Buying a house for first time...

MR Foxx74

MR Foxx74

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Mike
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Hi folks, just wondering on peoples opinions are, My partner and I recently view a property in the price range and its tick all the boxes, I.E. its 5 mins to the shops, for travel links and for work. Its also near nice park and woods etc. The house it self is good for the size and value for what ya get 2 beds own utility room, two cupboards upstairs, F and R gardens with nice view too. So question is this, it is the first property we viewed and like as well. Bear in mind there isn't houses for sale within our price range other than this one. The rest up for sale are flats and some are in poor areas. Its in nice developing area so not rough and its up and coming area. My partner would like to know is wise to go for it even all its first one viewed and ticks the boxes, also feels right too or hang about see IF any thing else comes up eventually. we can look at couple flats but not really what wanting this is 2 bed house. All it needs it decorating really and be nice house in area that's sought after and in the budget too which isn't a lot so very limited on choice too.

thanks for reading look forward hear your thoughts.
 
Nice house...good size...close to local ammenities...good transport links...in budget...good area...it ticks all the boxes...you both like it...

What was the question? ;)
 
When you do decide to buy make sure that you manage the process with the agents and solicitors as carefully as possible, keep on their backs, agree exactly what your fees are, get as much as you can in writing and email and research what your solicitor and the sellers solicitor should do……… and flow this

GENERALLY, IMHO, and I have bought a sold quite a few properties, Solicitors slow things down, have never modernised, prefer to do everything by letter, are reluctant to speak to anyone by telephone unless they are really put under pressure, do not take the "direct" route, go "round the houses" and CAN cause you endless grief…….. they can get close to losing "the deal" and are just generally maddening.
 
If you both like it and would be happy living there and paying that money and can afford it then why not?

For my current place I viewed one, the one I bought. If you know exactly what you want and you find it straight away carrying on looking seems odd :)
 
If it ticks all the boxes then get an offer in!
Whilst they're thinking about the offer go and have a look round a few others as its all too easy to get over excited by buying your first house. I remember the first one we looked at we thought was amazing but in reality we were just excited that we could afford to buy a house that wasn't a dump, it was only when we looked at another couple that we realised what the good and bad points of the first one were.
 
Make an offer and if accepted then get a survey done. Just because you make an offer does not commit you to purchasing the property unless in Scotland where the law is slightly different
Don't rely on a mortgage company survey that only covers the loan amount, not the total property value. having just purchased a new, to us, house we found there are quite a new rule changes which your solicitor will go through with you
Don't forget to add in survey-solicitor-removal fees - plus allow for extras such as what is not being left by the previous owners. You will get a breakdown of this from the previous owners and it is quite comprehensive
 
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realspeed said:
Make an offer and get a survey done. Just because you make an offer does not commit you to purchasing the property unless in Scotland where the law is slightly different
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make an offer "subject to survey"

if you do decide to buy do not proceed with the survey, (and other solicitors costs), until your offer is accepted and the buyers agent(s) are happy with your finances, general situation and ability to proceed

Get a quote from a solicitor, (or "conveyancer") of likely buying costs and know what your downside is if any deal falls through
 
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Always worth putting the postcode in Google to see what comes up, especially if there is planning permission for something you wouldn't want to live beside.
 
As others have said, it seems to tick all your boxes,
so I'd put an offer in subject to survey.

I don't know where you are, but in England
you are not fully committed until the contracts have been signed.
And that can take weeks or even months, especially if there is a chain,
something else worth checking. find out how many people are involved
ie is the buyer buying something that, that seller hasn't found somewhere yet?

As a first time buyer, especially if you do have a mortgage offer,
that puts you in quite a strong bargaining position, as you have nothing to sell and can move in "straight away"
If my assumptions are correct, use that to your advantage.

You maybe surprised how much less you can offer.
Especially if the house has been on the market for quite sometime.
The worse that'll happen is that they say no, but come back with,
we cant afford to accept less than £xxxxxxx.

I was quite surprised when I did an on line check of houses for my area, recently.
It seems the prices are rising quite steadily and are considerably higher than say the "Crash" about 5 years ago.
 
You like it, put an offer in before the price goes up.
 
Definitely think about making a "cheeky" offer too, especially if it's a small developer with a few properties to shift.
 
If you both like it and it meets your requirements, put an offer in. No point hanging around in case something better comes along, as it might never happen.

