First time house buyer
Discussion
Do it in the order you mentioned. It's the best way.
But remember your mortgage lender will give you an offer for about 3 months or so. If you're slow you may have to renew it.
Approaching an agent/vendor as a first time buyer, with a mortgage offer already in place (remember you can always borrow less than you originally aniticipated) puts you in a very nice position for a quick and hassle free sale.
x
But remember your mortgage lender will give you an offer for about 3 months or so. If you're slow you may have to renew it.
Approaching an agent/vendor as a first time buyer, with a mortgage offer already in place (remember you can always borrow less than you originally aniticipated) puts you in a very nice position for a quick and hassle free sale.
xBest thing to do is:
Talk to banks, building societies, IFA's etc to find the best mortgage deal and get an idea of how much you can borrow (and how much you can realistically afford to pay back).
Then (and only then) look for houses. Not before cos its a major dissapointment falling in love with a house and not being able to afford it.
When you find one, put in an offer etc. If its accepted, find a solicitor. It's worth paying a bit more for a good one. Try yellow pages, recomendations from friends, estate agents etc. Get a quote from each and base your decision on how much, but more importantly how good teh service is when getting a quote. If they can't even get a quote straight out, they won't be very good dealing with the problems that will occur. Also ensure they have cover in the very likely event of your solicitor going on holiday (big companies like Countrywide Property Lawyers have teams to stop this happening). The solicitor will advise you on the rest of the process, but keep on top of everyone otherwise it'll take for ever.
There's some good books on it, one I bought for my g/f when we last did the house buying thing was called 'First time buyer, first time seller'. Very good book.
Talk to banks, building societies, IFA's etc to find the best mortgage deal and get an idea of how much you can borrow (and how much you can realistically afford to pay back).
Then (and only then) look for houses. Not before cos its a major dissapointment falling in love with a house and not being able to afford it.
When you find one, put in an offer etc. If its accepted, find a solicitor. It's worth paying a bit more for a good one. Try yellow pages, recomendations from friends, estate agents etc. Get a quote from each and base your decision on how much, but more importantly how good teh service is when getting a quote. If they can't even get a quote straight out, they won't be very good dealing with the problems that will occur. Also ensure they have cover in the very likely event of your solicitor going on holiday (big companies like Countrywide Property Lawyers have teams to stop this happening). The solicitor will advise you on the rest of the process, but keep on top of everyone otherwise it'll take for ever.
There's some good books on it, one I bought for my g/f when we last did the house buying thing was called 'First time buyer, first time seller'. Very good book.
Pies,
I'm in the process of sorting out my first place too which is both
and 
at the same time!
I'm looking at getting a 2 bed flat in my hometown but I have to admit I don't really know what the process is either!
Ask me anything about buying or selling a car and I'm fine but anything regarding mortgages, solicitors etc and I'm lost
I think I might have to jump on your thread and I try to pick up some tips from fellow PH'ers too!
I'm in the process of sorting out my first place too which is both
and at the same time! I'm looking at getting a 2 bed flat in my hometown but I have to admit I don't really know what the process is either!
Ask me anything about buying or selling a car and I'm fine but anything regarding mortgages, solicitors etc and I'm lost
I think I might have to jump on your thread and I try to pick up some tips from fellow PH'ers too!
Pies said:
YHM
Not yet
ahhh the PH messaging system must be running slowly! I basically said that i'm a independent mortgage (among other stuff) consultant working out of an estate agency so I have access to pretty much every piece of information you're going to need when you buy/sell a house
Do speak to a mortgage broker before hand to get an 'offer in principle'. This will save loads of hassle later on as I know of one guy who tried to save himself £200 by sorting it out himself, he ended up doing over a dozen credit checks when he enquired about different loans from different lenders and messed up his credit rating which limited his choice of lenders and pushed up his repayments.
If you are a 1st time buyer with a loan agreed you are in prime postion to negotitate as you've got the cash and have no chain.
Also try to get a solicitor who only does conveyancing as it will speed up your deal.
If you need any info or contacts feel free to mail me through my profile.
Good luck!
>> Edited by AC79xxx on Wednesday 2nd February 17:43
If you are a 1st time buyer with a loan agreed you are in prime postion to negotitate as you've got the cash and have no chain.
Also try to get a solicitor who only does conveyancing as it will speed up your deal.
If you need any info or contacts feel free to mail me through my profile.
Good luck!
