Moving House - What I wish I'd known
I am a first time buyer and, like a lot of people, I knew that it would be stressful, but I believed that I would be able to do everything and researched it all thoroughly. There are some things that sort of come as standard and I am sure most people know about them.
We decided to put the mortgage in place and have it agreed in principle before we found a property to buy and this will ensure that you don't have to pull out of a sale later if you are declined the money for some reason. That would be my first piece of advice. Most banks and building societies will do this over the phone with you and then you would go into a branch to confirm it a few weeks later with a mortgage advisor. That would be my advice because in those three weeks it is likely you will find a property. Also, knowing in principle how much you are allowed to borrow means you narrow your search to properties in that price range. Most banks and building societies have calculators on their websites to allow you to work out before that phone call how much you can borrow.
We also made sure we had copies of our payslips available. Often the banks/building societies want to see at least three month's worth. Also it helps to have a statement showing the account for the money for the deposit as this is proof of funds and can be used for the mortgage and the solicitors.
It doesn't matter how prepared you are though, there will always be a few things that will crop up and if you are a first time buyer there are things you will wish you knew before you started. This blog deals with the things I wish I had known.
It is likely you will not end up in the first place you go to look at
We went to look at a lovely property when we first started looking. In fact it was the first place we went to look at and it was at the top end of our estimate. We managed to knock nearly £2000 off the asking price and it was accepted. We were very excited and we went through the initial motions of seeing the estate agent's recommended financial advisor and contacted a solicitor. Then we had a nightmare. It was two weeks later and we had been all excited but we were concerned that the vendors were dragging their feet a little. Then we had a call from the estate agents...they were very sorry but the vendor had got cold feet and pulled out of the sale. We were gutted!
We had looked at other properties and luckily one was quite nice and was still available. We thought we would look at it again and put in an offer as the price had dropped a little bit by that time and it was now in our price range. However, Rightmove came to our rescue (this website/app will become your life when you are house hunting) and my fiancé found a lovely place to look at. It turned out to be the nicest house we could have hoped to afford and it was cheaper than the original place. We were very happy about it and it is the place we are about to move in to!
It might be easier to say 'joint tenants' than 'tenants in common'
If you are splitting the funds for the house you are supposed to declare the split. Legally this means that if you come to sell the property should you split with your partner then you can have your rightful share. In actuality it creates a lot of paper work and if you are convinced you are never going to split up then there is no real point to it and you might as well put 'joint tenants'...a friend of mine did that and it has worked quicker and easier for them.
There's a lot of 'hurry up and wait'
So much 'hurry up and wait'. Initially we had everything move quickly. Everything was signed and returned in 6 weeks after putting our offer in and having it accepted. Then we waited...and waited...and waited...until we managed to get everything done three months later! In that time I went through a lot of stress and chasing of solicitors and estate agents. Nothing happened for flipping ages and then all of a sudden we were ready to exchange!
You have to pay the deposit when you exchange
It isn't like this was a big deal but I always had it in the back of my mind that we would pay everything to the solicitors on the completion day. Turns out you have to pay them the deposit and then you pay all the fees on completion day. Bear that in mind and make sure you can do this on the exchange day.
Home insurance is needed for exchange day
Another misconception is that you don't need home insurance until the day you complete. This is wrong. You need this from the exchange day because you are legally obliged to buy the house at this point. Even though the vendor needs home insurance too until completion you have to have this in place.
Utilities
You go on an emergency standard rate until you call them and give them the meter readings. Do this straight away, otherwise you will be charged the higher rate and you will not want to pay that much. You have to contact the existing provider even if you don't want to be with them in the long run. You then find a new supplier and they switch you over. This can take up to 8 weeks though so you have to pay something to the old provider.
Water is the local provider and you have no choice over this.
Council Tax
Honestly, I still don't know. Local Authorities are rubbish at confirming you have told them you are moving into the area.
Change of address
There are things you didn't even know you had to change. Some are obvious like car insurance or driving licence. Some are not so obvious like the Inland Revenue. There are websites out there that will give you a check list and they are really useful.
