Buying first home, a million questions!!
Discussion
Risotto said:
I can only speak from personal experience and apologies in advance if I'm stating the bleedin' obvious but...
If you've only found one property in the whole of Bristol that meets your criteria, perhaps you need to review your priorities. Personally I've never given a second thought to how any of the houses I've bought have been decorated or equipped. If you're planning on staying for a long time, you can modify the house to suit you later. If it's got dated decor or an old boiler, don't let it put you off viewing, just factor it into any offer you make. Concentrate more on things that are expensive/impossible to change - room sizes, location, garden orientation, school catchment areas, etc.
Mortgage brokers...I have used them, but I've also found my own deals. Saying that, the last time I arranged one, lenders were falling over themselves to give you money so it wasn't difficult to find good deals by yourself. Don't forget to look at things like overpayment limits, etc if you think your saving drive might continue once you've got a place.
Solicitors...do you have friends/colleagues who could recommend one? A good one will have you wondering what you're paying them for; a bad one will demonstrate just how many opportunities there are for them to screw up the process.
Surveys...the lender will do a basic valuation report but these can vary quite a bit in terms of detail and ultimately, they're for the lender's benefit, not yours. Personally, I'd decide which survey to get on a house by house basis - there's not much point getting a full building survey on something still covered by NHBC for example.
Finally, don't underestimate the benefits of getting your hands dirty by going to see a few candidates, even if they don't meet all of your criteria. If nothing else, you'll start to get a feel for what to look out for - cracks, signs of damp, the state of the electrics, etc. It will also allow you to test some of your priorities - you may find you really like a house, despite it not having x or being in y neighbourhood. If you're bothered about wasting peoples time because you aren't quite ready to buy, in a city the size of Bristol there should be plenty of 'open house' weekends.
Thanks, appreciate the advice. I like the idea of going to open house weekends just to sample the "prospective buyer" experience, so to speak! And I like the idea of it giving you a sense of what to look for when the real time comes!If you've only found one property in the whole of Bristol that meets your criteria, perhaps you need to review your priorities. Personally I've never given a second thought to how any of the houses I've bought have been decorated or equipped. If you're planning on staying for a long time, you can modify the house to suit you later. If it's got dated decor or an old boiler, don't let it put you off viewing, just factor it into any offer you make. Concentrate more on things that are expensive/impossible to change - room sizes, location, garden orientation, school catchment areas, etc.
Mortgage brokers...I have used them, but I've also found my own deals. Saying that, the last time I arranged one, lenders were falling over themselves to give you money so it wasn't difficult to find good deals by yourself. Don't forget to look at things like overpayment limits, etc if you think your saving drive might continue once you've got a place.
Solicitors...do you have friends/colleagues who could recommend one? A good one will have you wondering what you're paying them for; a bad one will demonstrate just how many opportunities there are for them to screw up the process.
Surveys...the lender will do a basic valuation report but these can vary quite a bit in terms of detail and ultimately, they're for the lender's benefit, not yours. Personally, I'd decide which survey to get on a house by house basis - there's not much point getting a full building survey on something still covered by NHBC for example.
Finally, don't underestimate the benefits of getting your hands dirty by going to see a few candidates, even if they don't meet all of your criteria. If nothing else, you'll start to get a feel for what to look out for - cracks, signs of damp, the state of the electrics, etc. It will also allow you to test some of your priorities - you may find you really like a house, despite it not having x or being in y neighbourhood. If you're bothered about wasting peoples time because you aren't quite ready to buy, in a city the size of Bristol there should be plenty of 'open house' weekends.
Edited by Risotto on Thursday 26th March 16:16
btcc123 said:
I was born in Knowle.go along St Johns Lane and turn right up Redcatch Road and half way up yhe hill is Beckington Road thats where I lived till I was 13 then we moved to Nailsea.
Whitchurch is fairly near where my Gradfather lived at Stanton Drew and my Granmother lived at Norton Malreward.
Thats quite a nice area around of South Bristol and I agree with Emersons Green,my mother had a new hip at the private hospital there 3 months ago.
There are loads of towns and villages within a short commute to Bristol,lovely countryside and cheaper than in the centre of Bristol.
