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Buying a home and don't know how anything works

danny la rouge said:
Yup. Martin Lewis would say go to an independent financial advisor.

The thing I’d say is that a home is a place you can see yourself living rather than an investment, so put that at the top of your priorities. “Will this suit the way I want to live?”
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Yes totally this. I work freelance so could also decide where I wanted to live. I've been wanting to move out south west since I was 20. It took me 20 years but finally managed it and haven't regretted it for a moment.
 
I’m going to be really un -English and ask roughly what cash band you will be in as this will help people give advice. Assuming because of the questions it’s over 85k:

A£85k to £150k
B £150k to £250k
C£250k to £450k
D£450k to £650
E£650 and up.

Alternatively PM with exact figures and I’ll let you into my guaranteed 28% a year cash product!!!

Beware of people who advertise things like mine.
 
a few further thoughts -

older terraced houses have their benefits, but were built in an age when most people didn't own cars, so parking can be a pain in the tail / source of arguments with neighbours in an age where there tends to be more cars than houses in a street (and in some bits of sheffield, the terraced houses are narrower than the average car.)

some flats come with a block of garages, but the garages tend to be too small for modern cars

the whole 'good / bad' area is kinda subjective, but if you're in a position where you can choose between a house that needs a bit of work in a preferred area or a house that's already fully done in a less preferred area, then the former is probably a better bet as you can do a place up gradually.

what are future plans, in terms of running a car, people / pets living with you? how future proof is any choice?

if you've got a large deposit or mortgage free you may not get forced by lenders to get surveys done, but i'd say it can be a false economy to skimp on them, especially if you're in an area where there may have been mining / quarrying in the past and potential subsidence problems.

and there will always be another place on the market even if you have to wait another week or two - it's rare for there to be a 'now or never' or 'last chance' opportunity, no matter how hard the estate agent tries.
 
platinumsage said:
The one where I linked to FSCS specifying £1 million protection.

edit: #10

Advising someone about to make a house purchase to fritter the money around a number of online savings accounts is bad advice. For one thing the ID requirements for large withdrawals are in some cases more stringent than those for account opening. The primary consideration is to have the money immediately available for exchange of contracts and completion.
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I didn’t suggest savings accounts at all, a basic current account is fine. That only protects temporary high balances for 12 months. Personally for me, that wouldn’t help but that’s good to know for the future.

I have recently done a very large transfer to my dad’s partner as she has got half the estate. My bank asked me for my passport and that was it. I did have to physically go in, and I also had to answer all sorts of questions about how I knew her and was I being exploited, but I did not need masses of ID to transfer my money to someone else, never mind move my own money around.
 
SpookyFrank said:
Always better to put it in a savings account. Then it can't be spent, not even if someone gets your card or your bank details or whatever. It will be a trivial task to open a basic savings account with your existing bank, most likely doable on the phone or over the internet.
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I've said this on here before, but don't expect getting your money back quickly to be easy. Banks have thresholds over which money laundering controls kick in and they just block a transfer (to you solicitor the day before your purchase :mad: ) I had my cash in several accounts because of the £85k limit and I had to scream quite loudly to get it back. Depending on how much it is, I would be inclined to keep it in one account and definitely pre-warn the bank a few days beforehand when you want to pass it to your solicitor.
 
Surveys aren't just a bureaucratic hoop to jump through - they can signal big (and expensive) structural issues. So don't just go for the cheapest or most-likely-to-pass option because it's a hurdle - it's meant to help/warn you. Roof and boiler issues can be really expensive and catch you unawares if you're already stretching your budget so factor them in.

I was always told by older wiser relatives that end of terrace houses were usually cheaper because they were more likely to sag and fall off :eek: and yes they cost more to heat - that's why larger end of terrace houses often cost the same as smaller houses in the middle of the same terrace.

Think about maintenance and running costs and hassle - you don't have to price it all out to the penny but it's very important to have a grip on how much you are going to have to lay out monthly for those, which goes double for leasehold properties, and particularly if your employment fluctuates - can you afford to live in it once you've bought it? Also how practical it is for you to travel to/from, where's the nearest place you can get a pint of milk/beer, will you feel safe living there alone.

Same with house /home insurance - if you're getting a mortgage it's likely to be a condition that you must insure the property itself to a certain rebuild value and some also insist on a current contents insurance policy as well, which is another montly bill to add in.

Definitely go and visit anywhere you're interested in at different times of the day or week, and (if possible) in the grimmest weather you can, to get a sense of it at its worst.
 
