EMMA DAVISON and her partner Chris have just taken that daunting step of becoming first time buyers. Here Emma tells of the heartaches that went with that first house purchase - and gives some tips on taking some of the stress out of buying a house
VENTURING into the world of property buying for the first time is a really daunting experience.
There’s the hours of scouring for affordable properties, and getting your head round mortgages, interest rates and other property-related jargon.
When you do secure the property of your dreams, there’s the nail-biting wait until you move in, the fear that the deal will fall through, and the dread that the idyllic neighbourhood you picked will turn out to be full of nightmare families with Asbo kids.
My partner Chris and I recently took that huge first step onto the property ladder, and like many couples before us, the transition was far from smooth.
We spent ages trudging from one rubbish home to another, and wading through property details sent to us by our local estate agents.
We quickly realised that we couldn’t afford more than a shoebox in our preferred location, so we had to widen our search field to somewhere we knew little about (cue the Asbo kids worry again).
Then we struck lucky when we stumbled across a gem of a property. It ticked all the boxes and then some, was in a great location and, luckily for DIY novices like us, it needed no work doing to it.
We put in an offer immediately, and it was all going so well. But then came the bombshell, the couple who owned the house took it off the market because they were expecting a baby.
So many tears later (from my part that is!), we accepted the loss and moved on to traipse through the doors of yet more questionable homes.
The one positive outcome from losing the house of our dreams was that we did realise we loved the location.
And luckily for us, a couple more homes were on the market on the same close. Not that the first one compared in any shape or form. It was dingy and eau de cat urine impregnated the whole house.
The garden was an unfinished mess and the ill-fitting conservatory sent alarm bells ringing. We later found out that the house has been on the market for an astounding five years!
Then we came across a house which really appealed to us because it was pretty much identical to the other property we had fallen in love with. Outside it had the same mock Tudor features we loved, and the internal layout with three bedrooms was similar.
The decor of this house wasn’t as to our taste - the owner had a thing for garish purple and nasty browns - but we could see it had potential to be every bit as nice as the other one.
We put in an offer on the house and it was immediately accepted. Our mortgage was all sorted out, our solicitors were instructed, and then we waited ... and waited.
It was months before we were able to exchange contracts and complete. There were a lot of hold-ups from the seller’s end - the chain we were in collapsed because she was gazumped on her property.
We had to wait again while she dithered over the findings of the survey on her new house, and our own survey seemed to take ages (cue more tears because our results seemed a lot worse than they actually were).
But then came the magical moment when we were handed the keys, and the hellish past few months suddenly became worth it.
But we soon discovered that there was much more work to be done than even we imagined…
Here are a few tips to make the process less stressful:
Don’t just grab the first mortgage you can - work out which is going to be the best in the long-term for you and shop around as lenders’ rates can vary tremendously. www.mortgagesorter.co.uk gives good advice on which mortgage is suitable for you.
Make sure once you’ve had the offer accepted on your home you get, at the very least, a homebuyers’ report carried out. You shouldn’t rely on the most basic report that the mortgage company will accept.
Be realistic on how much you want to spend on you home, and set aside a separate budget for decorating it – even new houses will need some furnishings and decoration, while older properties may require more extensive work. Factor in all these likely expenses in addition to the purchase price, and other fees such as solicitors’ fees and stamp duty.
Do a thorough background check into your future neighbourhood to avoid nasty surprises. www.upmystreet.gov.uk is a great site as it tells you everything you need to know about your neighbours, from their average age and income to what newspapers they read! The site also gives crime statistics for areas.
Look at as many properties as possible, and weigh up the pros and cons carefully. As you are buying for the first time there may be a few details you miss, so take an experienced homebuyer, such as parent or friend, with you. Make sure you have more than one viewing, preferably at different times of the day so you can see how busy the neighbourhood gets.