To show you how things have changed over the last 50 years my parents house in Beckington road cost them £2000.My mothers father who was a farmer gave them £1000 as a wedding present and loaned them £1000 interset free that they paid back in 8 years.What would the same house cost now about £300,000.
Dont tell my 4 children about giving them a wedding present of half the cost of a house these days and the rest on an interest free load.
Anyway good luck and definately buy a house as its will give you a lovely feeling and later childern will be the icing on the cake.
I know it well! Whitchurch is fairly near where my Gradfather lived at Stanton Drew and my Granmother lived at Norton Malreward.
Thats quite a nice area around of South Bristol and I agree with Emersons Green,my mother had a new hip at the private hospital there 3 months ago.
There are loads of towns and villages within a short commute to Bristol,lovely countryside and cheaper than in the centre of Bristol.
To show you how things have changed over the last 50 years my parents house in Beckington road cost them £2000.My mothers father who was a farmer gave them £1000 as a wedding present and loaned them £1000 interset free that they paid back in 8 years.What would the same house cost now about £300,000.
Dont tell my 4 children about giving them a wedding present of half the cost of a house these days and the rest on an interest free load.
Anyway good luck and definately buy a house as its will give you a lovely feeling and later childern will be the icing on the cake.
Whitchurch and Knowle was my stamping ground until I moved out of my parents house aged 22! Spent many a great childhood day in Redcatch Park! It's madness how things change, isn't it. You only have to look at Rightmove data and you see houses now in the areas I'm looking at selling for £250k that were purchased for £175k or less just 4/5 years ago!
HotJambalaya said:
You seem quite determined that this house is going to be where you'll live forever. Theres a 99% chance that it won't be. Make a list of absolute must haves, would be nice, can live without, can deal with, and try compromising a little. You can't afford to be totally OCD while the house prices are going up!
Treat this house as somewhere you'll be living that will anchor you into to the housing market, letting you upgrade easily in a few years time. Sure, pimp it out a little and make it a proper home, but never forget the real value in buying a house is finding a one that isn't perfect, and (in your own time) making it perfect.
If they say they're leaving appliances put it in the contract. In fact, put everything their agent says/promises into the contract! If you make an offer thats accepted think about one of those contracts thats stops them backing out and insist the agent takes the place off their website immediately.
Haha, not forever, but certainly for a good long while, barring a lottery win in the interim! Treat this house as somewhere you'll be living that will anchor you into to the housing market, letting you upgrade easily in a few years time. Sure, pimp it out a little and make it a proper home, but never forget the real value in buying a house is finding a one that isn't perfect, and (in your own time) making it perfect.
If they say they're leaving appliances put it in the contract. In fact, put everything their agent says/promises into the contract! If you make an offer thats accepted think about one of those contracts thats stops them backing out and insist the agent takes the place off their website immediately.
We are arriving on the scene later than all of our friends, due to our circumstances. We will be 30+ by the time we start a family, and of course by that time the finances will be stretched by starting a family. So we are being quite particular on the basis that we anticipate a minimum of 10 years there.
I know what you mean about decor and how we shouldn't be too fussy. However from what I've been seeing coming online, superficial decor barely influences the property value, however it's not cheap to do! So if the decoration in most rooms was something you'd want to re-do, that soon adds up to a lot of money, whereas if you find something where maybe only 1 or 2 rooms need any urgent attention, not so bad.
I appreciate that at some point we will need to compromise! We have the "luxury" of the fact that we're window shopping well in advance. By the time we're ready to act, we should have a good idea of whether we have just been unlucky thus far with what's come on the market, or whether we're being unrealistic.
And don't get me wrong, it's not like I'm turning my nose up at every property. I just normally find something that would kind of put me off viewing it, whether it's a tiny kitchen, or a hideous living room that would require a lot of redecoration, etc...
Also, being well into my car, off-street parking is a must, as I want a driveway on which I can wash the car etc. That alone cuts down prospective houses by as much as half!
BRISTOL86 said:
Hi All
My partner and I are looking to buy our first house later this year (will be going out looking at houses in September which is when we will hit our "magic number", savings wise). It's been a long time coming as we've not had any family help to fall back on, so we want to get everything just right.
I'm a pretty OCD guy who gets hung up on small details, so at the moment I have a million questions rattling around my head, in no coherent order. Hoping a few people who have been through this pain themselves can offer me some hints, tips and friendly advice!
