When do we start looking for a house?

[Schmokeandapancake]

We have been saving for a deposit and we have £5k more to save to get to our target (this includes stamp duty/fees etc) which will take us 5 more months.

When would be the best time to start looking? We do not have anything to sell.

right move is ruling my life

It's always worth having a snoop. It will give you a clearer idea of exactly what/where you want when you are financially able to go ahead.

Start looking a month or two before you have the money in the bank - property sales usually take about 2-3 months to complete from start to finish. In my experience, there is a lot on the market in spring, less so in summer, another little boom in autumn, and then its usually pretty dead in the depths of winter. If you find a property you like in the winter months you may be able to get a bit of a bargain because of a lack of competition.

Thanks mrscumberbatch...

So would you not set up viewings until you had reached your target?

I am stupidly impatient and am wondering whether we could start the process sooner than in 5 months time, as house buying always seems to take at least a few months, by which time we would have saved enough, iyswim?

Thanks bibbitybobbitybunny - that is helpful-I was worrying that there wouldn't be anything to choose from later in the year but hopefully we can aim for the autumn boom...

We started looking 2 years ago though we knew we wouldn't be in a great position to buy until last year.

We went to a few viewings in areas we liked to get a feel for the area and what our money could get us. Saw a couple of gorgeous places and was sorely tempted to rush in and try and cobble things together... then found house that we ended up in! So a year of viewings and recce trips.

When we found this house, after seeing the other places we knew 'this' was the one. And the timing was great. You've nothing to lose by setting up a viewing.

What I am also saying is that if you are actively looking later in the year, when it all goes a bit quiet, you may well snap up a bit of a bargain. Good luck.

Yeah we actually picked up a house that had 'sold' and come back onto the market... but because we'd been trawling for homes for a year we spotted it straight away and were first in line!

Apologies if I've got the wrong end of the stick, but can I recommend that you don't throw every penny into this, i.e. as well as your deposit, stamp duty, moving fees, etc, keep back enough for your 'emergency fund', i.e. the amount that allows you to live for x months if you're out of work etc.

Also, if you see houses you like on RM, look on the land registry (via RightMove's 'Sold prices' page) to see what they've previously sold for on that road/in that area. It will give you an idea of what to expect.

Thank you both-there is hope for us then! Bit tricky as want to try for dc2 but got to sort out house too....

Thanks RCheshire yes I know it would be sensible to have a bit of an emergency fund too...and yep, the Sold prices bit of RM is useful.

Damn, I have registered with a few agents and have just received details of a gorgeous house-so frustrating that we can't really put offers in yet. We've also had a mortgage in principle agreed. So annoying! Why have I done this to myself??!!

If you've got the agreement in principle, can you not go ahead and make up the funds when you've saved them? It can take a while for everything to go through.

Also, we are moving in a couple of months, with any luck, and DC2's EDD is tomorrow, so it will mean living on Netto beans for a few months but oh my word it is so going to be worth it (it wasn't planned like this, it just all happened at once somehow). Don't stop everything else while you get your house sorted, in other words, in case one thing takes longer or doesn't happen. You can't put your life on hold!

You are an inspiration openerofjars but I will have a job convincing DH, he is being annoyingly sensible anal about everything. It is pissing me off actually. My biological clock is deafening me :(

Also, it took us a year to conceive dc2...

We nearly got turned down in favour of a first time buyer, btw, and we love our first time buyer because they don't have a chain and want to move fast. You are in such a position of strength, even if you get knocked up.

Actually, I have a sneaking suspicion that going house hunting with a massive bump and cute toddler in tow might have been quite useful...

I have told him it could take a while. I have also reminded him of the 2 miscarriages I have had in the last year :( Really down at the moment, just feels so wrong to have to choose home ownership over another baby. But I am so desperate to be in our own home having rented for so long. He is worrying about fact that if I am pregnant and house stuff falls through I will be on maternity pay therefore we won't be able to get the sort of mortgage we can get whilst I am working. So we will be stuck in rented until I go back to work.

Oh, so sorry to hear about your mc.

No, that's bollocks re maternity pay. Look, book a mortgage appointment with your bank and drag him down there. We went on Saturday and, despite the fact that I clearly look v org (and actually cried during the appointment for no good reason, needed to use the staff loo etc ) they didn't even ask about how much our income would drop, nursery fees if I go back to work etc. They really didn't care. Neither did DH's bank.

Is he just really scared re all the house stuff? We got our offer accepted on Wed and DH immediately started going on about cancelling LoveFilm, me getting a second job when I come back from mat leave etc. I talked him down from the ceiling with the power of spreadsheets after a while. None of this has made him start taking packed lunches for work yet, btw!

Look, if you are looking at houses you can only just afford while working, then maybe he has a point, but if you being on mat leave is going to be a temporary thing at an unspecified time in the next year or so, then he is being an old woman and you can tell him I said so. Life is too damn short.

Pg, not org.

I am sitting here in tears. Today is a very bad day. Thank you for being so kind and supportive.

He does have a tendency to be old womanly yes but I think the crux of it is that he is worried about having to work this hard for the rest of his life when tbh he would prefer an easy ride.

Now he is working hard and very long hours so we can save, then he will have to continue to do so to pay our mortgage/do house up/go on holidays etc. I increasingly find myself thinking 'man up'.......

I have reminded him countless times that when kids are small it is harder financially but it will improve as they get older and I work more hours etc etc but it's not sinking in.

We are looking at very modest small houses that would cost slightly more than what we pay in rent, and even if I was on SMP we would still be able to afford it as we wouldn't be saving the extra £1k PCM towards a deposit like we are now.....

We have already had a mortgage appointment, and I keep telling him that a pregnancy is 9 long months, that they will only look at our circumstances on the day we apply, so won't give a shit about fact that my income will drop (as in your example). I think we can safely conclude that he is indeed being a very old woman, and yes, a scared old woman at that.

It is a fucking nightmare to live with a grumpy overworked man, it's driving me insane!

Thank you so much again for your words of wisdom, it's made me feel a lot better. I am feeling particularly low as friends are popping out second dc's all over the place and I am becoming irrationally obsessed with age gaps.....

Oh, and openerofjars, congratulations on having your offer accepted and good luck with dc2's birth, sorry, so self absorbed at the moment.

Totally understandable. Nine women I know had babies last year, I lost contact with one of my oldest friends because I just couldn't stand hearing about one more bloody pregnancy, and I was desperately broody and desperate to move. We had a buyer but it fell through and we were totally gutted.

It'll happen but the waiting is just so shit, isn't it?

Oh god poor you, nine women in one year and buyer falling through! Very sad to lose contact with an old friend but totally understandable.....glad for you that you got your bfp in the end but a year of trying, that's tough.

Waiting is extremely shit, yes! And I am no spring chicken anymore......

Thing is, it did work out in the end (so far, not wanting to jinx anything!) but it didn't seem like it at the time. I like the house we got our offer accepted on much more than the one that got away and now I am swamped with hand-me-down baby clothes, but it's taken a year to get there and there were times it was very tough on our marriage.

Good luck and please reassure your DH that change is good, really! And I shall attempt to do the same with mine...

I tell you what got mine in the end, apart from a couple of tantrums Miss Piggy would have been proud of, was the thought of the cut-off for primary school applications for DS coming up. That made him realise that staying here forever wasn't an option.

Thank you for your wise words openerofjars....I am hopeful that it will all work out in the end for us too.

Good luck with a house move and a tiny baby-let me know how it all goes!

You too, and remember that there is always ...

:) Aah yes, ! I have been denying myself (diet) but I think I may need to gradually reintroduce it.....