1st time homer buyers! need to know where to start!?

Question

Im looking to buy my own place, iv had a look at property agents....
but where do i go from now!?

do i need to go to my bank? what do i take with me?

i was going to private rent, but i think its "dead money".

so any helpful tips, or advice on how to get the ball rolling would be great

Answer 1

Quite right it is dead money. You need to sort out your finance and fortunately for you there are literally hundreds of firms out there wanting your business. Your bank is obviously a good place to start, most Estate Agents also have financial advisors attached to them. Any building society would love to talk to you. Unfortunately there are also dozens of different type of mortgages which can be very confusing.

a very brief overview
repayment mortgages you repay part interest part lump sum. In the early years it will be mainly interest and later mainly lump sum. This is a good type of mortgage if you are planning to stay in the same property for a long time.

interest only your repayments are only interest and at the end of the period the full sum will still be repayable therefore you need to have an insurance policy with a savings element which will pay out at the end of the term. This type of mortgage can be helpful if you plan to move in a few years as you can transfer the policy to any new mortgage and therefore won't have to start from the beginning again on a 25 year term.

Flexible, you have the option to vary the amount you pay, I like this type of mortgage myself but you do need to be disciplined. It is probably best to speak to your financial advisor about the implications of the various different types.

If they start talking about trackers, capped rates, fixed rates etc. this refers to the calculation of interest. It can be very confusing at first but it is worth investigating the various types of mortgage to be sure you are getting what's best for you.

Most mortgage providers will expect you to have a deposit, usually 5 or 10 percent but this is not always the case so shop around.

Hope that helps rather than confuses you even more.

Good luck and happy house hunting (my tip for areas to buy are the east midlands and east anglia, I think these areas are likely to see a rise in relative prices)

Answer 2

See if your state/city have first time homebuyers courses and programs. Some might loan you money for down payments at very low rates (mine were 3%). If you qualify to join a credit union, they may be the best places to look for funding, they are not in business just to make profits and can probably offer you better interest rates. Do what you can to clean up your credit (pay off, pay on time, close unneeded credit cards), the higher your score the better you'll do.

Answer 3

ive just done this so......

clear all ya present debt if you can.

save at least £4000-£5000 to pay for deposit, fees, new furniture etc.this will also help cover old and new bills ie electric, phone etc.

shop around for surveys prices.going through your bank can cost you as much as £100 more than going though other companies.

shop around for solicitors fees - see above

dont just go to ya current bank shop around at others.

watch the insurances that they will try to push ie life cover - there are loads of these and most are not worth the paper they are written on and are F**KING exspensive.

ummmmm theres loads more but thats a good start.

good luk

Answer 4

A fixed rate will stay the same monthly payment amount but an adjustable will keep increasing usually after 2 yrs. then every 6 mos or so.

Answer 5

I think the real estate section can help you more. Good luck.

Btw- Home buying for dummies is a great book.

Answer 6

where do you live there are agent who give full service even the loans ,,email me