>> Edited by AC79xxx on Wednesday 2nd February 17:43
definitely good advice there your broker will make an educated guess after sourcing the market and maybe speaking to a few reps from a few of the lenders he's looking at (bdm's) before credit scoring you for the decision (AIP) thereby avoiding lots of hassle! i've had people come to me who've tried to do it themselves, spent a whole day trawling the high st and had 9 or more credit searches done 
our company policy is to not accept an offer from anyone who hasn't got an AIP or been substantiated, and you will find that a lot of agents will not even consider you as a hot buyer until you have these due to the large number of sales that are falling through in the current market. another reason to go with a no sale no fee conveyancer there
your broker will make an educated guess after sourcing the market and maybe speaking to a few reps from a few of the lenders he's looking at (bdm's) before credit scoring you for the decision (AIP) thereby avoiding lots of hassle! i've had people come to me who've tried to do it themselves, spent a whole day trawling the high st and had 9 or more credit searches done our company policy is to not accept an offer from anyone who hasn't got an AIP or been substantiated, and you will find that a lot of agents will not even consider you as a hot buyer until you have these due to the large number of sales that are falling through in the current market. another reason to go with a no sale no fee conveyancer there
Pies said:
Another question whats an approx cost,i think stamp duty is 0.5%on the amount over 60k,the mortage few variable but how much should i expect to pay a solicitor
thanks all
stamp duty is on the whole amount over 60k i.e £0 on a house worth £59,999 and £600 on a house worth £60,000.
the mortgage costs can vary within a large margin depending on type and circumstances, see a specialist for this
the sols IMveryHO opinion
should be no sale no fee and fixed fee, quotes can be had online (google it) HTH
The thing that I find scary is the fact that once you've moved into your house/flat there isn't really any going back
What I mean by that is not only have you got your mortgage going out EVERY month but you've got all the bills etc that go with it
which for a first time buyer is mighty scary! On the bright side it will give me a very
batchelor pad and my own space but an awful lot of outgoings each and every month! The most worrying this is that I will probably have to cut down on the
and I know for a fact that I will have to sell on of the 
A car is very rarely a good investment but I (like everyone else on here) have got 98 Octane running through my veins not bricks and mortar 
I'm never happier than around Brands in the R400 and it will be a real wrench to get rid of it
I know we all have to make sacrifices in life, and on the grand scale of things this is quite a small one, but if there was a way of keeping the Caterham and buy a flat then I would, no question.
The way I'm 'trying' to look at it is that I would rather have the Sierra and a flat than the Caterham and no flat.
I've just got to keep
that into my head and I will be fine!
I'm never happier than
around Brands in the R400 and it will be a real wrench to get rid of it I know we all have to make sacrifices in life, and on the grand scale of things this is quite a small one, but if there was a way of keeping the Caterham and buy a flat then I would, no question.
The way I'm 'trying' to look at it is that I would rather have the Sierra and a flat than the Caterham and no flat.
I've just got to keep
that into my head and I will be fine! Pies said:
Another question whats an approx cost,i think stamp duty is 0.5%on the amount over 60k,the mortage few variable but how much should i expect to pay a solicitor
thanks all
As has been pointed out, Stamp Duty Land Tax is exceedingly unfair in that once you cross a threshold, you pay the higher rate for the entire amount.
£0-£60k 0%
£60k - £250k 1%
£250k - £500k 3%
£500k+ 4%
For a leasehold flat, expect to pay slightly higher solicitor's fees than for a freehold house, as there's a little more work for them to do. You'll probably find a 1-man band locally that does mostly conveyancing and may offer a fixed-price service of the order of £3-400.
Note that their fee will be only part of the money you need to hand over - you need to pay for various other things: stamp duty (which you're already expecting), various search fees (the number and cost of these will depend on where the property is located *), Land Registry fee, various sundries such as office copy fees and also other things like a telegraphic transfer fee in order to get your mortgage monies transferred to the vendor at the appropriate moment.
[*] I believe (although my data's a bit out of date) that there are very few searches required in Cantebury, in fact you may get away with just the local authority search fee (used to be £65, but as I say, my data's a bit old). A few of the surrounding villages need a Coal Mining search, but not many.
>> Edited by pdV6 on Thursday 3rd February 09:43
For a smallish flat in London, this government (or rather bunch of thieves) makes you pay £20k+ in stamp duty land tax. As tonker pointed out, you have already paid 40% tax on this money, so of £33000 of teh money you earned in the year before your purchase, the government has taken every penny. 
Unless, of course you inherited the money, in which case it was probably subject to IHT.
>> Edited by Zod on Thursday 3rd February 10:54
Unless, of course you inherited the money, in which case it was probably subject to IHT.
>> Edited by Zod on Thursday 3rd February 10:54
Cossie or not it still needs a head gasket
I thought it was supposed to be Caterhams that suffered from this
(See my other thread for more details)!
Why is it that just when you think you'll get your finances sorted out the car throws a proverbial spanner in the works?
Oh well I'll just have to take my mind off it by looking at the flat details that I've got on my desk here at work
I thought it was supposed to be Caterhams that suffered from this
(See my other thread for more details)!
Why is it that just when you think you'll get your finances sorted out the car throws a proverbial spanner in the works?
Oh well I'll just have to take my mind off it by looking at the flat details that I've got on my desk here at work
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