Mortgage help!

adpad

We have had an offer accepted for a flat for £250,000.

We are speaking to Halifax tomorrow evening to get the mortgage confirm (only have mortgage in principle at the moment). We've gone with Halifax (I believe it's a 3% interest mortgage - hopefully ok!???).

I'm not sure what we should be doing now. The estate agents keep calling me about getting a solicitor and appear to be advertising one to us - saying that the person selling is also using the same one so will help get it sorted quicker. Is this the case? Is it important to look around for a solicitors?

AnotherJoe

adpad wrote: »

We have had an offer accepted for a flat for £250,000.

We are speaking to Halifax tomorrow evening to get the mortgage confirm (only have mortgage in principle at the moment). We've gone with Halifax (I believe it's a 3% interest mortgage - hopefully ok!???).

I'm not sure what we should be doing now. The estate agents keep calling me about getting a solicitor and appear to be advertising one to us - saying that the person selling is also using the same one so will help get it sorted quicker. Is this the case? Is it important to look around for a solicitors?

That is an insane idea and I'm staggered an EA would suggest it. I very much doubt a solicitor would do it anyway, because if they did whose side would they take in the event of a dispute? Let's say there is something strange in the lease. Should the solicitor point that out to the buyer, because to do so would be to the detriment of the seller on whose behalf they are also working.

ACG

Find your own solicitor.
Most agents recommend a solicitor but bang on anywhere from £100-500 as a referral fee/kickback/whatever you want to call it.

You will probably notice the price difference between a firm you pick and their firm.

Thrugelmir

When you speak to the Halifax tomorrow. Obtain some names of reputable panel solicitors in your area. Then ring them and ask for fee and cost quotes.

There's no rush to appoint a solicitor. Little will happen until their's a formal mortgage offer on the table.

amnblog

You sound like you need to be guided through the entire process and don't expect that from Halifax.

You would do well to ask for a recommendation from friends or family to an independent mortgage broker.

A broker would:

Confirm if Halifax can offer you the best deal available
Help you with the solicitor
Get the Estate Agent off your back
Help you understand other issues like insurance
Generally help you feel more comfortable

adpad

Thanks all for the replies.

That's what I suspected. For now I'm trying to leave a mortgage adviser.

I do have another question though:

Whilst we are looking to hug this flat, in 5 years ish we will try for kids so will sell the property and by somewhere bigger.

Would I just be mainly paying off interest for the first 5 years, so is this a silly idea? Would it make more sense to rent or go for shared ownership?

AnotherJoe

adpad wrote: »

Thanks all for the replies.

That's what I suspected. For now I'm trying to leave a mortgage adviser.

I do have another question though:

Whilst we are looking to hug this flat, in 5 years ish we will try for kids so will sell the property and by somewhere bigger.

Would I just be mainly paying off interest for the first 5 years, so is this a silly idea? Would it make more sense to rent or go for shared ownership?

"it depends"

Yes it will mainly be interest.

But, suppose the rent would be £825 a month and mortgage £725. Would it matter if most of the £725 mortgage was interest? OTOH if rent is £500 and mortgage £825, then its a different matter.

Then, house prices might go up, or down. If they go down, you lose money. If they go up, you win, not so much because you have extra money, but because that next house you are planning to buy, thats also gone up as well, so the fact yours went up helps you keep pace.

Otherwise you are losing out all the time, you cant save as fast as prices rise, even 5% on a £250k house is £12,500+ a year. can you save that much? In another thread there's a guy who refused in 2014 to pay £315k for a house he thought was only worth £310k, now that same house is probably worth £415k.
So if he was planning on buying (say) a £500k house now as an upgrade, had he bought the £315k house, he'd have £100k to put into the kitty towards it. As it is, he's got jack because the rent he's paid instead was more than mortgage and so he needs to find an extra £100k.
Of course, house prices may also fall. Its a gamble.

Many here think shared ownership is problematic, you often get the worse aspects of both buying and renting. That includes me. There are exceptions though, Again depends on the exact numbers you cant have a general case.

So, depends on the sums re you question, so

-what would rent be for you?
-what would a mortgage be?

ViolaLass

Also, if you're trying to start trying for kids in 5 years then it'll be longer than that before you really need the extra space.

amnblog

You need some proper advice. One to One.