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Explain it to me like I’m 5?!

1 reply

Jaggy1 · 18/05/2025 19:06

Hi,

My fiancée and I are looking to move out of our flat and get a house for us and our baby boy.
Honestly I feel so embarrassed but I don’t even know where to start with it all.
Our flat is currently owned by my MIL, she pays mortgage and we unofficially give her money, she is willing to basically use all the equity towards our house. There’s 16k still to pay and I think it’ll be worth 70-90k. I’m not earning at the moment but my fiancée could get the house in his name or joint with his mum. I know everyone would say not to do that but I really do believe it woukd be fine if anything were to happen to us down the line, our families are all extremely close.
Only thing is, I’m not sure about it being a second property or if there’s a way for her to pay a house without it being in her name.

What do we do first?
I was thinking we’d need a valuation and then a pre approval with a lender, get a mortgage broker then we list our flat & look for what we want? But there isn’t always a lot going in the area so what happens if out flat sells.
Also, do you pay all these things upfront? Like solicitor fees, valuation etc or do they come from the sale?

Sorry for silly questions, I’ve just never ever learned about it and now looking into it it seems there’s so much more goes into it than just going to the estate agent and say can I get this house please!

Thanks for any advice you can give, in Scotland too if it’s of any relevance.

OP posts:
NonmagicMike · 18/05/2025 19:23

First question I would have is will you or your MIL be buying the house? If any of you will be left with more than 1 property then you are going to pay the 8% surcharge for a second home which will significantly increase the cost. If when you buy the house it will be in your (or your partners) name and be your only residence then you’ll just pay standard stamp duty.

As for the rest of it have a read of the process on shelter Scotland.

https://scotland.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/housing_options/buying/mortgage

I’ve never sold and moved but I’d I did I would just sell up and rent for the interim as getting stuck in chains etc is a nightmare. You may of course still get stuck in a chain but at least if you have the cash and mortgage agreed it will be far less stressful.

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Getting a mortgage - Shelter Scotland

Get mortgage advice to work our how much you can borrow before you buy a home.

https://scotland.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/housing_options/buying/mortgage

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