A Quick Guide to Buying Your First Property
If youāre thinking about buying your first home, congratulations! Youāre about to experience a huge life moment and finally have somewhere to call your own. The first-time buyer journey is exciting, scary, overwhelmingā¦ itās basically all the emotions. So, what can you expect?
In this quick read, we take you through some of the initial steps of buying your first home.
Money matters
Whether youāve built up savings or youāre borrowing from the Bank of Mum and Dad, the first thing that needs attention is a mortgage in principle. This is how you find out what you can afford per month and how much you can borrow.
Unfortunately, a mortgage is just one cost ā there are lots of others you need to account for, including:
- Stamp duty
- Valuation costs
- Survey fees
- Legal fees
- Insurance
- Costs of moving/decorating
Top tip: Use a mortgage broker. Theyāll help you understand the financial commitment, organise the documents youāll need, find a suitable deal and apply on your behalf.
Property search
Once you know how much you can afford, you can start your search. Whilst looking online is useful, thereās nothing as valuable as sitting down with an estate agent and discussing exactly what youāre looking for and what you want to pay. Agents have a huge amount of knowledge about the local market and buying process, so make sure you take advantage of it.
Legals
As a first-time buyer, itās important to work with a team of professionals who you can rely on and who can explain things to you. Youāll need a conveyancer or property solicitor to carry out searches and get the deal done.
Top tip: Try to use a solicitor that has been recommended rather than finding your own.
Property surveys
There are two types of survey you should be aware of: a valuation survey and a homebuyerās survey ā which one you need is largely dependent on your lender. For example, if youāre buying a new property, the lender may be happy with a valuation survey. A homebuyerās survey may be needed if you buy an older property that requires work.
Once a satisfactory survey has been carried out, the lender will (hopefully) approve your mortgage offer.
Next steps
As the excitement builds, so too will the workload/admin of buying a new property. Be prepared to answer questions from the sellerās solicitor or your lender about your timescales, how quickly you can move to exchange and so on.
While this article gives you a quick overview of the steps involved in buying your first property, itās not a detailed guide. There may be bumps in the road, but it will be worth it once that completion date arrives.
If youāre planning to buy your first property, get in touch with our team at Allen Residential on 01761 412 300 today.