- Because we're now in the "six month countdown", we have started window shopping on Rightmove, Zoopla etc. and in the last 3 weeks we've found just one property that we'd even want to go and view. Is this normal?! Bearing in mind that Bristol is a big city, and we are working with a good budget for first time buyers.
Pick a couple that you would not want to buy as such and go and view them. This will start to give you an idea of what is out there and what people say, and also the more viewings you do the more ideas you get as to what questions to ask the vendors
We have very similar tastes, so it's not like we're disagreeing on stuff, just nothing that makes us say "wow". We are planning on living there for at least 10 years, and starting a family there, so it has to be right. I'd naively assumed that there would be a plentiful supply and I'd have my pick of what I wanted to go and see. Ha! But I'd rather take 6 months to find the ideal place than 6 weeks and settle on something I'm not entirely happy with.
The fussier you are, the harder it will be to find somewhere. If you do a few viewings as I suggest, you might start to change some of your priorities. One thing is that you have a list of "musts" - this may change over time and frankly, without being rude, chances are you will end up reducing this list over time.. And when you find the house you truly want, the list goes out of the window..
- Almost all the houses I have liked, have had a feature fireplace in the middle of the main wall. Being a tech-guy, that's a no-no for me because I'm wanting a wall-mounted TV and speakers in the middle of the main wall. What sort of ballpark cost am I looking at if I chose to get a professional to remove said fireplace and plaster the wall?
No idea about prices in your area but a builder/renovator type around here would be looking at a few days work I suspect.
- Surveys....so much contradictory advice. I had it in my head that I would get a Homebuyers Report, however have read an increasing number of things online that make me think they're pretty poor value for money, as they don't really do any thorough examination. This leads me down the road of a full building survey which is a costly affair. Any tips here? For what it's worth, we're looking to buy a property in a good state of repair (cosmetically at least) and not a run-down "project" house. I'd like to think I have a keen eye for tell-tale signs of homeowners who don't look after the property, but obviously I have no skills in detecting structural issues, damp or anything like that.
A full report may pick up on some issues which can lead to further negotiations on price. You are spending over a quarter of a million pounds, best to get it checked out IMHO. In fact, we also tend to have a plumber go and check the central heating too - got stung by that many years ago, lesson learnt
- Conveyancing....just for kicks I got some quotes online, I can't believe the variation, for what is essentially the exact same product (albeit different companies' level of service will be better/worse than others). I think the cheapest quote was about £450 all in, with the most expensive being about £950. Is there really that much to choose between conveyancers? From my experience when I worked in a law firm, the majority of what they do is performing searches and preparing land reg docs.
Get a recommendation. Again, given what you are spending, get someone good. Cheap and nasty can be VERY expensive when it comes down to it. Go for a good one, even if more expensive
- Negotiating on property prices.....The absolute top end of our budget is £270k. I'd assumed that as first time buyers we would have a reasonable amount of negotiating power, especially as our price range is probably higher than your average first time buyer. I was hoping we could look at properties listed up to £300k and hope to use our first time buyer status to get down to our price range. Do you think that's reasonable? No-one lists something for sale at the very minimum they'll take, surely? I'd also had a notion in my head that as we will be house-hunting during Sep/Oct, we could hopefully use that to our advantage as people will be desperate to get things over the line before Christmas.
You really never know on this one. How long it has been on the market, how keen the seller is to go, and sometimes even how much their house they are moving to costs. I've taken money of houses with "no offers" according to the EA. I've bought one below the EA's "vendor's lowest price so don't even offer below it"........ I was in a good position, and they knew it. You are in a strong position, so use it.
- Is it worth employing the services of a mortgage broker? With so much data available to consumers these days (i.e. price comparison websites) I'd talked myself out of it. Do they genuinely get access to deals/rates that aren't directly available to the public?
IME yes = can save you a small fortune. We've used Alexander Hall in London before now
- Getting ahead of ourselves, but we're saving some extra money on top of our deposit as we desperately want to get a real wooden floor in our living room and hallway. Obviously the cost is massively dependant on the flooring type and the floor area, but in a "normal" sized home, are we talking hundreds or into the thousands?! I'm assuming the labour to fit the thing is a large part of the cost.
