How much does house buying cost?

[GreenGill]

Ok please imagine I know zero about house buying.
I will be a first time buyer and I'm stressing about how much the 'extras' will cost.
We've almost saved up a deposit and starting to think about looking for our ideal house but people keep telling me there's surveyors and estate agents and solicitors fees etc.
Is it really so expensive, how much should I be setting aside for all this? 😬
Thanks!

It really depends how much the house costs. I'm no sure if stamp duty is still a sting to first time buyers but we budgeted an extra 5k for fees that be safe.

There's no estate agent fees if you're buying - only when you're selling.

Solicitors fees - allow £1.5K - £2K

Around £750 for a mid-level survey (you can get more basic or more in-depth ones too)

Stamp duty depends on the value of the house - here's a calculator:
www.tax.service.gov.uk/calculate-stamp-duty-land-tax/#/intro

Will you need a moving service? The cost of that will depend on how much stuff you have and whether you want them to pack and move it, or just move it.

Oh wow! That's a lot!
House will be around £100,000

We won't use a moving service, we'll just hire a van and drive it ourselves.

Also moving costs... we wasted £2000 every failed attempt due to surveys etc when we attempted to buy the two places before ours. This one the one we finally got cost £3000 we were ftb too. Awful process but we escaped the rent trap

We hired a van and moved ourshelves

You won't have to pay stamp duty on that then.

If you can find a local solicitor/conveyancer, a lot of them also have calculators on their website where you can get a quote that's more specific to your circumstances.

As a first time buyer you won’t pay stamp duty - but you don’t pay it for a house under £125,000 regardless.

Depends on what mortgage you get, some come with free valuation and legal s, others you pay an arrangement fee for (which you can add to the mortgage if you want to and loan to value allows)

I work for a broker and we charge a fee for arranging the mortgage for you. This can be in addition to any fees from the lender.

Yes we do get a kick back from the lender, but on £100k it would be under £500, hence the charge of a fee, as we do everything for you.

If you went for a more indepth survey so have £5000 extra just in case

Advice here on the survey. Don't bother with the mid range one. Either go full in or just use the basic.

A homebuyers report will likely be conducted by someone who is aware of things that could be an issue, i.e structural things but isn't suitably qualified to comment whether it is in fact absolutely fine. So, they tend to say xx could be an issue, suggest more in depth survey.

A friend is an estate agent, and the amount of people who pull out of sale because of things that could be an issue (but probably arent) because they've gone for a homevuyers survey not a full survey is eye opening.

It depends on what type of house you're buying. If fairly new then your basic valuation should be fine, but an older one, always go for the full. Of course it will flag things, but will also give you the reassurance whether or not that's a problem or not.

Thank you so much for the advice here, I really am appreciate!

We've been looking actually at shared ownership of a new build.
Would this affect any fees at all, would I still need to do a survey on a new build?

Thank-you again!

Oh, and I've recently used a mortgage broker, who was free - they only take the commission from the lender . They got us a fantastic rate, took a lot of stress out of the process and also some vouchers on top.

Message me if you'd like their details. I don't want to blatantly post their name here!!

Our last move set us back about £12k, but that's including stamp duty, and purchasing a large-ish four bed house. With no stamp duty, minimal removal fees, and no estate agent fees as FTB, I would say you'd spend a few thousand maximum. You're only going to be paying solicitors for purchase, and your general moving costs. Pretty sure our first house purchase cost us under a grand in total for a 150k house, that was 12 years ago though, so I'm assuming fees have gone up since then.

Your mortgage company will probably want you to have a survey done as a legal requirement, but they aren't expensive on a new build, as you could have a basic one. Homebuyer survey is about £400, and usually required by the mortgage company.

You shouldn't need one on a new build. Though if brave knock on a couple doors of neighbours who have moved in already and ask if they've had any issues - in theory there are gaurantees on new builds but it can be frustrating getting things fixed.
Buying fees on a house that price will be under £1000, though there might be extra work due to part ownership thing, but solicitors have to let you know the fees up front before you engage them.
I just got a mortgage for £75,000 and the broker didn't charge me anything and I even got £300 towards solicitor fees.
But put aside £2-3000 if you can then you could use the leftover to buy some furniture!

Shared ownership might mean that the in depth reports have been done. My Daughter was going to buy a house and after the survey (then £750), they asked for a joint or wood survey and another one to do with the foundations, which wouldn't be covered on an ordinary survey.

But in your case because the other owner will have needed that level of protection, they will have likely been done. Or the work certificated.

In my area you need around £2300 to complete.

Your Solicitor will go through how much protection you have within the T&Cs in regards to the cost of any work and any come back. Some do specialise in shared ownership.

Consider a licenced conveyencer, rather than a solicitor.
Far cheaper, and does exactly the same as a solicitor would.

We have just moved. We sold one bungalow and bought another ( each around £350K, and although I cannot recall the exact fee, ( its a set price) we had change from £1k

I worked in a solicitors and you get a break down of costs for fees. This sometimes includes survey costs but will show how much searches will be too.

Just be aware some areas need extra searches like coal mines down Cornwall or some parts of Kent.

I really depends where you live but the costs of me buying a 180k house last year

Stamp duty - 1100
Solicitors approx 700
Survey approx 400
Removals approx 600

Please ring around and look on line for things like surveys - there is absolutely NO need to pay 1.5k for a solicitor when you’re just buying!!!! And NO survey needs to cost more than 300/400 unless it’s a full structural

Removals is personal - you can do it yourself with a van but i didn’t want to so we paid for professionals

This is in the north east, other places will vary but do your homework! No need to pay over the odds

Also try to go for mortgage products without a fee - you have to check the % difference as they tend to be slightly more expensive per month but when you do the math you are saving overall by paying a few quid more a month than a 999£ product fee.

I would have thought that a full structural survey would be unnecessary for a new build due to the NHBC guarantee?

For new build and shared ownership, look very carefully into any 'hidden' costs like leasehold, costs for maintenance of areas outside the house like parking areas or shared green spaces.

To read up on everything you could ever think of, any more, probably worth having a look at the Moneysavingexpert FTB guide.

www.moneysavingexpert.com/first-time-mortgage/

Also try to go for mortgage products without a fee - you have to check the % difference as they tend to be slightly more expensive per month but when you do the math you are saving overall by paying a few quid more a month than a 999£ product fee

^^This. For each product there will be a tipping point, above which it's worth paying a fee. As you are taking out a relatively small mortgage, a £999 product fee will be over 1% of the size of the mortgage. If you are looking at a 2 year fixed rate deal, a fee free deal with an interest rate that is 0.5% more expensive will actually work out cheaper.

Not paying a fee also helps cashflow and maximises your deposit by reducing the amount of fixed costs you have to pay out up front.

Don't forget house insurance. I know it's just couple of hundred, but it should be counted in