Spending time scrolling through Rightmove looking at the
most expensive houses on the market is all fun and games until reality hits and
you’re changing the sort to low to high pricing. Joking aside, searching for
and buying a house is a super fun (most parts) path into adulthood. I bought my
first home, on my own at 22. It was a lovely little two-bedroom new build
apartment and I couldn’t wait to have my first stint at independence. Fast
forward 3 and a bit years later and I’m onto my second home, upsizing to a four-bedroom
house in summer of 2018. I dived into buying my own place 65 miles away from
any family and friends due to work, there were many things which I should have
considered with both moves but here are my top 5.
DISCLAIMER: THIS POST IS WRITTEN IN COLLABORATION WITH WOOLFOOT HEATING HOWEVER, ALL VIEWS ARE PERSONAL AND HONEST.
Help to buy loan – is it really worth it?
Help to buy loan – is it really worth it?
At the time of buying my first home, I didn’t have a full 10%
deposit available, but I also couldn’t hack the commute to work anymore.
Instead I opted for a ‘Help to Buy Loan’ on my mortgage, which allowed me to
put down a 5% deposit for the apartment I chose. Unfortunately for me, I saw
this as at optimist to have a house quicker and jumped at the chance to have my
own place and didn’t read the small print of owing 20% on the value, not the
buying price, after five years or on the sale of the property.
So, when it came to listing my house on the market in April
of 2018, I had the apartment valued at £25K more than what I paid for it –
great I thought! I managed to bag an offer on the property after only a week on
the market. Yay me, making a profit on the apartment so I could put more equity
into the house, or so I thought.
The sale started going through and then I finally got the
paperwork saying how much I owed on the Help to Buy loan and, because the
apartment had gone up in value, I had to pay back around £22K. This was A LOT
and knocked me for six! Luckily, I’d made a fair few repayments and my deposit
was still very good for the new house but still, £22K!
So yes, whilst the Homes England scheme is very good, it’s certainly
worth a lot more research and figuring out whether it truly is the best option
for you.
Being prepared for extra costs
Oooh this one. I don’t think anyone is ever really prepared
for those extra costs. From solicitors’ fees to the documentation for the sale
of the old property and, of course, the buyer’s surveyor devaluing your
property from the original accepted offer.
My apartment was a leasehold (something else I regret) and
in order to sell my property I was instructed to get a documentation pack from my
buyer’s solicitors before the sale could go through. The management company
wanted £400 for this! Just for some paperwork which I already held the majority
of anyway! This was very much an unexpected cost so, if you’re looking to buy,
also find out the deal for when you want to sell!
Another kick in the teeth was the buyer’s surveyor coming around
and devaluing the apartment from the accepted offer price by £3K. This put us
in a bit of a crappy position, do I try and run the mortgage checks again to
see if I could get a new mortgage written up with the extra needed or, do I try
and find the £3K from somewhere? The sellers of the property we had bought were
getting very aggy about waiting and even offered someone else the home after accepting
our offer – I was fuming! We ended up offering another £500 just to secure the
property, so there goes some more money.
Point being, there can be a lot of unexpected costs when buying
or selling a house so next time I’d certainly have myself a contingency fund
for this.
Solicitors take agesssss
Be prepared for the whole process to be lengthy. You’ll rush
through the bits you need to do and then the solicitors will sit on the
paperwork for weeks without actioning anything. My property sold at the
beginning of April and we didn’t get into the house until July! You might need
to give them a nudge every now and then….
House repairs and decoration
There’s always something that’s bound to go wrong so house
repairs have certainly made the list. Obviously buying a home is expensive enough,
without thinking about the things you might want to change or might break. I
now have a small savings pot for emergencies rather than having to rely on the
credit cards like I have done in the past. It’s always good to get a list of
local tradesmen too, so for myself it’s making sure I know the electrician on
the estate and finding Boiler Repair
Leeds for those pesky little boiler troubles, whether it’s Oil Boilers, Electric
or LPG. It’s also worthwhile getting to know your neighbours too to see if they
have encountered the same maintenance issues and get a figure for repair to mentally
prepare yourself! It’s always great to have businesses like that saved to your
phone.
Missing home - LOTS
Last but not least, one thing I wish I’d have known is how
much I would have missed home and cried on a frequent basis. It’s not easy
moving out, especially when you have no one around to turn to if you move away
from home. It’s okay to miss your friends and family, I wish I’d have known
that you will learn who your true friends are, the ones that make an effort,
visit you or want to still make plans with you when you eventually do travel back
to your hometown.
There’s probably lots more that I could have added to this list
however, I feel like the lessons learnt are all a part of growing up and walking
the path of life. Have you any regrets when it came to moving away from home?
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