Why do you want a real wooden floor? I speak from experience when I say it damages rather more easily than you'd like
- How usual is it for sellers to leave kitchen goods behind? We are moving from a rented flat with all in-built appliances, so if the sellers don't include any white goods, we're looking at quite an expense.
Depends on the vendor. I had one take everything, every light (including the bulbs), every curtain and curtain rail etc.. and all white goods. Usually if they are not inbuilt then the fridge/freezer and washing machine will be going with the vendor. However, you can often negotiate if you want for these to stay, but frankly most people seem to value their stuff more than you can replace it new for
Wow, this turned into a long post! Like I said I had all these thoughts rambling around in my head and no one really to talk to, perhaps a psychiatrist is the next step!
Either way, if you are able to offer any guidance on even just one of these questions, I'd appreciate it!
Cheers
My partner and I are looking to buy our first house later this year (will be going out looking at houses in September which is when we will hit our "magic number", savings wise). It's been a long time coming as we've not had any family help to fall back on, so we want to get everything just right.
I'm a pretty OCD guy who gets hung up on small details, so at the moment I have a million questions rattling around my head, in no coherent order. Hoping a few people who have been through this pain themselves can offer me some hints, tips and friendly advice!
- Because we're now in the "six month countdown", we have started window shopping on Rightmove, Zoopla etc. and in the last 3 weeks we've found just one property that we'd even want to go and view. Is this normal?! Bearing in mind that Bristol is a big city, and we are working with a good budget for first time buyers.
Pick a couple that you would not want to buy as such and go and view them. This will start to give you an idea of what is out there and what people say, and also the more viewings you do the more ideas you get as to what questions to ask the vendors
We have very similar tastes, so it's not like we're disagreeing on stuff, just nothing that makes us say "wow". We are planning on living there for at least 10 years, and starting a family there, so it has to be right. I'd naively assumed that there would be a plentiful supply and I'd have my pick of what I wanted to go and see. Ha! But I'd rather take 6 months to find the ideal place than 6 weeks and settle on something I'm not entirely happy with.
The fussier you are, the harder it will be to find somewhere. If you do a few viewings as I suggest, you might start to change some of your priorities. One thing is that you have a list of "musts" - this may change over time and frankly, without being rude, chances are you will end up reducing this list over time.. And when you find the house you truly want, the list goes out of the window..
- Almost all the houses I have liked, have had a feature fireplace in the middle of the main wall. Being a tech-guy, that's a no-no for me because I'm wanting a wall-mounted TV and speakers in the middle of the main wall. What sort of ballpark cost am I looking at if I chose to get a professional to remove said fireplace and plaster the wall?
No idea about prices in your area but a builder/renovator type around here would be looking at a few days work I suspect.
- Surveys....so much contradictory advice. I had it in my head that I would get a Homebuyers Report, however have read an increasing number of things online that make me think they're pretty poor value for money, as they don't really do any thorough examination. This leads me down the road of a full building survey which is a costly affair. Any tips here? For what it's worth, we're looking to buy a property in a good state of repair (cosmetically at least) and not a run-down "project" house. I'd like to think I have a keen eye for tell-tale signs of homeowners who don't look after the property, but obviously I have no skills in detecting structural issues, damp or anything like that.
A full report may pick up on some issues which can lead to further negotiations on price. You are spending over a quarter of a million pounds, best to get it checked out IMHO. In fact, we also tend to have a plumber go and check the central heating too - got stung by that many years ago, lesson learnt
- Conveyancing....just for kicks I got some quotes online, I can't believe the variation, for what is essentially the exact same product (albeit different companies' level of service will be better/worse than others). I think the cheapest quote was about £450 all in, with the most expensive being about £950. Is there really that much to choose between conveyancers? From my experience when I worked in a law firm, the majority of what they do is performing searches and preparing land reg docs.
Get a recommendation. Again, given what you are spending, get someone good. Cheap and nasty can be VERY expensive when it comes down to it. Go for a good one, even if more expensive
- Negotiating on property prices.....The absolute top end of our budget is £270k. I'd assumed that as first time buyers we would have a reasonable amount of negotiating power, especially as our price range is probably higher than your average first time buyer. I was hoping we could look at properties listed up to £300k and hope to use our first time buyer status to get down to our price range. Do you think that's reasonable? No-one lists something for sale at the very minimum they'll take, surely? I'd also had a notion in my head that as we will be house-hunting during Sep/Oct, we could hopefully use that to our advantage as people will be desperate to get things over the line before Christmas.
