Steps to take before buying a house..

By no means am I an expert at buying houses, however having recently gone through the process as a first time buyer I thought my experience could come in useful for others who are thinking about buying a house now or in the future. Here are some of my top tips for preparing to buy a house..

Make sure it's definitely something you want

Buying a house is a huge commitment, whether you are planning on doing it alone, with a partner or a friend it is a huge amount of responsibility and you have to be ready for it. There's a few questions you have to ask yourself before you know it's the right decision to make, things such as.. Am I comfortable and content in my current job? Am I financially stable? Is this the right person I want to take this big step with and can I sacrifice my luxuries for a little while to be able to save for a deposit? If it's yes to all of the above, then you can start to seriously think about the next steps towards owning your own home.

Working out your affordability

If you have decided that saving for your own house is what you really want, then I would recommend sitting down and calculating what you can afford to buy against your monthly earnings. In order to help you do this there are plenty of online mortgage calculators available that you simply need to fill in with your details such as your income and any expenses you may have and it will give you a rough estimate of what money you could possibly borrow, therefore giving you a some what accurate estimation of what price of house you should realistically be looking at. This will also help you budget how much you will need a month to pay back the repayments on your mortgage. Some good online calculators that I personally used are:

Nationwide

Halifax

 Santander

Saving for a deposit

This is the hardest part for first time buyers. Having a substantial deposit is usually highly recommended before buying a house because having at 5% or 10% deposit can reduce your monthly repayments of your mortgage to a manageable amount. It also can help reduce your mortgage term time because you will have already paid of at least £10,000 of your mortgage already if you have saved a 10% deposit. 

Unfortunately the saving doesn't stop there though, you will need to make sure that you have money set aside to account for a mortgage broker if you choose to use one and also any solicitor bills. 

Saving for a deposit is hard, there is no doubt about it but buying a house is one of the biggest investments you will make in your life and for me has ended up being one of the best. For myself and my partner Peter to save a little each month it meant cutting out takeaways at the weekend, swapping a night out for a night in and coping with the wardrobes we already had (personally I found this the hardest ha)

The best tool to use to save for a house is not your standard bank savings account but instead use the Government funded Help to Buy ISA Scheme. Find more information about the scheme here.

Get advice from a mortgage broker

Having now worked out your affordability and how much of a deposit you are willing to put down, I would highly recommend to book an appointment with a mortgage broker/advisor. I can not stress enough how great of a guidance tool this was for myself and Peter, especially as first time buyers. Having got confused with all the mortgage and financial jargon, using a mortgage broker was without a doubt worth the money. They take the stress and confusion out of buying a house. A mortgage broker will estimate your affordability having looked at your credit history and monthly income, they will then research the best mortgage offer taking into account the best interest rates, the mortgage term time and other incentives such as cash back.  They will also discuss with you the options you have such as a fixed rate or variable mortgage. After you have made your decision, a mortgage broker will also apply for your mortgage on your behalf. 

To find out more information on the types of mortgages there are on offer, click here

I hope some of this information will help you move forward in your hope of owning your own home either now or in the future. 

Happy house saving!