first time house buying

Re: first time house buying

Vicky RVN — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 17:51:08 GMT

Estate agents are typical sales men!!! My mums friend had her house on the market. Then she took it off, she went past the agents and saw it in the window...so went in and asked about the place, they said yes it was still for sale. She told them at that point that it was her house, and no it wasn't for sale!!! Good luck with the move, hope it all goes smoothly

Re: first time house buying

Zoe Davies RVN — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 17:26:22 GMT

we turned up for a viewig to be told buy the owner she sold it the day before!!!! that was embarasing esp annoying as i had been on the phone to the agent 10 mins before the bloomin viewing! x we looked at around 30 houses and then found this house. just cant wait to get it d=sorted pack up and move in x x

Re: first time house buying

Vicky RVN — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 16:52:18 GMT

Oooooooh how exciting! Can't WAIT to find my own place! Did find one well within budget...phoned agent, sold! But it's still on the website grrr!

Re: first time house buying

Zoe Davies RVN — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 16:38:45 GMT

We had an offer accepted on the house we really want. soexcited. what now? how long till it could all be over? they have a house they want to put on offer in for mon am and that house is already empty.

x x x

Re: first time house buying

Phrin Vernon RVN — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 21:41:15 GMT

I'm a council tenant -Ohhh the shame! lol!

Great scheme, low rent, repairs done very quickly etc. Personally I don't see the huge attraction homeowner status has? I have family who have bought homes which are now falling apart because of the maintenence costs that they just cannot afford.

Yes I know it can be incredibly difficult to get a council house, esp as a single person, but I know people who have managed it. Possibly I am just in a good area for it.

Oh,and I think I can just about manage with the social stigma! I'm a working class single parent - where else would I live but in a council house lol

Re: first time house buying

bex321 — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 10:18:34 GMT

Not true about being chucked out! If you go through a proper lettings agent they will draw up a good contract and the landlord has to give you 2 months notice to throw you out, whereas you only give a month if you want to leave.

Also if something goes wrong like boiler, central heating etc the landlord has to fix saving you lots of money!

Re: first time house buying

loobylou — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 10:00:56 GMT

Have any of you on low/ single incomes looked at the homebuy schemes?
They are government funded and in simple terms, if you will qualify you will get an interest free loan for up to 25% of the house value as a deposit (used to be a limit of £125,000 total value of property), you dont make any repayments until you sell the property and then you pay back the same % you borrowed. So this could be more or less than the initial loan depending on the housing market at that time.
Have a look at www.homebuy.co.uk
There are different schemes/ agents for different areas. We looked into it before we bought on a 100% mortgage but I have a friend who bought under this scheme and wouldnt have been able to do so otherwise.
Some of the schemes also offer discounted rent and help with mortgages in exceptional circumstances.

[quote user="Sue Cox RVN MBVNA"]

I can't buy a house!!

Went to see an independent finance advisor not long ago, but even with a 10% deposit that i have somehow squirreled away he said i could only get a mortgage on my salary if i had at least a 25% deposit...tried the bank but they would only lend me 50k.... theres no goverment schemes in my area.... A house of my own is all i've ever wanted, but think i will have to win the lottery or marry a rich man! However, i don't play the lottery or have any man on the go, let alone a rich one! *sigh*

Just feel like i'm being left behind these days, friends with houses, getting married, big job promotions... never mind single, renting a manky flat is the stuff of dreams right? right??

[/quote]

Sue- have a look at www.emhomebuy.co.uk

Re: first time house buying

Sue Cox — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 20:53:36 GMT

Cheers Sal, oh and I am in the practce accomadation as we speak, haha!

Yeah i do wonder about long term renting instead but i do just feel like its throwing money away and you can get chucked out of rental places if the landlord decides- not that i am chuck-outable but if they decide that they want to sell up etc hmm... tricky decisions..

Phrin!! You have no man, but a gorgeous little boy that adours you, and possibly "the rest at work" too. Oh and Thug is eating- yay! Woop for steroids! Lol!

Re: first time house buying

Zoe Davies RVN — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 09:20:51 GMT

found a house both of us have fallen for. going back with mates on sunday as they keep us thinking stright. an very excited and now dont knoe how we decide what we should be offerig as a start price. we dont think it worth the full asking price. any help with were we start if we still love it as much as we did the 1st time round? x

Re: first time house buying

Nicola Smith — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 07:33:52 GMT

Even if you go to a mortgage advisor check yourself too s not ll deals available through them - some banks only deal direct , check out the this is money website for best buys.

Re: first time house buying

Vicky RVN — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 06:40:57 GMT

I feel like I'd be throwing money away renting, I want something that I can say "this is MINE"...can't wait to be able to say that! And the cost of a mortgage is the same or less than rent! I see what you're saying about the repairs though. However my dad was a plumber before retiring so got that base covered, and he's got an electrician friend who does our work for us

Re: first time house buying

Sal the 1st — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 00:45:19 GMT

I had this problem - saved and saved and as a single person was basically told no chance of getting a mortgage unless I robbed a bank or something similar and at 40+ my chances were getting ever slimmer. I lived in a succession of manky flats and practice accomodation. I am lucky that I do have my own house now and even luckier in that it is mortgage free as my father left me it when he died ( would rather still have my dad tho).

my personal views are that if you can find a decent rental property sometimes it is better than owning your own when you take into consideration repairs and that you may not want to remain in the same place forever. At least then you have flexability if you want to move around and somebody else is responsible for repairs ( must say I have become quite proficient in DIY in the last couple of years)

Re: first time house buying

Phrin Vernon RVN — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 22:37:35 GMT

Hell yeah!