You really never know on this one. How long it has been on the market, how keen the seller is to go, and sometimes even how much their house they are moving to costs. I've taken money of houses with "no offers" according to the EA. I've bought one below the EA's "vendor's lowest price so don't even offer below it"........ I was in a good position, and they knew it. You are in a strong position, so use it.
- Is it worth employing the services of a mortgage broker? With so much data available to consumers these days (i.e. price comparison websites) I'd talked myself out of it. Do they genuinely get access to deals/rates that aren't directly available to the public?
IME yes = can save you a small fortune. We've used Alexander Hall in London before now
- Getting ahead of ourselves, but we're saving some extra money on top of our deposit as we desperately want to get a real wooden floor in our living room and hallway. Obviously the cost is massively dependant on the flooring type and the floor area, but in a "normal" sized home, are we talking hundreds or into the thousands?! I'm assuming the labour to fit the thing is a large part of the cost.
Why do you want a real wooden floor? I speak from experience when I say it damages rather more easily than you'd like
- How usual is it for sellers to leave kitchen goods behind? We are moving from a rented flat with all in-built appliances, so if the sellers don't include any white goods, we're looking at quite an expense.
Depends on the vendor. I had one take everything, every light (including the bulbs), every curtain and curtain rail etc.. and all white goods. Usually if they are not inbuilt then the fridge/freezer and washing machine will be going with the vendor. However, you can often negotiate if you want for these to stay, but frankly most people seem to value their stuff more than you can replace it new for
Wow, this turned into a long post! Like I said I had all these thoughts rambling around in my head and no one really to talk to, perhaps a psychiatrist is the next step!
Either way, if you are able to offer any guidance on even just one of these questions, I'd appreciate it!
Cheers
Pheo said:
Why is redecoration really expensive? Sure , a new kitchen /bathroom could run you £5k but doing a lounge / bedroom would be £1k max
Yeah, but when you've just taken out a mortgage for the first time and spent your entire savings to do so, even £1k is a lot of money I'd rather pay another £10k for a property which was mostly fitted/decorated how I liked rather than have to spend £10k putting in new kitchen, new bathroom etc. But obviously it means being more selective.
By the time September comes I expect I'll be so fed up with how little I'm finding that all of my "wants" will go out the window!
It's easy to be super picky when you know that even if you find "the one", you can't really act upon it just yet!
You may need a crystal ball but you also need to consider how much you can save between now and then and how much house prices are rising.
It may work out better to just take the plunge now.
Also I'm in North Bristol and were on the lookout for our second home in the same sort of price bracket 230-250k, it's very slow at the moment despite mortgage rates being low I think people are feeling the pinch and are either staying put or extending current properties.
Our best option at present is the in laws are wanting to downsize to a 2 bed bungalow, so we are hoping to buy their house but even they are struggling to find suitable properties to even view!
It may work out better to just take the plunge now.
Also I'm in North Bristol and were on the lookout for our second home in the same sort of price bracket 230-250k, it's very slow at the moment despite mortgage rates being low I think people are feeling the pinch and are either staying put or extending current properties.
Our best option at present is the in laws are wanting to downsize to a 2 bed bungalow, so we are hoping to buy their house but even they are struggling to find suitable properties to even view!
Matt_N said:
You may need a crystal ball but you also need to consider how much you can save between now and then and how much house prices are rising.
It may work out better to just take the plunge now.
Also I'm in North Bristol and were on the lookout for our second home in the same sort of price bracket 230-250k, it's very slow at the moment despite mortgage rates being low I think people are feeling the pinch and are either staying put or extending current properties.
Our best option at present is the in laws are wanting to downsize to a 2 bed bungalow, so we are hoping to buy their house but even they are struggling to find suitable properties to even view!
Well based on what we're saving we would have our deposit, stamp duty and all fees on a £250k purchase covered by end of July, so if something perfect came along say Jun-Aug we could at least move on it. We just want to be comfortable when we move in so we can buy the things we want for the house without worrying about it. It may work out better to just take the plunge now.
