A couple first time buyer questions

PeteW

Hiya,

My partner and I are expecting our first baby at the end of October - five and a half months away, by which time we want to have bought and moved into a house.

We're currently living rent-free so our deposit is building up and as prices are still slipping, it makes sense to wait as long as possible, however we need to be in before the baby is born! But the question is - how long..?

Being a first time buyer, I've no idea how long the whole process takes, so don't know when we should get the ball rolling! Anyone care to give us a rough outline of how long the various stages might take, so we know when to get started!

Just as importantly, I also don't know where to start! Do we need to get some sort of pre-approval before we go looking at houses and making offers? (You can tell I'm new at this!)

Also, is the fact that I've only been in my current job a month (to date) going to make it harder to get a mortgage? We're going to be putting down a £80k+ deposit so that should go in our favour, but will the job issue cause some lenders to refuse us?

Thanks for taking the time to help us,

Pete

LillyJ

We viewed the house we are buying in the middle of Feb, then had a protracted negotiation process, had offer accepted early April, and are hoping to move in July. Things have actually gone pretty smoothly and we had looked for a little while before we viewed this house. So I would say no harm in starting to look now, you don't want to be moving too close to the birth, these things aren't exactly timed to the minute!
Good luck with the house and the baby!

LillyJ

I had a mortgage agreed in principal especially in this climate to show the EA you were proceedable, as a lot of purchases are falling through due to FTBs not being able to get a mortgage.
Get on to a broker ASAP as you are better getting one sooner rather than later as good deals are going fast.

Ishtar

We accepted an offer on ours on 22 March, had an offer accepted on our purchase on 31 March and we are expecting to move sometime between 28 May and 4 June - haven't exchanged yet, but this should happen this week (fingers crossed!!). As far as I'm aware, the minimum time it can take is six weeks from start to finish (well, it was when we moved here 4 years ago...might have changed since then!).

Good advice about sorting your mortgage beforehand - yes, the good deals are going, but also the lender can take a while to turn things around. For info, our mortgage offer is valid until mid-October so you've got a bit of time to find what you want.

It's probably best to start sooner rather then later!

D.

PasturesNew

As house prices seem to be dropping - and most experts are reporting daily that this might not be changing for years to come ... why not just rent for now and get a better house next year or the one after?

Realistically, if you started now, you might be moving in the morning you give birth... so timing wouldn't be great.

PeteW

PasturesNew wrote: »

As house prices seem to be dropping - and most experts are reporting daily that this might not be changing for years to come ... why not just rent for now and get a better house next year or the one after?.

With the kid on the way we just want somewhere of our own where we can do what we want, and dont have the trouble of being uprooted at any moment in time - as we just have been! We also want much more room - we were renting a one bed flat and we're looking for a 3 bed house. The cost of renting a 3-bed house would just seem like a lot to be throwing away.

We're planning on staying where we buy for quite some time, so even if houses do go down for a couple years, they'll most likely be back up by the time we look to sell. Plus now is in some ways a good time to buy as there's lots on the market, prices are lower that they were last year, and people are excepting lower offers, as such we know can get something nice now, whereas what happens in the future is purely speculative - I don't want to still be renting in a few years time, not being able to afford the house I can today.

Plus there is NOTHING in the world I hate more than moving! Once more and that's me done for the foreseeable future!

joepubli

1. Talk to a mortgage broker and find out which mortgage providers are quick at processing mortgages. This is likely to be the biggest block. You don't necessarily need to go through a broker - you can phone a few and see which ones they say to avoid or ask the lender how long it takes them to process.

Also if your lender checks with employer, make sure you have briefed your payroll department to turn around the reference as soon as they receive them.


2. Sort out a good solicitor. Don't just go with the ones recommended by the agent. They are on commission! Ask a friend or get a recommendation. £100 or £200 extra is worth every penny here. A bad solicitor can add months to the timescale.

3. Tell the agent that you have no chain. Ideally look for something where the owner doesn't need to buy. Chains have a habit of collapsing - particularly int his market. With nothing to sell and a mortgage sorted you should be able to negotiate a good deal.

pinkkaz

I would definitely start looking now and get your mortgage sorted.

We started looking in February last year. We found somewhere, got a survey, but then it fell through (luckily seller refunded cost). Then we found somewhere else, but the place they were buying needed too much work so that fell through. Then we looked around for a while but couldn't find anything for the right price. Then the first property came back on the market and we went for it. Took another couple of months to get everything sorted though.

Finally moved in beginning of October. So 8 months in all! Definitely start now!

pinkkaz

And yes, get a mortgage broker on recommendation. Our broker has now done all our friends' mortgages as well!

clobber_2

Sold last year, no chain in either direction, seller had a large deposit and was in rental accommodation and I had mostly already moved. Still took four months from offer to completion.

Plus the time he spent looking at properties before he settled on mine...

neverdespairgirl

PeteW wrote: »

Hiya,

My partner and I are expecting our first baby at the end of October - five and a half months away, by which time we want to have bought and moved into a house.

Hi Pete - congratulations on the baby!

Just a note of warning, my parents bought a house when my mother was pregnant wiht her 1st child (ME!), and she said the stress of sorting out all the buying and moving when 8 months gone was awful, she's never do it again.