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Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

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Original poster

First Time Buyers support group

68 replies

schrutefarmbeets · 02/11/2016 14:09

I don't know if there's already one floating around but is anyone else out there about to buy their first home?!

I saw a flat on Monday and fell in love with it and now the ball is rolling so quickly and I'm freaking myself out about it. The offer got immediately accepted and they're talking about moving in in 5 weeks time....!

I keep flicking between being crazy excited and hugely freaking myself out. Anyone else?

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Ghostonthedancefloor · 10/11/2016 15:41

And averagebear that's reassuring. I'm hoping that will be a selling point for us and he hold on just a few more weeks.

CharlieBubbles88 · 10/11/2016 16:12

We are first time buyers. We have had an offer accepted and our mortgage approved. At the moment we are just waiting. All paperwork has been submitted to our solicitor who are apparently checking the title deeds. Does anyone know what the next step is/how long this is likely to take? Obviously we went to move as quickly as possible but the not knowing is what makes it frustrating

thenewaveragebear1983 · 10/11/2016 19:05

Charlie it really depends on how long the chain is and how proactive pushy you are with your EA and solicitor. We have taken 9 1/2 weeks from accepting an offer on ours to complete the chain of four, exchanged Monday, moving tomorrow!! But that is pretty quick - myself and our buyer have been very proactive, answer questions the same day etc. Our seller has been slooooow, taking a week to respond, and her solicitor is slow also.

phoria · 10/11/2016 19:53

Are any of you worried about the predicted house price drop next year? Just curious as I've just bought and am terrified!

Original poster

schrutefarmbeets · 11/11/2016 15:04

Well I'm a bit weirded out because I got the invoice (shudder) for my deposit and solicitors fees and it included all the deeds to my flat. The lady who lives there now paid £5000 more for it in 2007 than I am buying it for!

The home report (Scotland) was great and it needs no work doing to it. I think it's all fine I'm just weirded out that it can lose value in nearly 10 years? The area is way nicer than it was. Maybe she just overpaid for it... Bleurgh

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PettsWoodParadise · 11/11/2016 22:20

Some advice from someone who has done a few purchases and definitely not a FTB.

do not arrange your mortgage through the recommended broker of the agency from whom you are buying the property - they get to know too much including your max limit... 2) why is the vendor selling - find out what you can, it can be revealing and can put you in a strong position 3) stalk your new property before exchange at all different times. Knock on your neighbour to be's door - introduce yourself, make conclusions about those investigations 4) the survey will have a lot of cop outs - always flush the toilet and check the shower pressure on a tour or ask for it to be demonstrated, look out for spare portable radiators that show the central heating isn't coping etc 5) change the locks on the day when you move in and know where the stop cock is .
if buying leasehold invest the few pounds it costs to buy the documentation from the land registry (register for free online, each document costs a few pounds) - it can save a lot of time wasting if you see something problematic in the lease. Good luck all. It is worth it.

littlemissneela · 13/11/2016 01:01

So, erm, we appear to have had our offer accepted on the house, and it has been taken off the market and no more viewers allowed! It appears we are on the road to owning our very first home eek!

YouOweMeATenner · 13/11/2016 01:28

Hi everyone! FTB here too. Hoping to complete before Christmas. Just like pps, I was confused about the whole process. At times things seemed to move very quickly, then stopped for a week or 2. I think the general run of things is, mortgage approval, survey, searches, drafting and signing of contract, complete.
Basically right now we have signed the contract with a few conditions attached (building certification and deeds for an extension). Providing those are all in proper order, I own a house... Aaaah!

YouOweMeATenner · 14/11/2016 22:41

Any updates today anyone?

littlemissneela · 14/11/2016 22:55

We have engaged a solicitor, amd so have the vendors. Dh had a chat with the EA and previously we thought it would be a slow sale, but it seems they are quite keen to find their own respective new homes and move on (divorce).
The solicitor seems to think they might be able to speed up the land searches (12 weeks in our area for some unknown reason) as we need to make it disability friendly for our ED.
My dad has been beavering away at plans to get a room in the lift, and finding where to site stairs. He is in his element

NotAMammy · 14/11/2016 23:43

DH just found a property over budget but ticks other boxes. We can afford repayments but we would need to go for 5% deposit rather than 10% and I'm not 100% sure we'd get one. It's bloody close to perfect though.

Whiny, self indulgent comment, but I sometimes get really jealous of people who have other people that can help them out. If someone could hand me £3k right now that would be great...

Sorry I know that's not helpful! Just having a moan!

Moomintroll85 · 14/11/2016 23:51

Hope everyone is on track! We have our surveyor going in tomorrow. This is where it all went to pot last time so feeling a bit . However this is a 1950s semi and the one that we pulled out of due to a bad survey was built before 1900 so hopefully shouldn't be as bad this time!

littlemissneela · 15/11/2016 08:46

Notamammy Sorry, thats the only way we are even able to consider buying a house. Its part of several inheritances that have come in for the inlaws over the past few years. Dh convinced them that it would be better to help us now, when we really needed it, rater than in several years after they have gone.

