It seems to be a fundamental human need to own a home. It reinforces our success, provides financial security and, in many ways, can feel like a huge step towards becoming a ‘real adult’.
But unfortunately it isn’t always simple. Buying a home can be stressful and dogged by paperwork, dodgy properties, gazumpers and difficult neighbours.
To help you navigate the choppy waters of buying your first home, we’ve distilled some quick tips and tricks:
Money
Let’s start at the very beginning. You will need to think about the costs and look into the future. Creating a simple financial plan on a spreadsheet is an effective starting point which will help you predict what effect changes in factors like income might have.
For example, what if the worst happened and you or your partner lost their job? Use formulae to calculate your current spare household income, which you could use to pay the mortgage. Then see if removing one partner’s income stops you being able to afford the mortgage payments. If so, you might not want to call it off, but you might think carefully about your options.
A good idea to assist with this is to use a mortgage calculator to estimate how much you can afford. It will take into account your earnings, savings and your ability pay a deposit upfront.
Mortgage
Your next step is getting approved for your mortgage value. If you used the mortgage calculator before, it will have given you a good indication of what you can actually afford, but it doesn’t really go deep enough to give you detailed figure.
We would advise booking an appointment with a mortgage advisor. They will go into detail about your financial lifestyle and help you to discover the true cost of what the bank will lend you.
Budgeting
Once you have been approved for a mortgage, you need to look at the figures and the balance between outgoings and incomings. Don’t forget the additional costs of buying a home, like stamp duty land tax. There are calculators available on line which will help you assess how much you’ll need to shell out.
Also put some time into researching estate agents. Would you prefer a street-based agent who you can pop in and speak to? Or an online agent who could save you money?
Don’t forget that your new property needs maintaining, even if it’s a new build. Set aside some funds in your budget for essential maintenance and repairs after you move in.
Location
You’ve trawled through the boring calculations and now you can focus on finding your perfect home!
Before you start looking around, you need to decide on the right location. If you are planning on moving to the same area as you live currently, this should be relatively easy. Either way, you need to think carefully about what you want.
Do you want a property close to transport lines? Or schools? What sort of internet speed would you like?
Remember that, particularly with a first home, this is an investment. You will almost certainly move in the future and, when you do, you want to secure a profit which will help you fund your next house. Keep an eye on the area you buy in; if it’s on the decline you might not make much – if it’s soon to be gentrified or about to gain a subway station, you might be in luck.
The Right Property…
Viewing a potential purchase is incredibly exciting. You move round fast, wanting to explore the next room and the next after that. You don’t look into the roof space and, quite often, you don’t look with a critical eye.
Whilst this is totally natural, it is not conducive to spotting potentially off-putting defects! Our surveyor in Chelsea, London commented:
“When you’re shelling out hundreds of thousands on a house, you want to be sure that you won’t be hit with a ten thousand pound repair bill weeks after moving in. We specialise in diagnosing defects which could damage your sale, which allows you to negotiate before committing and plan your maintenance ahead of time.”
At The Right Price
If your surveyor does pick out defects at the property which weren’t advertised, you may be able to negotiate on the purchase price. Using a written survey which clearly highlights the problems, you’re reasoning will be justified and professionally supported. As a result, many clients of the Right Surveyors knock more off the purchase price than they pay in fees!
We hope that all goes to plan and wish you all the best with your first property purchase. But if you are ever concerned about your home and need the advice of a Chartered Surveyor, we’re here to help:
0800 880 6024 | office@rightsurveyors.co.uk | www.rightsurveyors.co.uk
Thank you very much to Right Surveyors for guest blogging this week. For more property news and updates please check in with me on Facebook
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