Steps to buying first home

byeo

Morning everyone,

I've been putting money away in my Lifetime ISA for the past year and have got £5000 in there right now. My goal was to buy next year once I had paid off our 2020 holiday. As of Monday afternoon things have changed as my girlfriend told me that she's pregnant and due in November, it wasn't planned but that's our not the issue, currently my girlfriend lives in Nottingham and I'm in Sheffield.

I've started by cancelling our holiday which we'll get some money back and also moving our holiday savings to my ISA, so once the 25% bonus is paid, I'll have 10k before the end of the tax year. I've worked out come May I will be able to stick another £4000 in my ISA, plus the bonus which will give me a 15k deposit. Obviously I need to consider additional fees I'll incur so need some saved for that.

No-one knows about the baby yet but once we tell family I am considering asking my Grandad to possibly gift me some money which can be either used to pay fee's or towards the deposit, though a gift towards the deposit needs written consent does it not? I need more info on this.

Anyway, sorry for the long winded backstory, once I've got the deposit in place (15k plus), what do I do? Do I see a house I like and take it from there, do I see a mortgage broker first, get a an idea of what house prices I should be looking at. Honestly I've no idea, my parents haven't got their own home so they can't advise me to a great extent.

The baby will change our lives but making sure I get a house is the one thing which worries me the most, making sure I buy a house in time for the baby arriving.

Thanks for taking the time to read.

00ec25

go down the library and borrow a book for free on how to buy property

or

use the search function on here. your question has been asked before

Great_Pretender

I'm currently going through this process, so I will give you my 2 pence worth and let someone else with more knowledge correct me:

1. Get a mortgage agreement in Principle/ mortgage promise - This involves going to a bank/ lender and showing them your financial situation. This will usually follow with them give you a "promise" to lend you a certain amount of money.
This "promise" shouldn't be 100% relied upon, but having it makes you appear as a serious buyer when viewing and offering on property.

2. Find the property - if where you are is the same as where I am, the property market will be moving very quickly. Start looking at Zoopla/ Rightmove now to start getting an idea of where exactly you want to live (Nottingham for example has a huge range of price:house size depending on where you want to live.
Viewing property now will give you a better understanding of the "going rate" for properties in different areas.

3. Find a solicitor - again, no time is wasted in reconnaissance. Start asking friends and colleagues for solictor recommendations now. Ask for quotes on conveyance.

4. Submit offer - This is where you contact the Estate agent/ vendor and submit and offer to buy a house. This can be done over the phone/ email / in person. Following this, if the offer is accepted you will be required to prove to the Estate agent that you have : mortgage promise, Cash deposit, a solictor ready to instruct.
If all of the above is done the Estate agent will have the vendor's solicitors notify your solictors with a "notice of sale" and the legal buying process will begin.

There's a few more steps following this such as having a survey done on the house that you are going to buy (a mortgage will depend on this). But the above should give you some areas to start with.

As the poster above says though, have a look through the Sticky posts on these forums. There's a wealth of helpful information on here.

Hope this helps.

byeo

Great_Pretender wrote: »

I'm currently going through this process, so I will give you my 2 pence worth and let someone else with more knowledge correct me:

1. Get a mortgage agreement in Principle/ mortgage promise - This involves going to a bank/ lender and showing them your financial situation. This will usually follow with them give you a "promise" to lend you a certain amount of money.
This "promise" shouldn't be 100% relied upon, but having it makes you appear as a serious buyer when viewing and offering on property.

2. Find the property - if where you are is the same as where I am, the property market will be moving very quickly. Start looking at Zoopla/ Rightmove now to start getting an idea of where exactly you want to live (Nottingham for example has a huge range of price:house size depending on where you want to live.
Viewing property now will give you a better understanding of the "going rate" for properties in different areas.

3. Find a solicitor - again, no time is wasted in reconnaissance. Start asking friends and colleagues for solictor recommendations now. Ask for quotes on conveyance.

4. Submit offer - This is where you contact the Estate agent/ vendor and submit and offer to buy a house. This can be done over the phone/ email / in person. Following this, if the offer is accepted you will be required to prove to the Estate agent that you have : mortgage promise, Cash deposit, a solictor ready to instruct.
If all of the above is done the Estate agent will have the vendor's solicitors notify your solictors with a "notice of sale" and the legal buying process will begin.

There's a few more steps following this such as having a survey done on the house that you are going to buy (a mortgage will depend on this). But the above should give you some areas to start with.

