First Time Buyer - Story and things I wish I'd known!

Tatters26

As a nervous first time buyer who recently completed, I thought I’d pop a post up with things I learnt that may help someone else. These things may seem stupid to some people, but as I said this is more from one FTB to another.

So my history. I got divorced in early 2018 and had some bad credit around that point from things not being paid, split correctly, etc and this resulted in a handful of defaults from 2017 to 2018. These were all paid off and settled. I had a 15% deposit this year with my partner to buy a house, both of us first-time-buyers.

We went to a mortgage broker recommended by a friend. The issue was my friend is squeaky clean financially , and therefore this broker didn’t really know who to do with us. He “tried his luck” as he put it with Halifax, Santander, etc but with nobody accepting us, he went straight to Kensington. Someone has since told me this is like not getting a game for Real Madrid or Manchester United, so you immediately go and play for Staines Town. There are levels in between!

We knew no better and were accepted for a mortgage by Kensington. At that point, after hearing how negative this person was to our situation as he was used to Grade A clients, we were elated. The mortgage rate was over 5%, I think something like 5.19%. That house fell through in September this year as the tenants didn’t leave at the end of their tenancy, and they are still there now in fact. We retracted our offer and walked away, but not before we had paid for a private survey which was frustrating.

Anyway we were told by anyone and everyone that it would turn out to be a good thing, these things happen for a reason, etc.. and they were right. We started looking for more houses but I decided to contact a specialist broker for a second opinion on our situation and they couldn’t believe that Kensington were used by the other broker, and managed to secure us a DIP in minutes with another lender at a rate of 2.99%. That mortgage with Kent Reliance went through and was sorted start in finish in under a fortnight after we had an offer accepted elsewhere, and the broker was incredible. It showed me you need to pick someone who knows your position well, and it’s very much horses for courses. The other broker was used to 999 Experian people.

 So things I wish I’d known beforehand:

• Credit scores are utterly irrelevant.  Mine has never gone above "Poor" and still is on the two I monitor and we were approved for two mortgages very quickly. It’s all to do with your situation and circumstance, not a number based approval as TV would make you believe is important.
• We offered under asking on both properties, and both were accepted. Take each property on their merit. We offered both times a final-offer on both and said it was our best and final to get it off the market. Doesn't work all the time of course, but we did it twice and it worked twice. We got a £365k offer accepted on a £375k property and then £425k accepted on a £430k property, where we ultimately moved to. 
• The people on this forum can be incredibly reassuring and helpful, but also very patronising. Take the advice you get with a pinch of salt.
• Bear in mind a lot of people of here posting their stories about being turned down for things will give one side of events. I read things on here that worried the life out of me, and more often than not they never came to fruition.
• Clean bank statements help but in reality they’re looking for good things and not bad things. Just make sure you live normally and your pay slips match your bank statement. If you want to have some more freedom, dump some money in a PayPal account 4/5 months before you’re due to offer and use that for things. I worried as I use PayPal but every broker I spoke to said they’d never heard of PayPal accounts being looked at.
• Do a survey on the property you’re buying when it suits you. We did it early so as not to progress too far and then find out there was a situation. Some people do some conveyancing first to check issues that come from that (previous flooding, etc) and then do their own survey. It’s all down to when it suits you. And everything sounds scary in it, but a lot of it is covering themselves.
• If there are tenants in a property you view, tread very carefully. This was the general advice of here when I posted about our situation around the time the first house fell through. Although I did get accused of “wanting to make someone homeless” by someone on here, when I asked for advice on securing the property the tenants were refusing to leave. So as above - beware of the morons on here! They are rare, but they are loud.
• Get a good solicitor. Take referrals and recommendations. And keep on their case politely, as they will sometimes need a nudge but they also are dealing with dozens of other people at once.
• We exchanged and completed on the same day. The property we ended up buying was empty so this was very easy to do and was done on the advice of our solicitor. And we didn’t know that exchange was the bigger event in reality and is very difficult to come back from. So that’s the one you want to get to!
• Get a DIP before you look at properties. You may be surprised (pleasantly or otherwise) what you can borrow. I work in a job where commission makes up a third of my P60, so this again was something our broker was great with targeting a lender who would take this into consideration.

If anyone wants to check anything, feel free to get in touch. That might sound silly but I'd have loved someone to ask certain things to when I started the process. I've gone through the entire buying process (effectively twice) this year with adverse credit, different mortgages brokers and lenders. And I was on furlough at points, so quite a complex situation given I also earn commission. 

 And lastly that moment you get the keys does make it worthwhile. Everyone is right about that!

Marvel1

Tatters26 said:

• If there are tenants in a property you view, tread very carefully. This was the general advice of here when I posted about our situation around the time the first house fell through. Although I did get accused of “wanting to make someone homeless” by someone on here, when I asked for advice on securing the property the tenants were refusing to leave. So as above - beware of the morons on here! They are rare, but they are loud.

Don't spend/do anything until the tenants have officially left.

redefinr

I agree with everything you said here - those are valuable points!

This forum has a great source of information and it was extremely helpful to me when I bought my property last year. 

I couldn't stress enough the solicitor part: you must get a good one. None of my friends bought a house in London and I didn't know where to look at. So I had to phone a bunch of them, get quotes and most importantly google them (not only Google reviews but also on forums, discussion etc). Usually, if they are expensive there is a reason!

london21

Congratulations on completing on your home.

Your 1st broker was quite lazy 5.19% wow guess important to go with specialist brokers.
Lucky to pay below asking, a lot of properties in certain areas have few properties coming up so huge competition to secure it.  

Getting a good solicitor is a major one. Can making the buying process very stressful if this goes wrong.
Reading solicitors reviews is a must.

Nickinok75

Ahh thank you for your positive review, I am currently in a similar position and being directed towards Kensington. Could you advise what broker you used please?

dimbo61

Well done on doing your research and finding a home and good solicitor.
Once you get the keys you start a new phase ! 
Bills Bills and more Bills 😱 
Council Tax letter, don't know where to  start on Energy, Broadband, Mortgage ( first payment ) Water bill