If you really want it, put in a sensible offer. A sensible offer can be the asking price - only you know the market in your area and what things go for relative to asking. Some sellers (e.g. me, and I'm far from the only one) will refuse to deal with people that put in stupid offers to start with, even if they come back with an offer at or near the asking price after their stupid one was rejected, as it makes me think they will try to pull the stunt of dropping their offer on the day of exchange when everyone has laid out for surveys etc. and feels committed.
 
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onomatopoeia said:
, as it makes me think they will try to pull the stunt of dropping their offer on the day of exchange when everyone has laid out for surveys etc. and feels committed.
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That does and can happen unfortunately even if there is no sign of it before hand.

The only person the I truly know that happened to,
everyone in the chain dropped their price the same amount, to save the "deal"
 
Thanks all for the help full advice. Well i spoken about some details to letting agents and council as well as needed to know some thing about the land well garden haha.

Ok so my partner likes it etc well we both do, so the next step is to speak to bank about the mortgage etc and put an offer in low offer but not too low.

what is the best process should she / we decide to go ahead which is likely and depending?

Offer
surveying from bank who arranges that for us etc.
legal stuff

then what?
can ya tell were new to this but it is a big thing and we do want to get it right.

SO thanks again for your advice.
 
Once you have got through the offer - negotiate - acceptance part, instruct solicitors straight away so they can get started. Searches etc take a while and all solicitors that do conveyancing have a huge pile of houses going through all the time so it's best to get them going as early as possible. My approach was to use a recommended local firm that I could "doorstep" and actually drop in to see the person doing the work, rather than an internet conveyancing shed hundreds of miles away even though that would have been cheaper. Talk to them about costs if things go wrong before you instruct, e.g. what you would be liable for if you pulled out due to either things coming up in the searches or in the survey.

The lender also has legal representation in all of this. Often this will be done by a different person at the firm that you use for conveyancing, however not all lenders accept all firms and you may have to pay an additional fee to the lender for their own solicitor. I did on my last house move (cost me an extra £125 that I had to pay the lender, as the firm I chose weren't on my lenders approved panel of conveyancing firms) and my solicitor said the firm the lender appointed were the most awkward and pedantic bunch she had ever dealt with!

Regarding the survey, this is the most expensive purchase you will ever make apart from other houses should you move and comes with the greatest potential liabilities in maintenance terms. Seriously consider instructing your own surveyor in addition to whatever the lender does. Some lender surveys are little more than a drive by to make sure the property is actually there and tell you little about the state of the property.
 
Survey advice above wise, but, especially with first time buyers, theres the cost. Next one up from the lenders "drive-by" one is a "homebuyers" survey I believe and then a full survey. A 'Homebuyers' may cost c £500. And once that £500 is spent people are very reluctant to then walk away from that property even if the survey throws up a few £1000's of work needing doing. Of course there is the possibility that you can use the survey results to negotiate further price drops. But ask yourself this, if you pay £500 to £600 for a survey, and the upshot is that the place needs £3000 - £10000 of work doing and the seller refuses to budge on price, are you prepared to walk away and kiss your £500 goodbye?
Plus even if the survey apparently finds nothing major needing doing, you move in and the roof falls off, you will find in the small print on the surveyors report that they are not accountable anyway. (that is my belief anyway, happy to be proved wrong)
 
DorsetDude said:
Plus even if the survey apparently finds nothing major needing doing, you move in and the roof falls off, you will find in the small print on the surveyors report that they are not accountable anyway. (that is my belief anyway, happy to be proved wrong)
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That has also been my experience.
(Not the roof falling in, the small print)
 
We had a full survey on the house we just bought. My opinion, it wasn't done well enough. it didn't find the windows (2) that didn,t open due to broken gearbox in the locking mech or the hard to open windows (all) due to non maintenance- didn't find 7/8 door locks/catches did,t work- didn't find a toilet bowl rim cracked- didn't find a radiator joint leaked- didn't find conservatory outside doors stuck. What was pointed out was a slight overflow from a gutter( just needed clearing out) the drain had a little water in it (nothing to worry about) and a hairline crack above an internal door ( plasterboard wall). So by all means have a survey but do go a second/third or even fourth time and check everything yourself its your money you are spending after all.

We found out about most of the above and budgeted that in what we were prepared to spend so allow a few thousand as a "safe" fund
Open and close everything and make sure it works, watch out for the quick makeover in order to sell-look in ALL the cupboard wardrobes for damp, go in the loft and check for yourself - take binoculars to do a roof check from the ground for loose broken tiles and broken rendering flashing. have a look at neighbours roofs and see if they have had them reroofed, a good indication something may need doing to yours.
 
