W J Meade

First - Time Buyer Guide

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First-Time Home Buyer Guide


HOW MUCH DEPOSIT DO I NEED TO BUY A HOUSE?

Unless you are fortunate enough to be a cash buyer, you will need a deposit to be able to buy a property. Generally, you need to save at least 5-20% of the cost of the home you want to buy. Therefore, if you want to buy a home for sale at £400,000, you will need to save £20,000 minimum (5%). The more you can save to put down as your deposit will result in better mortgage offers being on offer to you.


BUDGET FOR OTHER COSTS OF BUYING A HOME

Aside from your monthly mortgage payments, there are a variety of other costs when buying a home. These include (but are not extensive to):

• Survey costs
• Solicitors fees
• Removal costs
• Buildings insurance
• Furnishing and decorating costs (upon moving in)
• Mortgage administration fees
• Stamp duty

Remember First time buyers will pay no Stamp Duty on the first £300,000 for properties worth upto £500,000!


HOME-BUYER SCHEMES

If you are struggling to save a deposit, there are a number of government-backed home-buyer schemes to help you onto the property ladder.

Help to Buy – this scheme is available to first-time buyers and existing home owners who want to buy a ‘new build’ property. The purchase price must be no more than £600,000, and under this scheme, you can borrow 20% of the purchase price interest-free for the first 5 years as long as you have a 5% deposit as minimum. If you are buying a London property, you can borrow up to 40% of the purchase price. Click here to find out more

Shared Ownership – this scheme is where you buy a share of a home from the landlord, who is usually the council or a housing association, and then you pay a reduced rent on the share you do not own. You will need a mortgage to pay for your share, which can be between ¼ and 3/4s of the home’s full value. At a later stage you can choose to buy a bigger share in the property up to 100% of its value. Click here to visit their website


MORTGAGE ADVICE / APPLICATION PROCESS

It is important to work out what you can afford, remember if you struggle to keep up the monthly repayments; the lender can repossess your home and sell it so that they can get their money back. Before a mortgage is granted, lenders will want to see proof of your income and if you have any debts, to check that you can afford the mortgage payments. if they don’t think you will be able to afford it, they might refuse to grant your mortgage.

You also need to work out how much money you can borrow for your mortgage. When you apply for a mortgage, the lender will cap the loan-to-income ratio at 4.5 times your income. They will also assess what level of monthly payments you can afford by doing an affordability assessment. As an estimate, if you earn £50,000 a year, you could potentially borrow up to £202,500, but remember the lender will also factor in your monthly bills and outgoings.

There are a variety of ways to apply for a mortgage; from a bank, building society, or use a mortgage broker to advise on different mortgages available on the market. At W J Meade, we have a special partnership with Robert Sterling Financial Services. Each of our offices has a dedicated mortgage advisor, always at hand to offer you the latest advice and able to find the perfect mortgage just for you. Click here to visit their website.



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FREEHOLD OR LEASEHOLD?

If you are buying a house, it is likely you will buy the freehold, meaning you own the property and the land it sits within. If you are buying a flat, you will be buying leasehold, or buying into a share of the freehold. The biggest difference between freehold and leasehold is that with leasehold you will have to pay ground rent, services charges or other landlord charges. If you buy leasehold, you need to check how many years are left on the lease and the costs of the ground rent or service charges. If the lease is for less than 70 years, you could struggle obtaining a mortgage. You can ask the landlord to extend the lease at any time, but there will be a cost for doing this and that will depend on the property.


BUYER TESTIMONIALS

Buying houses is reputed to be one of the most stressful processes in life. However, buying my new home through Damian at W.J. Meades in Enfield has been very straight forward and stress-free experience, because Damian and everyone else I dealt with at Meades were helpful, straight and professional.

H Steadman

Buyer

My wife and I were purchasing our first home which was incredibly nerve racking but Patrick was great in guiding us through the process. He was really good at keeping us on track, giving us gentle nudges and counselling when we took too long to complete tasks.

Adam Asad

Buyer

Richard was hugely patient and helpful throughout the process. We had to visit the property a number of times to be sure of certain details as well having various complications to negotiate with the sellers and Richard was instrumental in making sure that ran smoothly and without issue

A Davis

Buyer

Very professional and quick response, communication was very good and was helpful with enquiries I had, played a big role in the sale of this property

Kas

Buyer

We've bought and sold several properties before, and working with Russell and the team at WJ Meade was hands-down the best experience we've had! We both sold our flat and bought a house with Russell's help. Thank you very much!!

Emma

Buyer

Reviews from - www.allAgents.co.uk

Property Professionals since 1953