5 errors to avoid before buying your first house

Don’t get tripped up by common first time buyer mistakes…

The milestone of buying your first house is an exciting one, but it’s also a big decision that comes with various moving parts. Before you get into the process, it’s good to be aware of the most common mistakes first-time house-buyers make so that you can avoid them.

Not getting a home inspection

It’s not enough to put an offer in based on the house viewing alone. For your peace of mind, you should have a home inspection report done. Ask a professional surveyor to do this for you. After the report has been done, you can use it to negotiate with the home seller to do any repairs or reduce the price accordingly.

Not getting pre-approved for a mortgage

The process is similar to the one you follow to get approved for a mortgage. Getting pre-approval is a great tool to help you understand how much you can actually afford.

After the lender has reviewed your personal information, credit history and so on, they will provide you with a pre-approval document. It will give you the verdict on whether they will be able to approve your mortgage application. If the outcome is positive, they will also indicate the interest rate they would give you.

Overpaying for a home

Don’t pay more than a house is worth! Look for similar properties in the area that have recently been sold on the Land Registry and compare prices. Use this as a rough guide only, though, as no two properties are exactly the same.

Make sure that the other properties you’re comparing have the same number of bedrooms and are the same house type (e.g.: terrace).

Find out what you can about the history of the property. If you’re in conversations with several estate agents, it’s worth dropping into the conversation any other properties you might be interested in. They might have some insights about them even if it isn’t currently in their hands.

Bear in mind that sellers often advertise their house at a higher price deliberately because expect you to haggle it down. You may have the leeway to make an offer that’s up to around 10% lower.

Not understanding the terms of your mortgage

Because mortgages can come across as a little bit complicated, not all of us understand mortgage terminology.
But you must understand what you’re signing up to. When researching mortgages, look up any definitions for unfamiliar terms. Write important details down to cement the memory.

Seeking out the advice of a mortgage broker can also help a lot. They can act as a middleman between you and the lender. They will be led by conversations with you about what your criteria are.

When buying your first house, you may enlist the services of a conveyancer to help with the legal side of transferring property ownership to you.

Sometimes first-time buyers get caught out by hiring a conveyancer who makes some sort of mistake. If this happens to you and it impacts the house sale, you could look into making a conveyancing negligence claim. This might be able to secure you some compensation for the ordeal.