FIRST Time Buyer - Please Help

Melanie&Ian

so... I have moved back into my parents house with my partner to help save for a deposit for our first home. We're hoping to have a good amount around April 2018. I'm trying to get everything in line ready to answer all the questions and provide all relevant documentation. However, i'm struggling with what 'everything' is... What do i need to be doing now to help get prepared. What do i need to have with me when i go to see the bank for the first time.. ANY help i would appreciate.

So far we've:
- Checked and changed addresses with accounts to make sure they're all at the current address and updated our ID.
- Checked our credit file (all seem fine)
- We are registered to vote (at our new address)
- We both have a help to buy account and are transferring the £200 per month
- All our bills are paid on time each month and we are keeping within our balance (avoiding overdrafts)
- We've reduced the credit amounts (voluntarily) on store cards/credit cards.
- i have a file with our wage slips for the past year and bank statements - is there anything else that should go in here?

What else can i be doing now to reduce the stress and risk of being declined? :eek:

What documentation do i need?

EEEEEEEKKKKK roll on Next year!! :T

Mike_1979

I would suggest making an appointment with a mortgage broker or bank. Explain the situation and if they are good they should be able to help get everything in order.
Have fun house hunting soon. :j

ACG

Nothing wrong with reducing your limits, but if you have £500 balances and £500 limits, then it does not look great to some lenders. There is a bit of a balancing act between balances and limits.

Aside from that, it sounds like you are all over it.

Cakeguts

Just remember that £5000 in savings and £5000 in debt means that you have saved £0. Your savings are offset by how much you have in debts on credit cards or other loans.

ACG

Cakeguts wrote: »

Just remember that £5000 in savings and £5000 in debt means that you have saved £0. Your savings are offset by how much you have in debts on credit cards or other loans.

Thats not how lenders view it in the main.

Melanie&Ian

We reduced some of our bigger limits as that can go against you (according to some of the information we read). Some of them were over 4k and barely used. They've been reduced to under 1k and we use maybe 5% monthly and pay it off.

Melanie&Ian

The only debt we have is a small loan and small car finance. The rest is easily cleared monthly ☺️

Moriath

Melanie&Ian wrote: »

We reduced some of our bigger limits as that can go against you (according to some of the information we read). Some of them were over 4k and barely used. They've been reduced to under 1k and we use maybe 5% monthly and pay it off.

Igot 11.5k limit on my visa card and only use up to about a grand. Paying it off each month. Wsnt an issue with my mortgage application

Financialfreedom

Firstly - how exciting for you both! You sound very organised and it's really good to save on rent whilst you get saving.

Go and see an advisor if you can. Ours helped find the best mortgage rates for us, and sorted life insurance (check out MSE's best deals for comparing though).

All banks/lenders will ask you to fill in an application form and all the stuff you have listed. Just note that if you are applying in April, you will need wage slips and bank statements 3-6 months up to that date (i.e. Jan, Feb, march) If you have a new job, they may want to see the contract to evidence it's full time. You may not get approval whilst in a 'probation period' at work.

Evidence of repayment is key to lenders, so don't miss any card payments and don't go over your overdraft limit. They want to see your ability to repay debt, so some card history is good, missed payments are bad. Reducing your debt will increase the amount you can borrow based on your available monthly income.

You will also need to work out legal/surveyor fees, stamp duty and level of borrowing. Again, a mortgage advisor can really help, even if you end up going direct to a bank. Once armed with how much you can afford, get house hunting. Check out house prices, check out transport links, schools etc. You can even find out about council tax prices to check your budget if you have an idea of your monthly mortgage repayments. Be realistic about managing your finances once you have a mortgage, and factor in hidden costs like service charges. Have a real idea of where you want to buy and always offer lower than asking, but don't look at houses over your budget.

Buying a house is one of the most stressful things you will ever do, and I promise, even if your bank tell you they have everything, you will probably end up running around in the days before exchange/completion trying to rustle up evidence of something!

Lastly - Remember to have some money set aside for furniture and decorating set aside. Try not to buy tons of stuff for the house on HP the minute you get a mortgage. It will take you 6 months to adjust to monthly mortgage repayments, so scrimp on things and buy second hand.

Best of luck to you both!

Lauralou79

After just buying a house you sound much more organised we were. As you have time keep saving and then save some more. Don't underestimate how much money moving/furnishing
etc will be, plus if you have extra you have a nice fund for any unexpected work on the house or Emergancy fund. Money
seems to disappear quickly when house buying!

Research solicitors thoroughly try to get recommendations if you can. Also don't expect them to work quickly, doesn't seem generally that they do from reading on here. Although I'm sure there are exceptions!

Be prepared for stress, I'm not young I'm 38 and been through stress in my life but house buying is stressful, from waiting on offers, to waiting on mortgage offer. It then feels an age waiting to exchange. It's all totally worth it though.

Financialfreedom

Good advice from Lauralou. My best tip on lawyers is to use the same as the seller. Get a quote from elsewhere and tell the lawyer for a better quote on a fixed fee basis. Using the same team will avoid timely and expensive correspondence. Plus a fixed fee will give you a known cost to budget for. It's worked well in the past and I've had fees as low as £1500. The lawyers are happy too as they get twice the fee! They can do this without conflicts by creating an information barrier and using different teams for each party.