Sorry to jump on the thread to ask, but what's the deal with going to viewings then? Do you just phone an Estate agent and book in?
 
miss direct said:
I really like the old terraced homes here, have my heart set on a traditional terrace with a small front room and an attic.
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I own a late Victorian two-up-two-down and have rented others in the past. I think there's still a lot to be said for them. They were very generic when they were new but they've become interesting as the years have gone on and they've been modified in different ways. There are loads to choose from, they were usually well built, they're not horribly expensive to run and they're nicely proportioned little places. From my own experience I'd highlight a few things, though:

- There's a surprising amount of variation in size. Even though they look identical, some terraces are substantially bigger than others and they can vary a lot even in a small area.

- Some have suffered horribly at the hands of former owners with more money than taste: those that have their original interior features are often nicer and slightly more expensive than those that don't.

- Most have had extensions added for kitchens and bathrooms, and these vary in size and quality, so do check that it's well constructed and the size you want. Round here houses with a two-storey extension and an upstairs bathroom command a noticeably higher price than those with a single-story extension.

- With the best will in the world they're old houses and there will be maintenance issues. Gutters are often a problem IME, as are plumbing and wiring, and dodgy old DIY jobs of all sorts. Do get a full survey done, and expect to have to spend a bit on maintenance. In the five years I've lived here I've had to replace the entire central heating system and all of the gutters, and had the DIY bodge-job of a bathroom professionally replaced. New windows and a full redecoration are the next projects...

- Loft conversions add space and value and I love mine - it makes a great office - but they do make for higher heating bills because you can't shove a couple of feet of insulation into the loft. The house I own now is substantially more expensive to heat than the one I moved into it from for exactly that reason. Mine also doesn't meet building regs, which isn't a problem for me but does mean I can't sell or rent the house as a three-bedroom property.

- End-of-terrace houses tend to be slightly costlier to heat than mid-terrace ones, for obvious reasons.
 
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Solicitors are arseholes.

Not all of them obviously but a high percentage for the amount you pay them. You hear so many stories about them just sitting on stuff that they need to do, and charging huge amounts for doing bugger all work. You need one with a good reputation or from personal recommendation but even then you might not get the same solicitor doing the work.
 
muscovyduck said:
Sorry to jump on the thread to ask, but what's the deal with going to viewings then? Do you just phone an Estate agent and book in?
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Yes just phone and say you'd like to arrange a viewing. If it's your first time viewing with that agent they will likely take your name, contact details and what type of buyer you are (mortgage cash etc). They won't need proof of anything at that stage, that comes later when you make an offer.
 
I am in the process of buying a house. I also had zero experience of what to do, to the point of complete idiocy tbh. I did some (very little really) reading online, there are lots of easy lists out there that explain it simply without it being made too complicated.

I viewed a few houses without having all the money ready, and I cast the net quite wide in terms of size, type, garden or not, transport links, near shops and green space, etc. rather than being too specific. I was looking in 2 locations as well, both possibles. And it was really helpful in making me realize what was important and what wasn't and after looking at about 8 places had really whittled it down to 'must-have' and 'nice to-have' features in one of those areas.

None of the estate agents asked for any financial stuff before viewing, after they just ask some questions to get an idea of where you're at. Be prepared for them to pester you a bit though.

I just googled for a local mortgage advisor, picked one near the top that looked OK, and they have been great.
They recommended a solicitor who have also been great, and who obviously sorted a mortgage out which seems fine to me.
Paid for a full very comprehensive survey as this was recommended by so many people, and was very good and very worthwhile as it picked out a few issues with the roof that they sellers have happily fixed.

Was lucky in finding a place that was being sold by friends of friends, so have avoided estate agents etc. My solicitor talked to theirs and have organized it all, I just sign stuff. Now have paid the deposit, and am now just waiting completion. Does seem to cost a couple of grand to get to this stage though (on top of the house costs obviously).

It's a bit exciting and terrifying all at the same time though. I never want to buy again, and no plans to move after this, so it's nice to think of getting to know an area and the people in it and everything else without the feeling of it being a short term thing.
 
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two sheds said:
Solicitors are arseholes.

Not all of them obviously but a high percentage for the amount you pay them. You hear so many stories about them just sitting on stuff that they need to do, and charging huge amounts for doing bugger all work. You need one with a good reputation or from personal recommendation but even then you might not get the same solicitor doing the work.
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It definitely pays to look for a local firm specialising as much as possible in conveyancing, or at least property and family law. Avoid any firm where their website is mostly about criminal stuff or where conveyancing is a tiny footnote.
 
I've literally just moved home, so happy to help with advice and guidance if you like, via DM or quote me. many things are already probably answered here, I couldn't be bothered to read every reply.

