Buying house costs

Rikkka

Hello,

I've opened a thread some weeks ago about the timeline of buying a house, I was very happy with the replies.

I'm planning to start the process to buy a house soon, in this moment as you know it's always difficult to predict how things will go. In particular I'd like to know a little bit more about the extra expenses. Apart for the deposit, the removal costs and the furnitures that I don't put in these calculations... How much does everything else cost? Mortgage broker, surveyor, solicitor etc.. If it can help I'm a first time buyer (no stamp duty), the house ideally would be on the 170/200k range, 2/3 bedroom terraced/semi.

In my calculations I've always put aside about 5k for these things. Is this a fair expectation or do I have to aspect to pay more than that?

Thank you very much 🙏

Robin9

It is surprising just how much the little things cost   -  the curtain rail, curtains, the lampshades, any carpeting/flooring, tips for the removal team -  allow £1k

Rikkka

Robin9 said:

It is surprising just how much the little things cost   -  the curtain rail, curtains, the lampshades, any carpeting/flooring, tips for the removal team -  allow £1k

Thank you.

What about the mortgage broker, solicitor and surveyor costs?

ArbitraryRandom

Those costs can vary depending on where you are in the country and your specific purchase. 

I would suggest you contact a few brokers and solicitors to introduce yourself, ask about their fees, and see if you feel confident they would offer you the support you want (it's important to feel comfortable with the people helping you with one of the most stressful transactions you're ever going to undertake). 

If you want some rough numbers then:

Brokers might charge upto 1% of the mortgage amount... but a lot don't charge a fee at all (being paid via commission from the lender) or charge a relatively small amount (c.£200) for advice in the event you decide not to take the recommended product. Best thing to do is email a few (you can search for whole market brokers using unbiased.co.uk) to introduce yourself and ask for quotes, then you can get a sense from how they respond if they'd be a good fit for you. You can contact them now even if you're not ready to buy quite yet - they won't mind. 

For a solicitor I'd put aside £2k and hope to have change, but it depends on how complicated the transaction is. Don't go with the solicitor recommended by the estate agent; and I'd also recommend avoiding 'fix fee' online solicitors. As them for a schedule of costs upfront 

Surveys can be £300-£2k or more depending on what you want (which will depend on the property and how comfortable you are deciding for yourself if there are any problems). A 'basic' valuation survey might be paid for by the lender or might cost £300ish. 

Rikkka

ArbitraryRandom said:

Those costs can vary depending on where you are in the country and your specific purchase. 

I would suggest you contact a few brokers and solicitors to introduce yourself, ask about their fees, and see if you feel confident they would offer you the support you want (it's important to feel comfortable with the people helping you with one of the most stressful transactions you're ever going to undertake). 

If you want some rough numbers then:

Brokers might charge upto 1% of the mortgage amount... but a lot don't charge a fee at all (being paid via commission from the lender) or charge a relatively small amount (c.£200) for advice in the event you decide not to take the recommended product. Best thing to do is email a few (you can search for whole market brokers using unbiased.co.uk) to introduce yourself and ask for quotes, then you can get a sense from how they respond if they'd be a good fit for you. You can contact them now even if you're not ready to buy quite yet - they won't mind. 

For a solicitor I'd put aside £2k and hope to have change, but it depends on how complicated the transaction is. Don't go with the solicitor recommended by the estate agent; and I'd also recommend avoiding 'fix fee' online solicitors. As them for a schedule of costs upfront 

Surveys can be £300-£2k or more depending on what you want (which will depend on the property and how comfortable you are deciding for yourself if there are any problems). A 'basic' valuation survey might be paid for by the lender or might cost £300ish. 

According to these numbers the 5k expectation could be right...

Thank you for the reply.

BobT36

What's the point of Mortgage brokers? 
As far as I can see, I can search various offers on comparison sites and sign up with a lender (Nationwide or whatever) myself? 

Phantom151

Whatever you do, don't go for an online mob. We did. They lost documents from the off so we changed to a solicitor down the road.At least that way you can go in and hassle them when they inevitably take their own sweet time.

user1977

BobT36 said:

What's the point of Mortgage brokers? 
As far as I can see, I can search various offers on comparison sites and sign up with a lender (Nationwide or whatever) myself? 

Some reasons off the top of my head:

• Not all the offers are available directly to punters
• you might want to save yourself from getting rejections (and searches on your credit record) by avoiding lenders whom brokers know will be averse to you or the property
• the lenders tend to be overly-thorough in their processes (long interviews to go through your finances etc) while in a broker-introduced case they can rely on the broker to do all the advice (and possibly take a more sensible view).

Probably better to ask on the Mortgages board though where the brokers hang out.

BobT36

user1977 said:

BobT36 said:

What's the point of Mortgage brokers? 
As far as I can see, I can search various offers on comparison sites and sign up with a lender (Nationwide or whatever) myself? 

Some reasons off the top of my head:

• Not all the offers are available directly to punters
• you might want to save yourself from getting rejections (and searches on your credit record) by avoiding lenders whom brokers know will be averse to you or the property
• the lenders tend to be overly-thorough in their processes (long interviews to go through your finances etc) while in a broker-introduced case they can rely on the broker to do all the advice (and possibly take a more sensible view).

Probably better to ask on the Mortgages board though where the brokers hang out.

Hmm aside from some exclusive deals, is it more geared towards people who's finances aren't necessarily as stable?
I can't see why a lender would reject if you're not borrowing well at/over budget?  Or going for a listed build or whatever. 

I don't mind long finance focused interviews etc. that's what they should be doing! Most of the major financial issues we have nowadays is the availability of cheap credit and people borrowing more than they can afford. All my payslips are in order and incomings / outgoings are listed and budgeted monthly. 

Bonniepurple

I didn’t think that we would get a mortgage, but I contacted a broker and he was able to get us the amount that we needed.  I’m sure he was tearing his hair out at points (me part time, husband self employed, 2 kids) but he did the legwork for us.  He knew where to place us and he really listened to what we wanted.

I’m now sat in a house that I never thought we would be able to dream of owning.

Noneforit999

BobT36 said:

What's the point of Mortgage brokers? 
As far as I can see, I can search various offers on comparison sites and sign up with a lender (Nationwide or whatever) myself? 

If its your 5th remortgage and you have 30% LTV then probably very little but if you are not a vanilla remortgage then it might be worth while as they can see some deals you can't see and they have knowledge to help those with different circumstances. Some people are self employed and lenders have different rules on paperwork required, some have missed payments on their credit report. There are a myriad of circumstances and brokers can ensure the applicants only apply for ones they are likely to be approved for rather than just looking online for the cheapest deal and expecting to be accepted despite being a non vanilla customer.

To the OP's question - Most costs vary so its hard to give a comparison. Even moving costs vary from area to area and things are far more expensive than they were even 2 years ago so unless you find a forum member who lives in your area, has the same size house as you, is moving to the same size house you are and recently moved then cost examples are likely meaningless so you need to get out and get some quotes.

In my experience:.

1. Find a local solicitor. Ideally by word of mouth. A decent solicitor could be the difference between a slightly painful process and one that causes you to have a near breakdown experience. Don't go with a cheap online one, they are cheap for a reason.
2. Budget to spend more than you expect to once you move in. As mentioned, even things like curtains/blinds can be expensive. When went for middle of the road blinds which I fitted myself and it was nearly £1k for the downstairs alone. Assuming you want to recarpet/floor, change all blinds/curtains, paint every room etc, I would have a few grand lying around.