Also I'm in North Bristol and were on the lookout for our second home in the same sort of price bracket 230-250k, it's very slow at the moment despite mortgage rates being low I think people are feeling the pinch and are either staying put or extending current properties.
Our best option at present is the in laws are wanting to downsize to a 2 bed bungalow, so we are hoping to buy their house but even they are struggling to find suitable properties to even view!
BRISTOL86 said:
Collectingbrass said:
It's definitely worth using a mortgage broker, and I would see one now to see what you can do.
Why are you waiting till September to view? The process will take that long to get to completion so why not start seriously looking now / sooner. There will be more properties on the market in April / May / June than Sept / Oct. If nothing else lookign now will help narrow down what you are really looking for. Again, the mortgage broker can advise.
Read this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Buying-Selling-Home-Dummie...
Thanks. The reason we are waiting until September is because we have a savings number in mind which comprises deposit, stamp duty, legal fees, and a 'kitty' to move in with that will cover some decoration and furnishing costs (moving from furnished flat so own nothing). Why are you waiting till September to view? The process will take that long to get to completion so why not start seriously looking now / sooner. There will be more properties on the market in April / May / June than Sept / Oct. If nothing else lookign now will help narrow down what you are really looking for. Again, the mortgage broker can advise.
Read this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Buying-Selling-Home-Dummie...
By September we will hit the required amount to cover everything but that 'kitty', so the plan is to continue to save once we start the process off, as it will obviously take time to find somewhere and then get things moving.
If we started seriously looking now we wouldn't be able to cover the deposit and stamp duty.
Our savings power is massively increased while we are still renting, and as we are on a rolling tenancy we are under no pressure time-wise, other than what we impose on ourselves. Our hope was to kick the process of in Sep once we hit that savings target and then get something over the line by Xmas, in a perfect world.
To put this time scale in context, I'm in a similar position to you at the bottom of a 6 rung chain. I put my formal offer in last August, agreed the sale subject to contract, i.e. price and caveats at the beginning of September and the chain wasn't ready to exchange until the end of January. It then fell through and I am now expecting to move at Easter, a full year after I started the process to use your words. You will be fine to start now.
It will be a massive help if you get a mortgage offer in principle from a lender. I went with one from my bank initially, then used a broker once I got to the September point.
Collectingbrass said:
You don't need the cash until you come to exchange. That will be a while off as the people you are buying from wont be regarded as serious buyers for the place they move to until they have "sold", aka have an agreed offer subject to contracr on the table. This then goes on up the chain. IMHO to expect to start looking next September and in by Xmas is hugely optimistic.
To put this time scale in context, I'm in a similar position to you at the bottom of a 6 rung chain. I put my formal offer in last August, agreed the sale subject to contract, i.e. price and caveats at the beginning of September and the chain wasn't ready to exchange until the end of January. It then fell through and I am now expecting to move at Easter, a full year after I started the process to use your words. You will be fine to start now.
It will be a massive help if you get a mortgage offer in principle from a lender. I went with one from my bank initially, then used a broker once I got to the September point.
Thanks for that. Sorry to hear how long and drawn out it's been for you!To put this time scale in context, I'm in a similar position to you at the bottom of a 6 rung chain. I put my formal offer in last August, agreed the sale subject to contract, i.e. price and caveats at the beginning of September and the chain wasn't ready to exchange until the end of January. It then fell through and I am now expecting to move at Easter, a full year after I started the process to use your words. You will be fine to start now.
It will be a massive help if you get a mortgage offer in principle from a lender. I went with one from my bank initially, then used a broker once I got to the September point.
But to go and get a mortgage offer in principle surely you have to evidence that you can actually pay a deposit? We do not have the required funding yet to pay our deposit (we will by the time everything gets through of course)
We're about 2 months away from being able to cover the deposit & stamp duty required. Obviously if we found somewhere next week and made an offer and it was accepted (of course hugely theoretical and unlikely!) we'd actually be in a position where we wouldn't have enough money to do it!
That's why I wanted to have the money there BEFORE we started looking, so that any time spent waiting on the chain, or any delays, just result in us accumulating more savings to go towards furnishing and decoration etc.
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