I'll just cover what you need in order to buy.

Decide where you want to live and research the average prices in that area for the amount of bedrooms you want.

Next is proof of funds. Do you have outright money to make a cash purchase or are you going to need a mortgage to make the difference?

If cash, just having a bank statement showing the funds will suffice for most estate agents to ensure you're not wasting their or their clients time, if you need to get a mortgage, start with seeing a mortgage broker, who will be able to give you an idea on how much you can borrow depending on how big your deposit is. Then they will provide you with a mortgage in principal which is what estate agents will want to see before allowing you view properties if they are doing their jobs properly.

As I assume you are only buying, and not selling, then the only additional cost is solicitors. This will probably be around a grand, maybe more. I was actually really impressed with my solicitor and majority was done online, she chased all the the other solicitors constantly and was on the ball, my sellers solicitor was shite and the whole thing almost missed completion because my sellers solicitor was so incompetent so I can also advise you to not use those (DC Law) . We only exchanged contracts 3 days before moving! Stressful is not the word! But if you're not also selling then it's a lot easier.

Stamp duty you will remain except from if you a first time buyer, so don't worry about the stamp duty holiday.

If you're not going for a mortgage it''s probably also worth getting a home buyers survey done, this will cost about £500 but will highlight any problems with the house. Now whilst I would advise getting one of these, they have lots of scary shit on them, especially as a first time buyer. Every house comes with it's problems, even new builds. By all means post stuff on here that comes up in the homebuyers survey and we can guide you. Tbh most of it can probably be ignored (not even new builds will be out to electircal standards for example because they change so often) but it's worth knowing if the house has a serious damp problem or is in dire need of a new roof that you wouldn't have spotted from just looking yourself.

You may be able to use the report as leverage to renegotate the price down. Be prepared for your seller to get arsey if you do this and to ask to see the report. This is where things get messy, as you own the report not them, by all means if you are using the report to renegitate the price then by all means just send them the pages of the detail you're arguing the toss over not the whole report.

If you're having a mortgage, then the bank will probably also do it's own survey. These are basic. When I sold my old property my buyers mortgage company send someone round, he probably spent no more than 30 mins in the property. When I bought my house the bank didn't even bother and did an online survey and concluded the house was a safe purchase. How they know this I don't know!! So even if getting a mortgage you may want to do a home buyers survey.

Whilst all that goes on your solicitors will get surveys on the area from local councils etc and raise enquires with your seller to answer.

This whole process can take anything from 3-6 months depending on how long the chain of properties involved. Also it's worth knowing estate agents, solicitors, survey people are exceptionally busy at the moment due to the stamp duty holiday, so things are taking even longer than they usually would. Wether this works to your advance or not, I don't know but the way of looking at it is it gives you additional time to save even more money and think about things you'll need to buy.

It all sounds pretty scary and complex, but to be honest, it's pretty simple and everything takes place in stages so you shouldn't get overwhelmed, but first thing first, is get your finances in order to show you have either the deposit required to satisfy a mortgage or the cash in the right account.

The last thing to sort will be movers, depending on how much stuff you need to move the cost will vary. To move a 2 bed house to another 2 bed house cost me £500. (I apparently had a 20% covid discount!!!)

If you don't have much to move then it could be cheaper to rent a van yourself if you can have a friend help, then you just need to think about how much you'll spend on appliances, sofas, beds, wardrobes etc etc.


This link pretty much details the whole process: Step by Step Guide to Buying a Home- HomeOwners Alliance

Oh, and you want freehold if possible. My current property is both freehold and leasehold, but your solictor will explain any weird shit like that, I basically own both!!
 
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Tell the estate agents your Dad's place is under offer and start going out to look at properties. There is very little else to do at the moment, it's safe enough as long as you mask up and use sanitiser and is is the only way you will start to realise what you want.

If you might want to go abroad again, then look at how easy it might be to rent out. For instance, renters are more likely than you to want good transport links and equal sized bedrooms.
 
Yes, first time buyer.

I'll start viewing in the next few weeks. Bit of a pain as think I have to get to the properties on my own but I'll go on my bike and that'll give me an idea of the hills.

I haven't got much to move, can do it in a taxi. All my stuff is still in Istanbul.
 
cybershot said:
First time buyers don't pay it.

I'm making assumption here the OP is a first time buyer otherwise probably have more of a clue of where to start.
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Up to £300k from April, which appears to be above the OPs budget. However this exemption doesn't apply to all first time buyers, but excludes anyone who's ever had an interest in residential property e.g. their name on the deeds of their partner's house etc..
 
