Buying a house :)

Former Member

So in around a year or two me and Laura will be looking to buying our own place and moving, We will roughly have around a £40000-50000 deposit available by and know roughly where we wish to buy and will need a mortgage for around another £120000-130000 for the type of housing we are after.

The thing is, having never done this myself, on my own I would like to know how it all goes about, and the procedures, any tips? tricks I should know which can safe me money, I am pretty much a novice with regards to house buying.

littlemissy

You will need to tell us where you are planning on buying. The process in Scotland is extremely different to the process in England. Either way, make sure that you have a competent solicitor. One of my friends is currently going through the process and her solicitor has screwed up a couple of times, which has pushed moving date back 3 times now.

Former Member

England, back down south

Former Member

No advice to give cos I've rented but MAJOR YAYS!!!

Former Member

Hey Hellfire,

Great news!

The first step I think is research, research and research.
Ensure you check out the property very thoroughly. A solicitor will be able to advise what paper searches you need to make but also get a surveyor to check it out. Have a look around yourself at different times of the day. The buyer beware caveat is still very much in operation!

I think the BBC's guide to buying a house is quite good to look at.

Former Member

Thank you, any advice on mortgages, I really have no idea what I need to do here or what is best to look out for

Former Member

hey again,

Have you seen the money saving expert website? There's a whole section on mortgages - http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mortgages/

I've not actually brought a property before, so don't have any personal tips!

We also have some great pages on theSite's 'house buying guide'. E.g. the 'home buying process' and the 'first mortgage'.

Former Member

Step 1: Work out the price bracket you can afford
Step 2: Find out which areas you are interested in
Step 3: Search for properties in your areas of interest
Step 4: Schedule viewing appointments with the property owners
Step 5: Get an independent evaluation of the property (optional)
Step 6: Negotiate the price and terms of the sale
Step 7: Meet the seller at a notary to conclude the sale
Step 8: Register the property with the Land Registry
Step 9: Transfer utilities to your name

Former Member

We just told the estate agent we wanted a 10 year fixed rate and let the estate agent sort it all out.

managed to get the fixed rate just before the interest rates dropped for 10 years :banghead: I'd still make the same choice though, I prefer certainty over value

Former Member

That's the thing, you could easily have gone for variable when it was low and been stung to hell. I'm about to start buying a house with my brother.


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Former Member

I definitely agree about getting a good solicitor. sometimes the estate agents can recommend one that they have a good relationship with. I didn't know that at the time. me and my boyfriend have just bought a house and because our solicitor was rubbish it was very very stressful. we picked the cheapest (but by cheapest I still mean £927 fees) and he never rang us back, constantly forgot to do things, and held up the moving in process by about two months cos he was a bumbling idiot. I wish I had gone for the more expensive one but at the time I still thought £927 was loads!

don't forget about the extra costs involved with house moving and make sure you're prepared - solicitors fees as I mentioned can be up to a grand, our house valuation fee was £300, our mortgage arrangement fee was £1000. I'd recommend getting a mortgage advisor preferably someone that's been recommended to you, ours was really nice and to be honest we didn't have a clue about mortgages but he explained everything and got us the best deal. we had to pay him £100 for his advice at the end but to be honest that was nothing as he was so good and we were on the phone to him a LOT. worth every penny.

if you have any other questions ill try to answer them considering iv done it very recently ha.

Former Member

Hellfire wrote: »

Thank you, any advice on mortgages, I really have no idea what I need to do here or what is best to look out for

We went to an independant mortgage advisor, he set it all up after finding us the best deal.

Indrid Cold

Last year's thread, btw!

Former Member

Indrid Cold wrote: »

Last year's thread, btw!

The first post does say in the next year or two

Former Member

Indrid Cold wrote: »

Last year's thread, btw!

grrr, annoying

Former Member

Oh, well played papercupmachine, well played.

Former Member

This made me chuckle...
Paperupmachine, the original poster did say in a year or two, however, we don't generally like to bring up old threads as things may have moved on for the Original Poster and it may not be relevant now. Please start a new thread if you'd like any further advice or support.

Going to close this now