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Hi Mike,

My wife and i have just bought a house after living in a flat for a couple of years.
Take a look at http://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices.html and see what prices houses nearby have sold at. That will help gauge the price to offer, along with knowing the current market conditions.
I would always try and start at approx. 10% off current price (assuming the market in your area isn't too 'hot'). Then maybe negotiate furniture that you may need, especially if it is your first house.
Once you agree a price, the estate agent will want to see evidence of deposit, and details of your solicitor. Get a solicitor on recommendation, not on price. Also get a solicitor close by, it helps to actually turn up at their office now and again to make sure the process is moving along.
Have you got your mortgage in place? Regarding fixed vs variable, always go for fixed if you cannot afford the repayments if interest rates go up significantly. I got a 5yr fixed for just over 3% which i was very happy with. If you havent got your mortgage, look at Charcol, London and Country, your bank and any local mortgage brokers. When choosing your mortgage also look at the repayments after the fixed term. The cheapest mortgage we had was with accord, but the repayments were extortionate after the fixed term, so we eventually went with Halifax.
Regarding the survey, the house we bought was 80 years old, so went for a homebuyers report. We arranged this with the mortgage company - they were charging us a couple of hundred for a basic survey, and we spent an some more to get a more complete survey done. Our survey explained that the difference between a homebuyers report and a 'full survey' was purely in the documentation produced, and unless you are buying a large victorian mansion, a homebuyers report is the most you will need. The survey also picked up some damp and found that the wall ties needed replacing, allowing us to re-negotiate the intitial offer.
Don't forget to budget for conveyancing fees, searches and the dreaded stamp duty.
Also remember that the estate agent is working on behalf of the vendor - not you, and you may also need to remind the solicitor that they are working on your behalf!

Best of luck
 
Rapscallion said:
When choosing your mortgage also look at the repayments after the fixed term. The cheapest mortgage we had was with accord, but the repayments were extortionate after the fixed term, so we eventually went with Halifax.
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To pick up on this, who cares what the payments are after the fixed term? When the fixed term is coming to an end you start looking round to remortgage to another tracker/fixed rate dont you?
Although recently with the rates at an all time low maybe people havent been. I have.

I think the Bank of England are predicitng rate rises over the next year or two so factor in on 1 or 2 % higher rates when calculating your spend. If you get a fixed rate this wont be so critical right now. But maybe think about 3 or 5 year fixed rates instead of 2 year.(if you can get them, the mortgage lenders arent daft and know the rates are due to rise also)
 
DorsetDude said:
To pick up on this, who cares what the payments are after the fixed term? When the fixed term is coming to an end you start looking round to remortgage to another tracker/fixed rate dont you?
Although recently with the rates at an all time low maybe people havent been. I have.
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Why care - if your circumstances change and you are not able to get a decent mortgage at the end of the fixed term, you could be stuck paying a couple of % extra for quite some time, in the worst case scenario the payments maybe so onerous you will have to sell up or even default.

As an example - if i chose to go with the accord deal, the rate was so punitive that only 2 months on the higher rate after the fixed term would have wiped out all the savings it offered over the 5 year term. It would have cost £4,000 more per year on a £200,000 mortgage - enough to care don't you think Keith?
 
All hypothetical reasons as opposed to the reality of the payments of the term you negotiate. But yes given the choice between a few similar mortgages, take the one with the lowest rate after the initial term. But prioritise on the fixed rate/tracker/whatever during the term. And make sure you have no penalties after the intial term ends if you cancel the mortgage(i.e. swap providers)
 
DorsetDude said:
But prioritise on the fixed rate/tracker/whatever during the term. And make sure you have no penalties after the intial term ends if you cancel the mortgage(i.e. swap providers)
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Without forgetting to consider the various application / booking / survey / anything else they can think of fees that come with taking out a new mortgage, spread over the term of the fixed rate to make it a fair comparison. If you move your mortgage every couple of years, the fees mount up.


I last moved my mortgage seven or eight years ago. I am entirely happy with the rate I am on.
 
onomatopoeia said:
Without forgetting to consider the various application / booking / survey / anything else they can think of fees that come with taking out a new mortgage, spread over the term of the fixed rate to make it a fair comparison. If you move your mortgage every couple of years, the fees mount up..
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Yes that as well.

I last moved my mortgage seven or eight years ago. I am entirely happy with the rate I am on.
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I think my next one will be the last one I go to hopefully. Got about 9 years left and the fees every 2 add up.

But when you first buy and still owe all of the capital, tiny interest savings every 2 or 3 years (in most cases) easily cover the arrangement fee cost and what have you.
 
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