First Time Buyer Questions

Thrugelmir

FIRSTTIMER wrote: »

Do we really need to pay 5k to an estate agent when you can sell directly and advertise urself
Do you really need to take out car finance and pay an extra 3k when if you go direct to bank and get a loan and take cash to buy the car you end up only paying 1k in interest instead.
Do you really need to go to a salon to buy a product that has been marked up by 10 quid when you can just go online and buy direct from supplier at half the price.


I could go on...

Where will you advertise to obtain the exposure of Rightmove?

Will your bank lend you £15k for an unsecured loan?

Shopping around is nothing new. How much of the £10 do you lose in shipping charges. Waste in petrol driving to the depot to collect the parcel. Companies want you to buy that way as it saves them money.

Elfinpie

I would go and see one sooner rather than later. That way you can get all your credit records, bank statements etc in front of them and if there are any potential issues they will be found, giving you the chance to sort them out before putting in any offers.

We left it until we'd found a house, we missed out on it and ended up with our credit records shot (thanks to our broker). However, we will, without doubt, be contacting another broker in the future (once we've sorted out the mess we're in). I personally think a good one is invaluable. Their knowledge and support is worth every single penny (and this comes from someone who's researched and made a spreadsheet of over 100 different lenders and their criteria lol) I would still never go direct

ACG

Ring around re the estate agent. I paid mine £500 upfront. I did the viewings, but I saved myself a grand give or take.

ruperts

My first contact with a broker was just a 20-minute chat over the phone in which he took a few details and numbers and issued me with a decision in principle. He then said to call back once I'd had an offer accepted. So you could do that at anytime but unless you've got a reason to believe your case might be more complicated I can't see any point in doing it until you're ready to start seriously looking at properties with a view to making an offer.

You could start compiling bank statements and proof of identity/address documentation though as that will save you time later. If you do a lot of paperless billing then you might need to request a few paper bills for proof of address, and you might also need to request printed statements from your bank to show source/accumulation of deposit.

pollyannaL

LJE091 wrote: »

Hi all,

My fiance and I have been saving for a deposit, we're nearly at our target. My question is, when is the right time to contact a mortgage broker? - should we have done this already? Should we wait until we have the full deposit ready?

Also how much roughly should we set aside for any fees during the process? By that I mean fees that are required a long the way, rather than ones that can be added onto the mortgage.

Thanks in advance

I am still looking to find my first house, and went to see my broker in January for the first time. It would be good to visit one, just to collect your basic info/ salary/ details & give you a rough guide of what you can afford - even if you don't get a AIP just yet. I have met my broker twice as i had a pay increase in the meantime. I think you should visit one ASAP, who knows if you find your property next month at a perfect price and want to crack on.

I would also email local solicitors and ask them to provide you with a breakdown of costings. Once you are confident you are getting a good price, you can sit confidently that you know roughly what solicitors you would like to instruct when the time is right, as well as a broker.

I agree with you, what is a couple more hundred ££ for a broker in the grand scheme of things. Think it just gives FTBs more confidence we are doing it right!

Good luck!

sn1987a

Why don't you call first a broker that doesn't charge any fees for a chat? If you change your mind or you want to find another broker later, there is no commitment.
Before we were ready to buy, we went to a few EAs to ask information about buying a house. Almost everyone suggested us to meet with their brokers for a no charge initial meeting. I thought that this was useful for us. You get an idea of what they charge, advice on savings/costs/lenders, you see if you like them and most of them gave us the best mortgage offer available at the moment for us and we could see whether they had any special deals we couldn't get by ourselves. And since anyway they know you are not ready to buy a house, there is no commitment. You choose later your broker.

ACG

sn1987a wrote: »

Why don't you call first a broker that doesn't charge any fees for a chat? If you change your mind or you want to find another broker later, there is no commitment.
Before we were ready to buy, we went to a few EAs to ask information about buying a house. Almost everyone suggested us to meet with their brokers for a no charge initial meeting. I thought that this was useful for us. You get an idea of what they charge, advice on savings/costs/lenders, you see if you like them and most of them gave us the best mortgage offer available at the moment for us and we could see whether they had any special deals we couldn't get by ourselves. And since anyway they know you are not ready to buy a house, there is no commitment. You choose later your broker.

If they ask you to sign anything read it. If they say anything that contradicts the paperwork, get it in writing.

Estate agent brokers are usually heavily targetted. I am not going to say they would say anything to get a sale, but there are more complaints about estate agent based brokers on here than non estate agent based brokers.

jlaw4

I have had a bad experience with an EA broker very recently. I work in a bank and have a bit more knowledge than some FTB so he kept skipping through FCA things and basically was quite careless. I had visited him last year when we wanted to scope out how much we could go to and i didn't like him then...
I have seen/spoken to 4 in total and have found a fee free one based in my city centre. I got a feel for charges and solicitors fees early on but our circumstances changed dramatically and the quotes were useless as we got a house £100K higher due to wage and deposit increases. All i can say is that your gut instinct speaks volumes, dont always use the cheapest and look on google for reviews, it saved me a nightmare! Being prepared really does pay off although i'm still panicking like crazy! good luck!