Need some advice from the wise mn people :)
DP and I are getting married next year. We have only ever rented and really it never bothered us that much. But with baby on the way and my DD here we really want to buy a house and pay off our own mortgage instead of someone elses.
Im in a bit of debt from previous relationships so I wouldnt be on the mortgage. DP makes around 25k a year (gone up dramatically in the last few weekes) and I intend on going back to work next year but dont have much earning potential as not very qualified.
We were looking at the co ownership scheme (in N.Ireland) and DPs income etc would allow us to (in theory) buy a house with 55% starter share.
We know we could afford a mortgage. We are paying £500 a month rent as it is. Through the co ownership the payments should be around this amount and we have taken into account that there would be other fees also.
So how to we go about getting started. What criteria do we need to meet before applying for a mortgage? We are complete novices and need any advice we can get!
Oh and we do have the deposit in a trust fund. We cant access it right now but could if we were buying a house.
Thanks