So those are things that I really wish I had known.
We decided to put the mortgage in place and have it agreed in principle before we found a property to buy and this will ensure that you don't have to pull out of a sale later if you are declined the money for some reason. That would be my first piece of advice. Most banks and building societies will do this over the phone with you and then you would go into a branch to confirm it a few weeks later with a mortgage advisor. That would be my advice because in those three weeks it is likely you will find a property. Also, knowing in principle how much you are allowed to borrow means you narrow your search to properties in that price range. Most banks and building societies have calculators on their websites to allow you to work out before that phone call how much you can borrow.
We also made sure we had copies of our payslips available. Often the banks/building societies want to see at least three month's worth. Also it helps to have a statement showing the account for the money for the deposit as this is proof of funds and can be used for the mortgage and the solicitors.
It doesn't matter how prepared you are though, there will always be a few things that will crop up and if you are a first time buyer there are things you will wish you knew before you started. This blog deals with the things I wish I had known.
It is likely you will not end up in the first place you go to look at
We went to look at a lovely property when we first started looking. In fact it was the first place we went to look at and it was at the top end of our estimate. We managed to knock nearly £2000 off the asking price and it was accepted. We were very excited and we went through the initial motions of seeing the estate agent's recommended financial advisor and contacted a solicitor. Then we had a nightmare. It was two weeks later and we had been all excited but we were concerned that the vendors were dragging their feet a little. Then we had a call from the estate agents...they were very sorry but the vendor had got cold feet and pulled out of the sale. We were gutted!
We had looked at other properties and luckily one was quite nice and was still available. We thought we would look at it again and put in an offer as the price had dropped a little bit by that time and it was now in our price range. However, Rightmove came to our rescue (this website/app will become your life when you are house hunting) and my fiancé found a lovely place to look at. It turned out to be the nicest house we could have hoped to afford and it was cheaper than the original place. We were very happy about it and it is the place we are about to move in to!
It might be easier to say 'joint tenants' than 'tenants in common'
If you are splitting the funds for the house you are supposed to declare the split. Legally this means that if you come to sell the property should you split with your partner then you can have your rightful share. In actuality it creates a lot of paper work and if you are convinced you are never going to split up then there is no real point to it and you might as well put 'joint tenants'...a friend of mine did that and it has worked quicker and easier for them.
There's a lot of 'hurry up and wait'
So much 'hurry up and wait'. Initially we had everything move quickly. Everything was signed and returned in 6 weeks after putting our offer in and having it accepted. Then we waited...and waited...and waited...until we managed to get everything done three months later! In that time I went through a lot of stress and chasing of solicitors and estate agents. Nothing happened for flipping ages and then all of a sudden we were ready to exchange!
You have to pay the deposit when you exchange
It isn't like this was a big deal but I always had it in the back of my mind that we would pay everything to the solicitors on the completion day. Turns out you have to pay them the deposit and then you pay all the fees on completion day. Bear that in mind and make sure you can do this on the exchange day.
Home insurance is needed for exchange day
Another misconception is that you don't need home insurance until the day you complete. This is wrong. You need this from the exchange day because you are legally obliged to buy the house at this point. Even though the vendor needs home insurance too until completion you have to have this in place.
Utilities
You go on an emergency standard rate until you call them and give them the meter readings. Do this straight away, otherwise you will be charged the higher rate and you will not want to pay that much. You have to contact the existing provider even if you don't want to be with them in the long run. You then find a new supplier and they switch you over. This can take up to 8 weeks though so you have to pay something to the old provider.
Water is the local provider and you have no choice over this.
Council Tax
Honestly, I still don't know. Local Authorities are rubbish at confirming you have told them you are moving into the area.
Change of address
There are things you didn't even know you had to change. Some are obvious like car insurance or driving licence. Some are not so obvious like the Inland Revenue. There are websites out there that will give you a check list and they are really useful.
So those are things that I really wish I had known.
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