Perseverance and property alerts
6 things I wish someone told me when I set out to buy my first home
It’s a daunting world out there, and there is a lot of speculation over the word mortgage. Some say it’s a trap, others say it’s the best thing you can do. Once it dawned on me that I was paying off someone else’s mortgage, it was a no brainer to get my own place. Decorate how I please, host 1000 cats, and take full ownership of a space and a home – deciding who goes in and out.
Here are the 6 points I wish I knew before starting this journey.
Stay open-minded
This one was really tough for me. When I first started looking, I was set on a location, and without doing any research into houses and mortgages I was already looking at homes in this area. Later to discover, it was way out of my price range.
A single person gets a smaller mortgage i.e. smaller house: plain and simple. If you’re going through this process on your own, which I was. You will be granted a smaller mortgage offer. In turn, this can be a blessing, smaller mortgage? Smaller monthly repayments.
I opened up my search and started to explore neighbourhoods surrounding the city that I now actually prefer to my original idea. If you’ve never explored your city in great depth, buy a house, you’ll see the works.
2. Do some independent research or ask someone who has done it
I set my intentions straight when I started looking and thought I had it all figured out. “So, I’ve got 15k for a deposit. That means I can get secure a house for the value of £150,000, right?” Wrong. Mortgage lenders don’t look at what you have in the bank, they look at your salary. Four and a half times your salary to be precise.
As an example, say your base salary was 30k, a typical mortgage lender will lend you £135,00 - alongside a 10% deposit, you could secure a home for the value of £148,500. For the maths buffs = (30 x 4.5 + 10 %).
And let’s be honest here, I was not on 30K.
My advice to you, get on the internet, money supermarket or get on the blower to your folks BEFORE you go on Rightmove and find your dream house. As my current landlord said, “buying a house starts with an addiction to Rightmove.” He was not wrong.
3. Be prepared to depart with a lot of money
Yes, the process is long, tiring and ultimately, expensive. This was the first time in my life I had paid £330 for a PDF. It hurt. Reeling in from the lifestyle I very previously abandoned of spending most of my spare p’s on beer and noodles.
Luckily my mindset changed as did my priorities, I was growing a beer belly and I wanted my foot on the ladder. Change. Mm smells good.
After you’ve saved for your deposit and you think you’re ready. Look into the other fees, like solicitors, surveys, mortgage broker fees. Be prepared to spend at least another £4,000 on these alone.
4. Don’t book 5 viewings in a day if you’re without a car
I’m a cyclist, when the weather allows me (location, Manchester aka the rainy city) and I started looking in October. Public transport was the only vice for me at that time. In terms of location, most houses I viewed were on a tramline or bus route – amenities that are essential when looking for any type of residence.
But the problem here was my being overly ambitious. The chances are that you’re going to be looking at three houses on the same street the same day, are very slim. I booked viewings half another between one another, it can take up to ten minutes on foot to get to the next house which only leaves 10 minutes or see house, check for damp and get a feel for it – don’t book viewings willy-nilly (yes, I got willy into this).
I got shin splints and very damp from trying to get to appointments on time.
5. Set up property alerts
You’ll find yourself scrolling Rightmove more than Instagram some days, that’s ok. But in no way healthy, you’ll come across the same auctioned 3 bed terrace house over and over and it gets a bit monotonous.
Set up property alerts on Rightmove for your desired search. For me it was 2 bedrooms minimum, house, Manchester City Centre + 3 miles.
Granted some £450,000 4 bed detached houses comprising of 1 acre of land came through, but I just ignored them. This allowed me to stay on top of the market and be the first to spot the affordable houses.
Side note: my now home, was on the market for two days, I was the first person to view it on day two, with my offer email drafted I sent it on return to my office and my offer got accepted. The house was pulled off the market the very next day. Astonishing. I was running around my office in complete shock. After months of being outbid to couples and investors, I won. Woo-fucking-hoo.
Thank you, perseverance and property alerts.
6. Only view the houses that really stand out
Think about the location and your price range – don’t view properties that don’t align with what you want. Less is more in this instance. If you’ve skulked out an area and you thought it was a shithole, yet a well-renovated house comes up in your price range - don’t view it.
I found myself in times of desperation viewing properties that were in areas that I knew I didn’t want to build a life in. Be patient. The right one will come along eventually. I even took a train journey to the recently flooded countryside because the houses were cheap and pretty. Desperation.com/me.
Everyone’s house-buying journey is different, some people view 3 houses, some view 30, and some 300. I must have viewed at least 45-50 in 4 months. I found my happy (sorry for the copyright, Rightmove) and you will too.
It can be disheartening; it can be darn right expensive and you may feel as though you’ll never find your perfect home. When you find the right place, it’ll work out and you may be as shocked as I was when, what felt like my tenth billion offer, got accepted.