7 Things I Wish I Had Known Before Buying A House

Buying a house as a first-time buyer can be such an exhilarating and emotionally exhausting experience but one I would gladly re-do. It’s been a mere 4-months since I closed the deal on my house and moved in. It took exactly 3-months from researching to moving into my first home and it was the most intense 3-months of my life and in hindsight, there are certain things I wish I had known before buying a house.

When I made the decision to buy a house, I knew that I would need a lot of guidance and this is why I chose to get a mortgage adviser to help me throughout the whole process. This was one of the best decisions I ever made, Luke (the mortgage adviser from Mortgage Advice Bureau) was very insightful, knowledgeable and easy to understand and he explained everything so clearly which made the whole process much better.

But even with such a knowledgeable mortgage adviser, there are so many things I wish I had known before buying a house. For all first-time buyers, I hope this information will be useful for when you make the decision to purchase your first home.

7 Things I Wish I Had Known Before Buying A House

Buying a house is a huge decision and one that should not be taken lightly nor should you attempt to without financial planning and foresight. When I decided that I wanted to buy a house, the only thing I knew for certain was that I would need a deposit and should have a good credit score. A year prior to buying the house, I started paying off debt, bring all my accounts into order and made sure I never missed any payments.

But even there, I was nowhere near ready and in hindsight, there are certain things I wish I had known before buying a house alone. One thing that to this day I regret is not making the ‘help to buy ISAs’ work for me. I wish I had taken the time to invest in help to buy ISA and earned an extra £3000 on top of whatever I would have saved towards the house. In this post, I will be sharing 7 things I wish I had known before buying a house.

Know What You Can Afford

When I started house hunting, I already had the money in my bank account and I knew exactly what I could afford based on my annual income which is then multiplied by 4. This formula is not a guarantee, different lenders offer different mortgage deals and rates so its important to shop around and in the UK, you can check with various banking institutions and you can get an agreement in principle. This basically gives you an idea of your affordability based on the information you provide the lender, so it’s therefore important to be completely honest and transparent.

Get A Mortgage Adviser

The best adviser I ever received from a fellow homeowner is to get a mortgage adviser. Their job is to be truly real with you about your affordability and most have financial institutions that they work with and know offer good rates. If you find something better by yourself, you can definitely check with your mortgage adviser and they are required by law to offer you the best advice for your circumstances. Thanks to my mortgage adviser I was able to know before I even placed an offer on my house what I could afford.

You Need To Save More Than 10% Deposit

When I started thinking about buying a house, a lot of people told me that I would need at least 10% deposit saved for whatever house I wanted to buy. It’s only when I was sat discussing my options with my mortgage adviser did I realise that I would need more than 10% of the house I want to buy. What I did not know was that I would also need mortgage adviser fees, lawyer fees, land fees, stamp duty and much more. I was stomped by this information, I thought to have 10% saved and I would be home free but alas that is not the case, you need 10% of the house plus 5% for miscellaneous fees.

Help To Buy Is Available

Whilst it is not something I considered because financially I am fine, there are government schemes available for those who need a little help getting on the property ladder. Saving 10% of a £300k house is a hard word for anyone especially if your annual income is not that high. I learned through my mortgage adviser of all that was available to me as a first-time buyer and I also did some research on how help to buy could help me get on the property ladder if that was the route I wished to take.

House View With Your Head Not Your Heart

I have always thought of myself to be a level headed and not easily swayed by emotions type of person. But somehow, all my rational reasoning went out the window when I started house hunting and to this day I can’t explain it. One thing I knew for sure when house hunting was that I wanted the master bedroom to be ensuite and the house to be at least 3-bedrooms. The first house I saw was a 4-bed house, looked great online, not too bad in person (could have done with some improvements) and I absolutely loved it.