Before I moved here I spent months reading up on the different areas and looking at houses in papers. Then I stayed at a pub for a couple of weeks when I started looking in earnest and hired a car to look round. People at the pub were superb, told me which areas to avoid ("rains permanently", "mineshafts all over", "lot of violence" ....).

There's a lot of luck involved though. The first estate agent I went to had a little black and white photo on the wall of an old place I fell in love with but it was under offer. I looked round for two weeks and was just about to go back home but thought i'd take one last walk round the town and happened to pass that estate agent again. I went in and asked if he had anything and he said no. As I was turning round to walk out I saw the same photo on the wall and said "how about that one?" and he said "ah yes they refused the offer on that yesterday (twats had tried to force the price down by a large amount) and I've not had time to contact anyone about it" because several people had said they'd be interested if the offer fell through.

It also made me quite superstitious - when people asked how the sale was going I'd always say "ok touch wood", and it worked because I got the place :) so that's something I keep going.
 
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Exciting stuff miss direct. It’s such a good feeling when you know that your home is really yours and nobody can tell you to move, or stop you from painting things whatever colour you like.
Only practical general advice would be - don’t tell estate agents your top budget limit even when they ask you several times.
 
Oh, and something which proved invaluable for everyone involved in our chain was to at the very least get email addresses of everyone involved. Estate agents and solicitors won't like this, but it means you can call them out on their bullshit.

A good way to do this is when you go back for the second viewing, or say you want to go in and measure up (if they say dimensions are already available, say you're thinknig of refitting the kitchen and bathroom) and ask if you can have an email address on the way out.

Mobile numbers is probably a bit too personal, but email addresses proved to be very useful to have for my buyer and seller. More than once we called solicitors out on bullshit (seller solicitor saying hadn't received docs from mine, but we could prove mine had send them 19 days prior) and estate agents trying to put pressure on to exchange before rest of chain was ready, in fact my buyer hadn't even got all his stuff sorted with his lender when I got that call from the estate agent (they just basically want paid and don't like chains as the whole thing can collapse) explain to him, that is was funny my buyer was putting pressure on to exchange when I'd spoken to him on email that very morning and he explained his lender was doing an additional check.

Shut the agent up and realised they couldn't use slimy pressure tactics.

Towards the end due to incompetence of my sellers solicitor having a mass email chain with everyone involved so no one could hide was probably key to ensuring we exchanged when we did, or I honestly think I'd still be sat in my old house right now.

I was amazed they didn't fuck up on completion (moving) day.
 
You could have asked me!
I always thought I'd only ever buy an older house with 'character'. Now I would only ever buy a newer house. You need to remember and budget for all the things that could potentially go wrong/need maintaining when your own your own home. Loads of stuff you don't even consider when you rent
 
My rules are don’t buy leasehold
Get your income/wages for the last 3-6 months in place (proof of affordability)
Write a list of want you need/want
Work out your affordability ie mortgage payments
Avoid new builds
Look at loads of property. Sign up for prime location and Rightmove and have notifications sent to you
Talk to a mortgage broker
DON’t buy leasehold

enjoy it it doesn’t happen often. Don’t be desperate there are tons of properties everywhere, look at stuf you don’t necessarily think will fit your needs just to get a comparison

let agents know you are chain free
Don’t buy leasehold
 
It’s good to have an idea of what you want, and a small number of hard “no” factors are fine, but in my experience you won’t know which properties are on your “yes” list until you see them. And there isn’t endless choice anyway, so keep your options open.

The received wisdom is that if budget is tight, buy the worst house on the best street. And that’s sort of right... but people have different priorities. When we bought this house we could’ve afforded a flat somewhere more gentrified, but I liked the old-fashioned south-east London vibe here. Best part of a decade it’s still pretty gentrification resistant. Much more up-and-coming has been West Norwood (a couple of miles away) we saw a house there, also ex council on an estate, and walking from the car along the footpaths I got a really unpleasant vibe. Like I would feel worried on my own at night. I never feel that where we did buy - though I’m sure some people would say this is also rough.

I originally wanted a Victorian property, because they’re so pretty and have high ceilings- but they attract a real £££ premium because lots of people want high ceilings and attractive architectural features. I didn’t imagine in a month of Sundays that I’d buy a 1960s brutalist cube of a house with (duh-duh-DUHHH!) a flat roof! But we saw a few places and when we walked into this house it was bright and warm and weirdly cute and felt like a home in a way that every other place we had seen just didn’t.

Go see houses. Notice how safe you feel locking up your bike outside. Go into the nearest corner shop and feel out the vibe.

This bit is exciting! You’re shopping for a house! Start now!
 
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