As the poster above says though, have a look through the Sticky posts on these forums. There's a wealth of helpful information on here.

Hope this helps.

Thank you very much, that's been very helpful.

bpj

I'm sure you'll get lots of useful information on the house buying process here, but make sure you consider carefully whether this is the best thing for you and your family at this stage.

It is excellent that you are prioritizing your financial security, but owning a house can be expensive and time-consuming - as is having a child! You might find spending a few years renting while you save and get used to living together as a family is a better option, particularly if, as it reads, you haven't previously lived with your girlfriend.

Best of luck!

bopsybunny

First - congrats to you both on the baby news!

You can talk to some top mortgage brokers for free, and they will advise you on how much you can afford to borrow based on your savings/income/spending/circumstances. We did that before we started looking at houses to get an idea of what we could afford. The broker actually issued us a "decision in principle" certificate before we'd even spoken to a lender. It just said what they anticipated we would be able to borrow.
We needed that certificate for a few house viewings - some estate agents/sellers can be quite strict in ensuring that people are in a position to purchase before allowing a viewing.
We viewed about 10-12 houses in total over about 6 months until we found "the one". After we got home from viewing that house we spoke to the broker again to check mortgage deals, and then put an offer in the following morning. Once it was accepted we instructed the broker to apply for our mortgage.
You should have a solicitor in place before then, as they are named on your mortgage application. Get a few quotes beforehand and make sure you give their details to your broker (if you use one), otherwise they may just use their preferred solicitor which will be expensive!

AlexMac

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mortgages/house-buying-guide/

Some lenders are helpful too

https://www.nationwide.co.uk/guides/buying-and-owning-a-property/first-time-buyers/getting-started

(in fact Nationwide are one of the better lenders in my experience)

Flat_Eric

byeo wrote: »

Morning everyone,

I've been putting money away in my Lifetime ISA for the past year and have got £5000 in there right now. My goal was to buy next year once I had paid off our 2020 holiday. As of Monday afternoon things have changed as my girlfriend told me that she's pregnant and due in November, it wasn't planned but that's our not the issue, currently my girlfriend lives in Nottingham and I'm in Sheffield.

I've started by cancelling our holiday which we'll get some money back and also moving our holiday savings to my ISA, so once the 25% bonus is paid, I'll have 10k before the end of the tax year. I've worked out come May I will be able to stick another £4000 in my ISA, plus the bonus which will give me a 15k deposit. Obviously I need to consider additional fees I'll incur so need some saved for that.

No-one knows about the baby yet but once we tell family I am considering asking my Grandad to possibly gift me some money which can be either used to pay fee's or towards the deposit, though a gift towards the deposit needs written consent does it not? I need more info on this.

Anyway, sorry for the long winded backstory, once I've got the deposit in place (15k plus), what do I do? Do I see a house I like and take it from there, do I see a mortgage broker first, get a an idea of what house prices I should be looking at. Honestly I've no idea, my parents haven't got their own home so they can't advise me to a great extent.

The baby will change our lives but making sure I get a house is the one thing which worries me the most, making sure I buy a house in time for the baby arriving.

Thanks for taking the time to read.

In answer to your gift question, your grandad will need to confirm that it is a gift and not a loan and that he will have no interest in the property. He'll need to confirm he is solvent and is not making the gift to avoid creditors. Your solicitor will prepare a letter for him to sign to cover all the points required which will to some extent depend on who your lender is. your solicitor will need to report the gift to your lender. Your grandad will also need to provide ID and evidence of where the funds are so eg a bank statement

byeo

Flat_Eric wrote: »

In answer to your gift question, your grandad will need to confirm that it is a gift and not a loan and that he will have no interest in the property. He'll need to confirm he is solvent and is not making the gift to avoid creditors. Your solicitor will prepare a letter for him to sign to cover all the points required which will to some extent depend on who your lender is. your solicitor will need to report the gift to your lender. Your grandad will also need to provide ID and evidence of where the funds are so eg a bank statement

I assume the solicitor will advise us about all of this?

MrsR1234

You say you have been putting money in your Lisa for the last year. Have you already maxed out 18/19 £4k contribution? In which case you will only be able to put another £4k in after 6/4/19 making a total of £10k with bonus.

byeo

MrsR1234 wrote: »

You say you have been putting money in your Lisa for the last year. Have you already maxed out 18/19 £4k contribution? In which case you will only be able to put another £4k in after 6/4/19 making a total of £10k with bonus.

No, I'll be putting that in, in the next few weeks.