Just had my offer accepted on my first house! Any words of wisdom for a FTB?

[threetinytots]

I'm very excited and very, very nervous! I am completely new to this house buying business so any good tips and advice would be much appreciated.

Since you have already put an offer on the house, not much use telling you what it is good to look for .

I would think in terms of mortgage and moving expenses: get an independent financial adviser town and country are good. They will find you a mortgage at a competitive deal and are paid by the lender so the advice is free to you (that certainly used to be the case, haven't used them since the credit crunch, heard another big brokers now charges for advice). I would suggest fixing now while interest is so low and I would definitely recommend you get a repayment mortgage rather than interest only (even with investment plan, it's very risky).

Your mortgage company will insist on some sort of valuation and it is probably worth getting a survey as well (you don't have to use your mortgage company's surveyor, it may be more cost effective to use an independent person for this but you will have to use their man for a valuation). Try not to get into a situation where you are tied into paying for your insurance through the mortgage lender and massive (and often virtually worthless) payment protection plans.

Get a good solicitor who you have a direct phone number for (rather than some company where you never quite know who is handling your case). Allow about £400-700 for conveyancing (including land registry fees etc), I don't know if you will be paying stamp duty but obviously factor that in. Think about how you are going to manage the move (removals company, man with van, family and friends?)

Does the house need work? Might it be worth staying where you are while this is carried out? If it does need something doing, then start getting builders in now to give you a quote for it.

If possible, get the vendor's contact numbers so that if there are any delays/unforeseen circumstances, you can speak to him direct rather than go through agent who will forget to pass message on or end up making whatever has happened sound much worse than it is. Try to keep the dialogue open (without harrassing them) because moving is really stressful and it is especially horrible if you don't know whether the other side is committed or not.

I'm sure other people will come up with lots of other stuff as well. Best of luck - average offer to completion cycle takes 13 weeks (perhaps longer now) so be patient.

Thnaks lala, that is great advice.

We didn't plan to buy anything for about 5 years, to give enough time to save more money for the deposit and building/restoration costs. We are moving out of our current rented property on Monday to married quarters to save money on the rent.

This house came up in the village we are currently and where the children go to school. It has a residency restriction on it, so we had our offer accepted for 100k - seems too good an opportunity to miss. It does need work doing - we will need an extension above the garage to give an extra bedroom, central heating and a conservatory for extra living space. I have checked with the house next door who have had the work already done and they didn't have problems getting planning.

Can I still go ahead and get quotes for the work without having planning permission yet? Do you know how long roughly we will have to wait for planning?

I think our mortgage is through Nationwide - 3 year fixed for 4.38? Does this sound good? We thought that we would also use their conveyancing as they said it would knock about 2 weeks off the process, but I'm not sure. It's obviously not local and don't know if this will be a problem. Would we not have to go and sign stuff?

You will do all the signing by post I think.It is so exciting buying your first place you will spend a fortune on house magazines!Lala gives good advice have fun x

You can definitely look into prices on having work done without planning permission but, of course, those prices may not be completely accurate as you won't know exactly what you can do - the guidelines may have changed since the neighbours had their work done, for instance.

I would aim just to get the central heating in and do any decoration (unless you have the funds to build extensions and conservatories straight away) before moving in. Both are messy jobs and are far easier to do if there is no furniture/people in the way.

It's always best to live in a house for a while to see how best an extension would work. Perhaps rather than a conservatory (and I will admit to a conservatory prejudice here), a solid extension into the garden may be better. If you have the option of moving back into married quarters while the work is done, I would certainly sit tight and plan a little rather than rush in unless the house is too tiny to fit you all.

As noddy said, it is really exciting buying your first place especially if it needs work. Try to make sure you get it right.

BTW 4.38% sounds reasonable but there was someone on another thread a week ago saying she had got 3.99 for five years which is amazing.

Agree re conservatory better to wait a while and if you need extra space think about a proper extension.Much easier to furnish and use and adds a lot to the value of the house.

wow! 3.99 for five is amazing! I'm going to try and find that one!

We do have funds available to do the vast majority of the work straight away(well, at least I'm hoping so). I am wondering whether to hang on in MQ's while the work is being done, but at the same time I am a bit worried about paying out extra rent. It's not a lot, but every penny is going to count! It is a 2 bed house and I have three children - so it would be quite cramped, especially as the second bedroom is only 10' x 5.5', but is just managable to save money. It depends how long planning permission and then the work take, I suppose.

I was also thinking about a solid extension rather than a conservatory. My thought is that if we are likely to get planning for a conservatory, then a ground floor extension in the same place isn't that much different? The neighbours had their extension in Aug 08 and have just got planning for their conservatory.

Well, if their work was that recent and you like what they have done (don't be afraid to ask to look around inside and ask if there is anything in the layout they would have done differently without trying to imply they should have done things entirely differently ) then it should be fine. There is a statutory requirement to respond to planning applications in, I think, 8 weeks - your local planning dept should have a chart letting you know what their success rate is at meeting this. You could certainly save time, if you like your neighbour's work by asking for the same architect/surveyor to draw up your plans. But then you have to find a builder and then get the work done.

If you're certain the sale will go through (and you have to be very sure) you can start on the planning now but if it does fall through, that's a lot of money wasted. You could start showing builders round once you have had your survey done and getting an idea of prices then you can make a call on whether to press ahead or not.

Is there room in the loft?

Oh yes, solid build with vaulted ceiling, veluxes and lots of window MILES better than a conservatory any day. Oh and congratulations!

I'm not sure about the height in the loft for another room. I suppose the children aren't that tall yet though!

I've also just heard that there is another property in the village coming on to the market again as their sale has fallen through. It is a new build and already has three beds, plus more living space. It had previously been agreed to sale for a little more than what ours is plus build cost. Eeek! Not sure whether this would be a better option.

Get round to see it this weekend and make a decision. Bedroom two in your current would-be home does sound very, very cramped for three children but the house might have good extension potential and therefore be better value than the place that is already done, iyswim.

You need minimum 2.4m at apex of loft to get anything like decent head height by the way.

regarding headroom its not a question of how small the people are using the space will be, it has to be a certain headheight to qualify as a working room.

well done, have fun. makes me feel a bit old thinking about buying my first house!

If you have the main bedroom where will you put the 3 kids as the 2nd bed is only a study and if you go into the roof you will prob lose it to get stairs in.Look at the other one

fatgirlslim - I love your name, I feel a bit like that after losing three stone! Your extension idea sounds fab. Thank you for the congratulations.

wombleprincess - I'm not young, just never had the opportunity to buy before! Dh has just retired from the Navy so it is our chance to settle down.

noddy, yes we would lose the second bed probably. Don't think the loft is really a viable option. We would still lose the second bed with the extension over the garage, but would gain two rooms and the rather large hallway would be used for computer/books/wardrobes possibly. If we moved in before the work is done the children would have the master bedroom and we would (just) fit our bed and a chest of drawers in the 2nd bedroom.

The new build has a smaller garden and no garage. There is no expansion potential(not even conservatory - not enough garden) but obviously has new everything. Hoping to view it over the weekend - it belongs to friend, hence why I know it is going back on the market. I'm a bit wary about buying off a friend though, in case it all goes wrong.

sorry fatgirlthin I read it wrong