I remember calling my mum and telling her I had found the house I want and she proceeded to ask how many other houses I had seen before making that declaration? She encouraged me to look at more houses and if I still felt the first house was the house for me, I could easily go back and look to make an offer. Suffice to say, I loved every single house until I found my now current home. I couldn’t believe it, I felt like it was totally designed for me, every single part of it was perfect, my head agreed as my heart squealed. I knew I had found my (for now) forever home.

Solicitors are necessary Evil

Ok, evil is a strong word but solicitors are an important part of buying a house and there is one thing you should remember ‘they work for you‘. This is no excuse to treat them like shit but I mean, you should feel free to ask them anything and everything (house related) no matter how crazy it sounds. When I think back to my house buying process, the most emotionally exhausting process was from my solicitor, not because she wasn’t good (bless her) she was God-sent.

But, she liked making sure every single detail (to the letter) was something I would be happy with and would no move a muscle until I understood the implications of everything (this is a good thing). I found myself wanting answers much quicker than she could provide because there is also the sellers solicitors to deal with. This was the most exhausting time of the house buying process but I thank my solicitor for her thoroughness and diligence.

Buying a house comes with a lot of paperwork and I have never read so much lawyer jargon in my entire life. I am grateful there was a lot of documents with layman’s English but nonetheless, I endured through more paperwork than ever before. One thing I wish I had known before buying a house was that, even for first-time buyers, if your house is in a certain price range (more than £300k) you have to pay stamp duty. This is when I realised that you need to save more than 10% deposit.

Don’t Be Put Off By The Ugly Duckling Look

I am fortunate that my home is fairly new and built old style but with improved features. When I started looking at houses, I was easily put off by homes were I needed to do repairs because I wanted a home to quickly settle into. But in hindsight, if I had found a proper that I loved but had cosmetic damage I probably would have bought it and fixed it up slightly. I remember seeing people reject a house purely because it was not as cute as the next door neighbours house. If it is minor work, I say don’t discount the house entirely but if its major work, look to negotiate onto a lower price and then use some of your saved up money to fix up the house.

Additional Tips

I have a few other additional tips that I wish I had known before buying a house because knowledge is power. I know that the tips I have shared in this post will be helpful as you embark on your home buying journey. Even though the house buying process was a pain, it is something I would gladly do again because of the end product.

Sort out your Credit History

Though this is common knowledge, it doesn’t hurt to share this tip before you start house hunting. A year before I bought my house, I made it my point to fix my credit score, by paying off any debts that I could afford paying off at that time. I made sure I had no missed payments for the next 12 months and I used less than 50% of my credit cards and cancelled cards I didn’t use nor need anymore. I started getting paper statements for everything, as I knew I would need it as proof with solicitors and lenders and also anti-money laundering firms so I can prove I am who I say I am.

Houses will always have faults

One thing that my solicitor did and I am thankful for is she requested retesting on major appliances and fixtures like the boiler (electricity and gas) before we exchanged contracts. When the inspection of the property was done by an independent surveyor, there were minor and fixable faults with the property and we negotiated the previous owners fix than before we exchanged contracts.

Freehold not Leasing

I am glad my parents told me about this before I started hunting for a house because there are so many beautiful houses that I show but did not pursue because they were leasehold. Freehold means I don’t have to pay anyone money for the land my house is built on either monthly or yearly or in some cases service charges too. Leasehold means you will most definitely pay someone land fees and service charges for up 100 years.

Repayment Mortgage NOT Interest Only

Another thing I am thankful to my parents for was advising me on which mortgage is better to have and for me and my circumstances, it was more affordable to choose a repayment mortgage than an interest-only mortgage. A repayment mortgage basically means I am paying off part of the mortgage and interest so the price of my overall mortgage is decreasing monthly. An interest-only mortgage means you only pay the interest on the mortgage and thus not actually reducing the mortgage amount.

Writing this post I have found myself filled with a lot of memories of the house buying process and looking back I have a sense of pride at how well everything went. It is not always smooth sailing but when you are prepared, the battle is half won and you only focus on the new things.

Are you a homeowner and if so, how was the house buying process for you? What do you wish you had known before getting onto the property ladder and owning your own home?