Daughter is looking to buy first home

youth_leader

My daughter is 28 and has just told me she and her boyfriend are looking at buying their first house together in NI.  I gifted her a deposit last year, she has just sent me a link to a house they have viewed and really like.  

Is there any general advice I should give, or should I wait to be asked? 

Skiddaw1

Oooh, how exciting @youth_leader ! Whereabouts in NI? Lovely part of the world IMO.

I think you should just make it clear you're there if they need advice and leave it to them to do the asking.

Voyager2002

You should advise her/them to look at several houses before they start committing themselves.

Maybe spend an evening with them (over a meal?) and tell them about the different places that you have lived and what you learned, and about places that you remember viewing and that you wish you had bought or are glad that you didn't buy.

Unless her partner is contributing an equal deposit, they might care to think about ownership of the property and consult a lawyer about how this would work. Unless they do so, the property will be owned equally by both of them, and if the deposit comes only from her that might not be fair. 

FreeBear

youth_leader said: Is there any general advice I should give, or should I wait to be asked?

Tell them to get a survey (and preferably with a surveyor that will look behind furniture, even if he can't lift carpets).

Once they buy a house, get a will drawn up by a qualified & experienced solicitor and not one of these "free" will writing outfits.

Albermarle

Maybe send her this link 
First-Time Buyer Guides - MoneySavingExpert

Brie

Most helpful thing my MiL did was to give me a list of the standard bills she paid every month so I knew what to expect.  

Advice I always give is declutter as much as possible so there's not a lot of tat that needs to be moved, stored, etc.  People think they will put things into storage for a couple of weeks (when companies offer a half price deal) but in reality they are still paying for the storage months, sometimes years, later.  If you don't need it in the first month or 2 you don't need it at all.  

gwynlas

Unless they plan to contribute equally to deposit should have a deed of trust to protect this also wills to determine what happens should one die.

RelievedSheff

Definitely wait to be asked for advice. 

They are adults now and should make their own decisions.

Jude57

FreeBear said:

youth_leader said: Is there any general advice I should give, or should I wait to be asked?

Tell them to get a survey (and preferably with a surveyor that will look behind furniture, even if he can't lift carpets).

Once they buy a house, get a will drawn up by a qualified & experienced solicitor and not one of these "free" will writing outfits.

And both need life insurance with the other as beneficiary so that, heaven forbid anything happens to either, the surviving partner isn't left with a house they can't afford to pay for. I learned that lesson many years ago working in conveyancing. A young, newly married couple were buying their first home and had a mortgage backed by insurance, which was common then, and I remember them gently grumbling because, at their age, why would they need life insurance? A month after completing the purchase, the husband was killed in a road traffic accident but thankfully, the one thing the bereft young widow didn't need to worry about was paying the mortgage because his life insurance, quite rightly, paid off the mortgage.

user1977

RelievedSheff said:

Definitely wait to be asked for advice. 

They are adults now and should make their own decisions.

Or just point them here to ask for advice directly, rather than us playing Chinese whispers via the parents.

YoungBlueEyes

I would ask this question on the Northern Ireland section of the forum, before they get too far into searches and surveys etc.

Are your daughter and boyfriend English? Look hard at the area and then pick a house.