your decorating skills. All decorating is easiest in empty rooms and doing your own is both very satisfying and will save you a lot of money over the years

WKT16

Thanks Pandilex,

I couldn't agree with you more - I haven't bought it yet and there is still so much to do.

I think the most difficult thing to start with (if I get that far as you mentioned) is to balance the finances out and get settled down into owning a home with bills, etc......

Good point about the mail, I'll start thinking about that next week!

Hope all is well.

bouicca21

Use your first few months to decorate and make the place feel fresh. Your ideas about furnishings will change as you settle in so don't go berserk buying stuff that you might regret later.

Freecycle, British heart foundation, eBay and gumtree are all good for getting quality secondhand furniture. Check out local auction houses too.

Rain_Shadow

WKT16 wrote: »

I think the most difficult thing to start with (if I get that far as you mentioned) is to balance the finances out and get settled down into owning a home with bills, etc......

.

That is the big difference with owning. it's a different mindset to renting or living with parents


When problems arise no one else is going to sort them for you and problems of all sorts pop up with great regularity.


Good luck in your new home.

glasgowdan

I wouldn't worry about getting house sitters to satisfy insurers, they don't send people out to check you're there! It's hopefully your home and you can reasonably live however you like in it, whether that's going away for 6 months at a time or whatever.

The first few months are just thoroughly relaxing (in the sense that you're finally in your own home and can stop thinking about landlords etc). You can make a mess if you like, nobody is going to get annoyed.

You probably won't end up doing all the diy/decoration you have planned as you'll realise a lot of it isn't necessary.

jimpix12

Holy cow. A 4 bedroom for 150k and you can easily afford it an average or slightly higher than average salary.

Down here a 4 bed would cost 15x the average salary. Crazy.

LittleMax

glasgowdan wrote: »

I wouldn't worry about getting house sitters to satisfy insurers, they don't send people out to check you're there! It's hopefully your home and you can reasonably live however you like in it, whether that's going away for 6 months at a time or whatever.

Insurers don't send people out to check, but if you make a claim and they find out you have breached the terms then they may not pay out.

Mrs.CJP

We're just about to complete on our new home this Monday and although we've owned our original home for 10 years it's still really scary. It is a big scary but fabulously exciting decision/move.

I guess a lot of fear is simply down to the unknown....i have worries like we've viewed the property but is there hidden 'things' we don't know about? Is the area really right for us? Is this the right thing to do? Mortgage wise....we've increased it by £285 a month but what happens when the rates have increased? (Although on this point I have budgeted for our rates to up to 4% before we really worry)

I guess it's just a matter of going with the flow and making the place your home regardless of what comes your way

glasgowdan

LittleMax wrote: »

Insurers don't send people out to check, but if you make a claim and they find out you have breached the terms then they may not pay out.

If you worked away for a few months would you get a friend to live in your house for a few days to somehow prove to insurers it is lived in to satisfy the unlikely event of a claim on something?

That's bonkers.

Get a friend to check the house perhaps, check the lights are still on, whatever... but to think you'd need someone to live in it is total paranoia. But each to their own... it doesn't affect me!