Best Guidelines to Buy Property in the UK

1.  Are you interested in buying property from probate or repossessions? If YES, Click here Property Classifieds The Home Of UK Property Resources Contact Hello, Sign in Register Home / Blog / Best Guidelines to Buy Property in the UK Search Website Blog Keyword (Optional)  Select Category Search Now Back to search results  LIKE Posted on 22/06/2021 in For Buyers by Property Classifieds Press Best Guidelines to Buy Property in the UK

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3. Buying a home, particularly if it’s your first home, can be a daunting prospect. There are so many steps to take and it’s easy to get confused. The process to buy a property in the UK is quite complex and time-consuming; just knowing which step to take first and when, can be a lottery.  To ensure your property purchase runs as smoothly as possible and that you have ‘all your ducks in a row’ to buy a property in the UK, we’ve put together our guidelines to help you. How much can you afford? Before you even start looking for your home, the first vital step is to work out not only how much you can afford, but also how much of a deposit you are going to need to put down. Whether it’s your first home or property investment, or you are moving on up the property ladder or, indeed, you’re adding to your property portfolio, getting your finances sorted is crucial. Chances are, you will need a mortgage – the number of people who are in the position of buying a property for cash, unless you are a professional house buying company, are few and far between. That said, even cash buyers need to ensure the funds are there before they buy property in the UK. So, back to the mortgage… to get a general idea of how much of a mortgage you will be able to borrow, you can use the rule of thumb of 4.5 x your annual salary or if joint incomes, 4.5 times the joint salary. This is a limit set by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK for an individual’s income level. In exceptional circumstances, some mortgage providers will go to 5 or even 5.5 times the annual salary but that is rare. However, just about every financial institution in the UK now has an online mortgage calculator. Using a mortgage calculator provides you with a much more accurate estimate, and will also be able to tell you if you are eligible for a mortgage. There is nothing stopping you applying for a mortgage and getting a ‘mortgage agreement in principle’ before you’ve found a home. In addition, the online calculator will be able to tell you how much deposit you will need to put down on a property, which brings us onto our next guideline. How much deposit will I need to put down? This largely depends on the level of mortgage you will be offered by a mortgage provider. For example, most financial institutions have been offering mortgages up to 80% of the property’s value – this is called Loan-to-Value (LTV). However, following April 2021’s budget, the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, announced a new scheme, for which many of the main mortgage providers are on board – which offered mortgages with a LTV of 95%.

4. This new government mortgage guarantee scheme has given many first time buyers, and those on lower incomes that need to move house, the opportunity to buy property in the UK. But that means there is still a shortfall to buy the property, and that’s the deposit you will need to put down. Let’s look at an example.  If the purchase price is £100,000 and you have been offered an 80% LTV mortgage, you will need a 20% deposit, which amounts to £20,000. However, if you have been offered a 95% LTV mortgage, you will need a deposit of just 5%, which amounts to just £5,000; that’s a big difference. You will need to have secured your deposit, either by saving up for it or taking out a loan (not recommended), before you start looking to buy a property in the UK. One other point to mention on the finance side of things, make sure you have enough funds, over and above your deposit, to pay for your solicitor, searches, surveys and estate agent fees, if you’re selling and buying a house. Find your dream home Now that you’ve got ‘all your ducks in a row’ in respect of your finances, and hopefully a mortgage agreement in principle, you can start looking for your dream home or next property investment. Once you’ve decided where you want to live – there are a number of factors that determine this – make a visit to the area and go to see the local agents. Whilst all agents list their for sale properties on the national property portals (you can set up alerts that will email you when a new property becomes available), if a local agent knows exactly what you are looking for and that you are in a good position to proceed, they often contact you immediately before it ‘goes live’. Make your offer and complete your mortgage application Great! You’ve found your dream home; next, it’s time to make an offer on the property. It’s always better to go through the relevant estate agent; they know the vendor and are able to negotiate a good deal for you. Once your offer has been accepted by the owner of the property, you can go back to your mortgage provider and complete the application for your mortgage. Instruct solicitors and surveyors At the same time as having your offer accepted and completing your mortgage application, it’s time to instruct your solicitor to start the legal conveyancing process and your surveyor to carry out a survey on the property. Often, and particularly if it’s a new build house, first time buyers will rely on just the mortgage valuation survey. However, we would recommend that you instruct your own independent surveyor to ensure that any problems are highlighted before it becomes a major problem at a later date. Exchange and move house Once the conveyancing process is almost complete, searches and surveys have been done and contracts have been drawn up, your solicitor will agree a completion date with all parties, i.e. the date you can move into your new dream home, and

5. contracts will be signed and exchanged. At this point, you can instruct a removal company, or hire a van if you are going to move your possessions yourself.  Generally, the completion date – the day you physically move house – is two weeks from the day your solicitor exchanged contracts with the other parties. All there is left to do is move into your new home or, if you’re an investor, list your property as available to rent. At Property Classifieds, we help sellers find suitable estate agents near me in Norwich. Our free service provides sellers with the best advice on how to sell their property, and with whom. If you’re looking to sell your property, have you considered contacting investors who want to increase their property portfolio? By listing your property for free on Property Classifieds, you are putting it in front of hundreds of investors searching for a property to buy in Norwich. If you’ve been approached by a developer or property investor regarding selling your house, Property Classifieds should be your first port of call for valuable advice and guidance. Connecting motivated sellers and buyers across the UK, we have a wide range of investment properties and property development opportunities in your local area, too. Contact us today for more details.

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