Original poster

schrutefarmbeets · 15/11/2016 14:14

I have my move in date confirmed! Next Wednesday I'm meeting my solicitor to go through the QA (?) and sign anything that needs signing.

When do you think it's safe to give notice on a rental property? I need to give 40 days notice and my lease is up on Jan 15th so it's fairly tight...

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NotAMammy · 15/11/2016 18:24

LittleMissNeela oh I don't begrudge other people it, I was just feeling a bit crap and sorry for myself. There'll be nothing down the line either, unless a lotto win is involved!
I agree with your DH for what it's worth, better to have it when you need it and when they can see the joy it brings.

Spickle · 15/11/2016 18:49

Schrutefarmbeets - you can check with your solicitor but advice would be to not give notice until you have exchanged. Anything can go wrong up till then and you could potentially make yourself homeless.

YouOweMeATenner · 15/11/2016 22:52

littlemiss 12 weeks seems a long time, but fingers crossed it goes quicker.

notamammy I understand completely. We were in the same boat. Could've bought a perfect home 6 months ago if we'd had someone to loan us a few grand, but we didn't and had to wait and save. Damn all these people with loaded parents lol

moomin Fx the surveyor doesn't find anything dodgy!

schrute we had to give 2 months notice for our rental and we're really concerned about having to pay both rent and mortgage. Unfortunately the landlord had zero compassion and enforced the full 2 month notice, so we gave notice a few weeks ago which will begin 15th Nov, move out date 15th Jan.

Now we'll get our keys on 16th December. Sorta works out OK as we will have a full month to move our stuff and get some minor works done to the new place

NotAMammy · 18/11/2016 19:59

Youowmeatenner thanks for the sympathy. We've spoken to our mortgage advisor and she's confident that we'll be able to get a mortgage at 5% so we're going to see her to get a MIP. Fingers crossed, it might work out.
Even if this one doesn't work out we are more comfortable going for something a bit more expensive than we originally thought so we might be in the absolute ideal position when people start selling in the new year.

Am I right in thinking that mortgage rates are most influenced by the BoE base rates, so they are unlikely to change much again until the next review in April?

sleephypnosiszzz · 18/11/2016 20:59

we are FTBs finally almost at the end of the process. first flat we had an offer accepted on the sellers pulled out due to splitting up; second we pulled out of after the survey results and realising the EA was dodgy. so now we're ready to exchange on the 3rd flat which with hindsight is the best one for us. at the beginning of all this i googled "how does buying a house work" and there's a really useful step-by-step guide on the money advice service site.

ThomasHardyPerennial · 22/11/2016 08:40

My DH and I are buying our first home at the moment - private sale, as we are buying from our landlord (have been renting the property for 4 years). So we don't have to move, woohoo!

A few structural issues were flagged up on the survey, which we had no idea about. Progress has been slowed down by arranging further surveys and quotes for work...and it has all be for naught because we found out or landlord is in negative equity. We are currently waiting to exchange, and feel more positive now the nerves have calmed down a bit after the initial panic from the survey. We are working on budgets and making the most of our savings, although it will be beans on toast for a while!

Good luck everyone!

NewDayNewBeginnings · 23/11/2016 23:45

I've had a completion date set for next Wednesday...eekkk cannot wait

Original poster

schrutefarmbeets · 24/11/2016 14:19

Ahhhh that's so exciting, Newday!

Youoweme that's horrendous, that was my big worry. Poor you. My landlord is super nice so I hope I don't have any problems, just really want my deposit back.

I just signed my contract yesterday and officially gave notice on my rental flat - it's actually happening!

I am making Pinterest boards like crazy and obsessively studying the photographs on Rightmove. Completion is two weeks on Friday. I can't wait.

Is anyone else buying a flat and has absolutely no furniture? I think I'll be camping out on the blow up mattress for a while...

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littlemissneela · 25/11/2016 20:49

Our solicitor said when we give our landlord a months notice, if for whatever reason we cant move on the date we've said we would move out by, we can have our rental agreement roll on for another month. We have an assured shorthold tenancy which was originally for 6months 22 YEARS ago Those in rentals with unhelpful LL, maybe have a chat with your solicitor and see if this is the case for you.

We have our actual mortgage now! Whoop whoop! We have signed and sent back the land registry form. Its starting to feel quite real now.

Oh, and I have packed box numero uno Only 200 to go!

sleephypnosiszzz · 25/11/2016 21:43

we completed last friday and get the keys on friday 2nd, with a week left on our tenancy so we can move gradually over a few days. mortgage payments are going to be less than half what our rent costs now, plus can't wait to be able to decorate etc! good luck to everyone else waiting for news before christmas

Original poster

schrutefarmbeets · 26/11/2016 00:30

Sleep, same with me! My monthly outgoings will be about half what I'm paying in rent right now. I can't wait to get decorating :-D

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