Single - check!

Renting a manky flat - check!

Sue, I'll see your manky flat and singleness, and raise you!

Re: first time house buying

Sue Cox — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 22:03:20 GMT

I can't buy a house!!

Just feel like i'm being left behind these days, friends with houses, getting married, big job promotions... never mind single, renting a manky flat is the stuff of dreams right? right??

Re: first time house buying

Donna France — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 18:10:58 GMT

I think some will charge, I think mine got a % from the mortgage company for 'selling' it...to be fair It probably came out of my pocket somewhere but there are so many costs involved it soon gets confusing!!

I was in pretty much the same situation as you and yes it's tight but you just learn to prioritise things more..I love having my own house!!!

Re: first time house buying

Vicky RVN — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 17:58:23 GMT

I'm planning on going to a personal mortgage advisor when it comes to it. I thought they would charge? How do they get their money? Commission from the mortgage provider?

I've worked out my outgoings already...yup quite scary! I've worked out the animals cost me 1k a year, just for the basics!

I can't wait to buy!

Re: first time house buying

Donna France — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 17:45:55 GMT

When i bought my house 2 yrs ago I searched high and low for a mortgage...i had a pretty decent deposit but that didnt seem to make much difference.

I then got in touch with a personal mortgage advisor and she searched for me and found the perfect on for me.. I wasnt charged for her time either.

it certainly helped me from stressing as I knew she would do all the leg work! its quite frightening though when she was working out al my outgoings per month!!

Good Luck..it's not as scarey as it looks house buying! honest!

Re: first time house buying

Kim Buckley — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 17:35:08 GMT

We worked it out and we can get a big enough mortgage to get a house but it's not cheap round here and we would need a 180kish mortgage and for that you need a 35k deposit. I'm going to keep buying the lottery tickets lol

Re: first time house buying

Vicky RVN — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 17:27:30 GMT

I've been looking online and went into Nationwide to ask about mortgages. For an 18k salary as sole first time buyer they are offering 67k mortgage. I have deposit money saved up, but not 35k!

Re: first time house buying

Kim Buckley — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 17:08:57 GMT

How is everyone finding getting a mortgage at the moment? I know a few people who have had money for a deposit and have still really struggled. Will be looking into buying a house in July but don't know if we are going to be able to get a mortgage without a massive deposit. Bf already has a mortgage but I doubt he will make any money on his flat so really don't know what is going to happen because we don't have the 35k it sounds like we are going to need. Hmmm

Re: first time house buying

Leigh Hinsley RVN NCert(BDev) MBVNA — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 13:59:38 GMT

Ooo, and one last thing, as said before drive by at night but also at other times throughout the day to check what traffic and parking is like. Also, if a house smells lovely when you walk in - they may be masking the smell of damp! So be careful.

And don't take the vendors word for anything, no matter how nice they seem. The people we bought off owned the house next door too so there wasn't a fence seperating the gardens, they said they'd put up the fence once they sold the other house but never did and buggared off telling the people who moved in next door that we said we were going to put the fence up so in the end we had to because the family next door couldn't afford to and I couldn't live with their kid running around MY garden any longer!! Rant over. lol

Re: first time house buying

Leigh Hinsley RVN NCert(BDev) MBVNA — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 13:49:47 GMT

Other things we had to sort which I never considered was life insurance - so if something were to happen to you or your partner the mortgage will be covered. You can shop for it like you shop for car insurance so very easy.

And I agree with all statements about having a survey - we were talked out of having one by the agency in order to move the sale along faster but regretted it because there were sooooooooooo many things we never noticed on our viewings!! The windows were shot (net curtains were very good at hiding them) and lots of other little things that just would have been noticed by a surveryer. Luckily nothing structural so no biggies - but its also a good haggling tool if you do find something which is fixable but you'd like it took off the selling price i.e. NEW WINDOWS!

Another one - if you already own furniture - measure it and take masking tape! Mask out where you think your furniture would do, my sense of space is generally off anyway, but we were very shocked how deceitfully spacious an empty room looks until you start filling it with furniture. The masking tape gave us an idea of real floor space once the furniture would be in there.

Also, when you've found a place, just google the area - we found a place and then discovered the council had given the go ahead for a mobile phone mast to go up of the public building opposite. I know my brains probably already fried by mobile signals but I'd rather not look out onto a mast! That sort of information should be open to the public online through the council etc.

One more thing - enjoy!! I loved house hunting! The buying part can be stressful at times but try to enjoy it - its very exciing if you use your imagination!

Re: first time house buying

Vicky RVN — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 09:46:32 GMT

I'm looking in to buying in the next few months...worked finances out and it's going to be tight at times but can't wait

Re: first time house buying

Claire Cameron — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 06:54:48 GMT

Good luck with your house buying.

We're in the same position.

We found a PERFECT house last week but got a call to say someone beat us to it and put an offer in just before us and it's been taken off the market - gutted, but it's obviously not meant to be and we'll find a better one

Re: first time house buying

Zoe Davies RVN — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 20:21:32 GMT

We looked at 10 houses today and have found one we like and want to go back and look at but cant do that till 23rd . far too long not sure i can wait!!

one thing that is a little worrying is the floor in the lounge seems to have a bump in the floor and poss a bump in middle of window cill. worried this could be a big prob. the house has lovely garden and so much potential. x