[Archived] First Time Buyer

[roversWASmylife]

As from the title i'm looking at buying a house, as a first time buyer i need all the help and adivce I can get.

I'm in no rush to buy at the moment but have been saving for a while and continue to. Just wondered if anyone had advice, or is anyone going through the same thing or recently bought one?

I've had a look at Redrow and Barratts homes online but not too sure as I haven't had the best of things about them.

[Hughesy]

Need to know a few things really. Its a dodgy market still - all the power is however with the buyer, not the seller!

What you looking to move into? Size, cost etc

What sort of deposit have you got?

Also have you any debts?

[roversWASmylife]

Would look to move into a two/three bedroom house, three at most.

Cost, depends what's about I suppose. I have no debts whatsoever which is good and have saved around £9,000 with probably another £5k saved by September.

[Hughesy]

You looking to buy in a specific area? A specific type of house (i.e. New/ old) - you have any idea what sort of price you are looking at purchasing?

Single mortgage just based on your salary? If so you need to look at that and see what sort of Mortgage you can get etc.

[colin]

RoversWASmy life

I've been in the same place far too long to offer advice on buying, however I'd recommend

Ethical Investors

as a place to go to see about a mortgage.

They will recommend you a "mutually owned" Building Society rather than a PLC where the latter is simply interested in trying to make as much money out of you as possible. The mutually-owned lot put the interests of their members first, rather than the shareholders' profits. I re-mortgaged a few years ago and they were really good.

Possibly worth a shot?

All the best with you search for a house.

[Baz]

Good time to get on the market - prices are as low as they will get and are yet to start picking up again.

Its definitely still a buyers market, and people are desperate to sell, so don't worry about making a few silly offers to test the water - especially if the house has been on the market for a while.

I'm currently buying a house with Redrow with the help of this lot, mainly because any mortgage would be the top of my budget and a new build more or less guarantees that I wont need to find money for kitchens / bathrooms etc. as I would for other homes in my price bracket in the area I want to live:

Home Buy Direct

Alternatively, if you live / work in South Ribble then the local council has a non-repayable grant scheme worth 10% of property price upto £10k for first-time buyers.

[MeanGreenMachine]

Get 15% deposit to property value it will open up the market for mortgages. Dont forget you will have to pay about a grand in solicitors fee's when you come to buy aswell.

[Blue n White Rover]

Recently bought a house. You will need at least a £1000 solicitor's fee as someone mentioned above. You will need to get the house surveyed and valued. Need to get the correct Electric and Gas Certificates to provide to your Mortgage Lenders.

Will need around 10% deposit. We were initially going to get a fixed interest rate but had a change of heart, so it has benefitted us a lot.

We currently have a mortgage of around £89K and are paying around £330 monthly. That is with Halifax at the moment. Started off at £560 but obviously as the interest rates fell so did our monthly rate.

Our house cost us £110k, we put down a £15k deposit, and have paid off around £10k in one year. You can only pay off 10% lump sum in one year. So if it is a £100k mortgage you have, you can only pay off £10k in your first year etc.

Good time to buy right now.

[Rovermatt]

Solicitors have been hit badly by the slowing of the property market (at least the average, run of the mill, high street firms have). So you should be able to get a decent quote from any number of local solicitors firms. They're just happy for the work at the moment.

I'd be amazed if it costs you £1000.00 in professional fees, unless the property you're buying is quite expensive or the title proves to be quite tricky to deal with. You should be aware of the associated solicitors costs when purchasing a property (stamp duty, searches, property certificates, registration fees for your ownership and mortgage) however these are not going into any solicitor's pocket and clearly should not be payable by the firm.