It's about as scary as it gets particularly if you are as debt adverse as I am. So I thought I would share the bits of information and advice that have helped me.
1. If you do one thing get some advice.
I was given the details of a mortgage broker (Peter Lloyd of Peter Lloyd Mortgages) by a barrister that I was working with. Peter gave me a list of information he needed and then searched for a mortgage for me. It is hands down the best decision I made in the buying process especially as I was not buying with someone and therefore did not have another person to bounce my ideas off.
2. Work out what you can afford
Just because bank will lend you the money it does not mean that you should borrow that much. I sat down and calculated the amounts that I thought I would need for all the fees and initial costs to estimate the deposit that was available to me from my savings.
3. Work out what you want from a property
I had a list that was fairly simple. I did not want to walk into the kitchen and feel that it needed to be redone but could cope with a bathroom that did. I wanted at least two double sized bedrooms, a decent sized living room and a maintainable garden. It also needed to be easy to get to work on public transport and in a location that I could rent if I had to. I also ideally wanted double glazing.
Sitting down and working out what I was willing to compromise over and what I wasn't really helped me when I looked arround houses.
4. No one rates their solicitor
I have a slight upper hand on this one as the first year of my training contract was a mixture of residential and commercial conveyancing so I had a head start about the process and knew the firms I wanted to avoid. That said I still had to find a firm so I asked my friends who had bought recently and none of them rated their conveyancer. So I got quotes and my own knowledge of the firm.
5. You will really resent paying SDLT but remember to budget for it. I have a friend who forgot about it and bought a very expensive watch. He then spent weeks thinking about how his overdraft was strapped to his wrist.
6. Sort your building insurence as soon as you know the completion date. I decide not to go with my mortgage provider for the insurence as paying the £25 fee on top of my insurence was still cheaper than going with their product.
7. Get loss of earnings cover, especially if you buy alone. And life insurence for your estate should the worst happen.
8. If you have no furniture see what you can beg borrow and steal from friends and family until after the first big mortgage payment. Plus look at free cycle to see what other friendly souls want to get rid of.
9. The first mortgage payment will be a months interest plus the next months payment. So plan for it and make sure you have enough to cover it.
10. Divide the list of things you need to buy into ASAP, sooner rather than latter and once the rest is done.
For instance a fridge freezer would be ASAP, new flooring for the living room and stairway is sooner rather than later and new handles for the kitchen because I don't like them is once the rest is done.
I've been pinning my ideas on Pinterest so feel free to look here at my current inspirations.
