What do you wish you'd known as a 1st time buyer?

Don't get too hung up on future house prices, how easy a place will be to sell etc. Concentrate entirely on finding something that you would enjoy living in.

Get a mortgage broker!!!

Something that needs decorative work makes a good first home. The time you spend doing it up can be fun and rewarding, and an opportunity to learn about DIY - and you can make it your own.

When you look round a place, think mainly about the space, layout and location. Remember when you own, pretty much anything else can be changed, with investment. In fact even the layout can be changed sometimes! You'll have lots of time to save up, change it and improve it when you live in it - so think about what can't be changed.

Do NOT show too much interest in places when you look around with the Estate Agent. Instead, pick faults and flaws. Let your eyes glaze over if they mention 'other buyers' etc and move at your own pace. There's always another house.

The longer it's been on the market, the more chance of a getting a great price you have. It's a VERY slow market for sellers in most places right now, you can likely get a substantial discount on the asking price. Be bullish in negotiating everything - you only get one shot.

This is the ONLY time you will not have to pay stamp duty (or much of it). And mortgage rates are at a record low. Buy the biggest/best house you can possibly afford. Moving again will be much more expensive.

Good luck.

Know what is important to you and what isn't.
Ie if some houses only have on road parking, but you get home late every night, will you be happy parking half way down the street.

The decor really isn't important, you can change it.

Look at neighbouring properties, remember the outside often gives an indication of the sort of person living there.

How quickly time flies - it's 28 years since our first buy (it was an awful to easier back then) - it was a house we liked (couldn't afford love) - only now finally buying our 'love' house due to Mr Ts job. You get there in the end if you keep the end in sight.

Lack of allocated parking can cause loads of hassle.

If you have to go leasehold be sure to read the lease. Unless it's a house in which case avoid leasehold.

If its a flat the front door may slam and lifts are noisy.

Check where the sun falls, in the windows, on the garden. A south facing garden is popular but would be too hot for me. North facing gets evening sun in a summer evening but little in winter if a small garden. Unless of course there are tall trees or buildings blocking it off.

Understand your mortgage terms in detail.

Prices can go down as well as up. As a FTB I got burned the in crash of the late 80's.

Interest rates can rise. Interest rates averaged about 6% over the medium term before the banking crisis. In the bad old days they peaked at 15% in the 1990s and higher in the late 1970s. Not saying that will happen again but I'd budget for 4% or 5%.

If you are renting don't hand in your notice until you have exchanged contracts. If the purchase falls through you do not want to be homeless.

The estate agent is not your friend... They work for the vendor.
However, they are probably only paid at exchange/completion- use that to your advantage!

Make a maximum of 2 offers... Offer 1 should be a cheeky offer to see how the ground lies- you may be lucky; offer 2 should be your final offer.
If you aren't cheeky on offer 1 and they accept, you will always wonder if you over paid.

Find out about the vendors- where are they moving? Why? How desperate? Useful negotiating information.

jonnygee2 wrote: »

Do NOT show too much interest in places when you look around with the Estate Agent. Instead, pick faults and flaws. Let your eyes glaze over if they mention 'other buyers' etc and move at your own pace. There's always another house.
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some caution here... A good estate agent will pick up on these vibes. We had more than one offer on our house-all at a similar amount. We went with the people that had seemed to the estate agent to be more enthusiastic on basis they had an emotional attachment.