First Time Buyer & Home Owner

LorenzoArmitage

Hello everyone,

My partner and I are in an unusual position as first-time buyers.

We are fortunate to own our one bedroom apartment outright, a lease transfer from her parents when we got married and worth approximately £120k. As we look to start a family in the near future, we would like to sell up, get a mortgage and buy a house.

I’m interested to know what our options are, and what others would do in our situation.

We have no mortgage history, and certainly no experience at house buying. Should we:

· Sell the flat, bank the proceeds as a deposit and apply for a mortgage in the normal way. This would mean renting for maybe six months or moving back in with my parents for a short period.
· Apply for a mortgage as home owners and enter a chain.
· Explore other options not previously mentioned.

We really are new to mortgages and house buying, so any help or advice would be appreciated.

Cheers,

AnotherJoe

Its often asked here "should I sell up go into rented (or similar) and then I'll be a (cash) buyer with no chain". Except, unless you are buying a newbuild, there will be a chain. OK yours will have one more person in it, but that's it.

You might think you'll be in a better position with nothing to sell, but thats marginal, and you also dont remove stress - your stress will be either being in rented with a fixed date to leave by, or staying with parents for so long it grates, and possibly eventually just taking whatever you can find to get out. And if house prices are rising where you are, then there's the stress of seeing prices creep up without yours doing the same as its just cash in the bank standing still.

So, I'd just start applying for a mortgage and get on selling your flat.