The road to buying your first house is probably one of the most exciting things to go through as an adult although it can get a little stressful along the way. However, have no fear as we at Love Mortgages are here to make the whole process incredibly easy for you.
Buying a house, especially your first property, requires plenty of time and effort. There are so many things to consider and thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, the market is incredibly busy right now which means you need to be quick off the mark if you think you have found the perfect property. But what exactly does the road to buying your first house entail? Here’s a handy guide to what you can expect.
What Timescale Am I Looking At?
The usual timescale for buying a home is from six weeks to eight months to find a property and put in an offer, four to twelve weeks to have your offer accepted and exchange and anywhere between instantly and four weeks to complete and receive the keys and the deeds. With the market currently being as busy as it is, this could happen even quicker but could also be slower if things fall through on the other end due to things such as a chain collapsing.
What Budget Do You Have?
It is also incredibly important to know your budget – what deposit you have and what you can borrow to buy the property you love. By knowing in advance how much you are able to borrow, you can look for the properties that are in that price range and avoid disappointment. We here at Love Mortgages will work with you to get the right mortgage once you believe you have found the perfect property – why compromise on what you want when it comes to your first home?
How Much Should I Offer?
When it comes to making an offer, it is always a good idea to get some advice. Currently, properties are going for over and above the asking price as people are desperate to get on the property ladder or upsize to a larger property. It is important to remember that you shouldn’t spend more than you can afford – if there are things that need doing within the property once you have bought it, you want to leave some money in the pot to deal with them.
You should also have in writing exactly what the house comes with before making an offer – you might make an offer expecting certain fixtures and fittings to remain to then find them gone on completion. It is so important to get this in writing as you might not have made as high an offer otherwise.
What Do I Do Once My Offer Is Accepted?
It’s great that your offer has been accepted but it is important to remember that no contract has actually been signed yet so things can change in an instant. If the seller changes their mind, or something happens in the chain - things may not necessarily go as expected.
If your offer is accepted, try and get contracts exchanged as soon as possible to avoid this happening to you. This means asking your solicitor and lender or broker to work hard and hurry things up so you can complete as soon as possible. A good mortgage broker, lender, estate agent and conveyancer should work hard to ensure this whole process goes smoothly anyway.
What Mortgage Do I Need?
Once an offer has been accepted, you need to ensure you can get a mortgage to cover it and you will want to find the right one. Love Mortgages have access to a number of different lenders and have an extensive knowledge of all of the lenders' criteria which enables us to get our clients the best mortgage deal. We offer a number of different mortgage types including first-time buyers and we will search thousands of mortgages deals that are available to us to help you find the right one for your circumstances.
We will let you know all of the key features of the mortgage you have applied for and will help you throughout the whole process from application to approval. The lender will check that your information is accurate – they might ask for payslips, bank statements and tax returns to check this. They will also get someone to assess the property and ensure it is worth the money that you are asking to borrow for it.
Once you have a mortgage offer, ensure that everything is accurate and there are no discrepancies. If there are, get these amended as soon as possible. Also, check the terms and conditions and get building insurance sorted out ready for completion.
What Things Do I Need To Consider?
You definitely need to hire a licensed conveyancer who will do all the legal paperwork including Land Registry and local council services. A good estate agent will help you with this. The conveyancer will also draft the contract and handle the exchange of the money. It is often best to wait until you know who your mortgage is with and either use the same conveyancer as they do or that your mortgage broker advises you to, otherwise, you can expect delays.
As well as progressing with the sale and purchase transaction, your solicitor will carry out searches for you – these are to check for any issues, to check the drainage is working correctly and that land isn’t contaminated and other things like this.
Also, consider booking in a property survey. Many people count the valuation from the lender as sufficient, but an independent survey is definitely worth it to cover all bases. There are different types of surveys that you can opt for so choosing the one that is best suited to your needs. If the survey does find anything that needs doing, get quotes and ask the seller to fix or knock that cost off of the sale price. You don’t want to be paying more than you need.
Close To The End
Once all these things have been done, you are getting close to the end of the road to buying your first property and need to work out a day for completion that suits both you and the seller. You also then need to send your deposit to your solicitor and get your contract signed. Then all that is left to do is exchange contracts – once this happens, you can’t pull out of the sale, but you also can’t be gazumped or broken out of the chain either. Make sure to get a completion statement so you know what else needs to be paid and sign the transfer deed. Once your solicitor draws down the funds from the lender, they will send it to the seller and receive the title deeds and proof that the seller’s mortgage has now been cleared.
Once this has been done, the house is all yours. All that’s left to do is pay stamp duty, register your ownership and get the title deeds. The road to buying your first property has many twists and turns but it is so worth it in the end.
All of this may sound confusing and daunting, but don't fear - we're here! Don’t forget to get in touch with Love Mortgages if you are looking to buy your first property. Our team are passionate about mortgages and have extensive knowledge of the market so will do everything they can to get you the best possible deal.
Prefer to chat? Call us on 01244 90 44 10 at any time, or click here to send us a message and we will get back to you as soon as we can. We look forward to helping you!