First Time house buyer - fed up of renting. My story!

mattyprice4004

mattyprice4004

mattyprice4004

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Joined
24 Apr 2007
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Location
Southport
I've decided it's time to get out of the 'renting loop' and get my own place, a house I can actually say I own, modify, and do to as I please.

I currently live in Preston, a city in the North West (for you uneducated types... :p ) and have done since August last year. I pay £495 and it's a terraced house with 2 bedrooms.

My roots are a small village about 10 miles from Preston city centre. It's quiet, car insurance is much lower... it just means I have a 30 minute commute every day to work and back, I currently live literally around the corner from my office.

Anyway, I have decided to buy a property in the village I grew up in, it's a leasehold 2 bedroom modern flat (converted large house) and I'm looking at paying around £85k for it. It's on the market for £95k, but has been since August last year, so they should be willing to bargain.

I have approx £10k for a deposit, not as much as I'd like but I can't see that improving as time goes on.

At the moment, it stands as follows:
- Found a property
- Had a quick look around, looks solid.
- Mortgage is approved in principal, I have an appt. on Thursday to check payslips / P60 etc and get a final offer from the bank.
:)

Will keep you guys posted every step of the way, this should be a useful guide to show potential buyers what a minefield it really is. :p
 
All the best mate, i'm hoping to be a first time buyer within a year, looking for something around 100k with a deposit of 15-20k (sooo hard to get :o)
 
I'm pretty much in a similar situation as yourself. bit bigger on the deposit but around the same price range. will watch this with interest. good luck with it. :)
 
If you want a place to call your own why are you buying a leasehold flat, where somebody else will own the structure of the building :confused:
 
It's not a huge issue, as long as the lease doesn't drop too low. My girlfriend recently sold her leasehold flat for the same price as a freehold flat because the lease had 100 years remaining.

We bought a place a couple of weeks ago and are due to complete on Friday, so I can feel your excitement my friend. Cannot wait. :cool:
 
I didnt realise 10k was enough of a deposit think i'll have a look about i was waiting till i had something like 20K. Hope it goes well for you keep us posted :)
 
Good work.. You moving back to Tarleton then? :p

chipperhead said:
You need to be buying a freehold.
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It doesn't really matter to be honest, my house is leasehold and the only problem it gave me was that when I was buying, the existing owners couldn't prove that they'd paid the land rent in the past. I just got the solicitor to write up an indemnity so I'm not responsible for it. I can buy out the lease for about £500 if I ever need to.
 
Currently just sold our present property and now looking for a new house!! It is like a mine field out there!! We don't want a mortgage though
 
[FnG]magnolia;18577928 said:
That's a very low deposit for a bank to provide a mortgage on. Is it silly season again?
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90% LTV is about the minimum you'll get away with in this climate however you do take a good hit on the rates available. Few places offer more than that but again they'll hammer you on the rate. 75% LTV is where the better rates kick in.
 
Usually at a low ask price, 95k as per OP, and deposite of 10K, just over 10%, they will offer you a mortgage, but it'll come with a good % or possibly 1.5% additional interest rate.
 
Strife212 said:
What is the difference between buying a place with 999 year lease and freehold? Why does the former exist?
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Difference is that for a leasehold property you'll be a ground rent to the freeholder, who is then responsible for any communal areas and building maintenance.
Freehold (would likely be a share of freehold for a flat) means that you're responsible for all that stuff yourself.
In a block of flats you may all regularly put money into an account to cover the things that would be covered by your ground rent on a leasehold place, so realistically there isn't much difference - it's just about where the responsibility lies.

Good luck to the OP.
I'm looking at buying a place myself this year, though being in London it will unfortunately cost a bit more than £85K. Can barely get a garage for that around here :(
 
Good luck, i was "lucky" enough to have got a mortgage on a 95% mortgage literally months before the big crash in late 2007, crap rate on a 5 year fixed, I'm actually looking forward to a remortgage next year in hope i can get a better rate......no doubt someone here will tell me i have no chance of improvement though :p

Moved house 3 times in 3 years, not doing it again for a long long time hopefuly :p
 
£495 a month rent for a 2 bed terraced property in Preston sounds a bit much, surely you could find a better price than that or a better house?
 
I have just gone back on the market again after 8 years in this house. Will be interested to see how it goes. The market needs first time buyers to enable movement, good luck to OP on his (or her) purchase.
 
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