Top tips to help you buy your first home in 2017

Your Move offers advice about the steps you can take to securing a mortgage for the first time.

While many first time buyers may dream of their first home being a contemporary city centre apartment, or one with plenty of room for parties, the reality is that the property they eventually move in to will depend largely on what money they have available and, more importantly, the initial steps they take to secure finance to buy – and that’s where Your Move can help.

Think ahead

Your Move highlight, for example, that whilst many people think that getting a mortgage is simply about making an appointment with a financial consultant, it’s often worth investing a bit of time, in advance, to ‘get your finances in order’. This could not only make you more eligible for a mortgage but also demonstrate your responsible approach to money matters.

Think about your monthly outgoings. Are they excessive – or could they be seen to be? If so, cut out on any luxury spending or review items that you could really do without – from monthly magazine subscriptions, spa treatments or even gym memberships you never use.

Start keeping a record of your spending as you’ll need detailed information when you apply for a mortgage – as detailed below(*).

Improve your credit rating too – check to see what monthly payments you are committed to and if you could reduce them. To improve your credit rating, think about setting up direct debits on any regular outgoings such as credit cards and utility bills. Make sure you are on the electoral roll too as this is key to helping lenders when conducting checks like this.

Think about saving

As well as your deposit and monthly mortgage payments you’ll also have to consider the additional costs of owning a property so now might be the time to start either saving for them or getting used to having additional expenses coming out of your bank account each month.

You could set up a savings account that restricts access to savings – great as a way to stop you spending and also helps to make you more aware of what you spend your money on. Review your bank account regularly and try to identify if there are high costs associated with items such as food, clothing or entertainment and try to make savings where you can.

Once you’ve done the ‘ground work’ you could then check what disposable income you may have for a mortgage loan with the Your Move Online Budget Planner at https://www.your-move.co.uk/mortgages/calculators/budget-planner.

Ready for the mortgage appointment?

It’s important to book a mortgage appointment as soon as possible – and even before you’ve seen a property you want to buy – because gaining final lender approval to a loan can take several weeks. As part of this consider going to a company who can offer professional mortgage advice and who have access to a range of mortgage deals – many of which are from the high street lenders – and who, like Your Move, may be able to offer you more choice than some lenders who only have their own products to offer.

In advance of the appointment you’ll also need to gather together a whole range of documents (*)to support your mortgage application from proof of identity, payslips,employer details, bank statements as well as an array of other information – the Your Move mortgage appointment checklist highlights what might be needed : https://www.yourmove.co.uk/mortgages/guides/mortgage-appointment-checklist

It’s also a good idea to think about what is most important to you in terms of your mortgage. Talk to your parents, friends or relatives to find out about their mortgage ‘experiences’. Talking to others could help you in deciding what’s important to you. Consider how long you might want to live in the property you are mortgaging or if you’d be looking to find another mortgage (a remortgage) on another property in a few years’ time. Think also about how you’d like to budget for your mortgage – a fixed amount each month (to help you budget) or perhaps one that offers variable amounts each month – and, of course, don’t forget about Government Schemes which you may be eligible for.

All in all making that big step on the property ladder can seem frightening but with a bit of forward planning – and perhaps taking a look at Your Move’s First Time Buyer Guide at https://www.your-move.co.uk/buy/guides/first-time-buyers-guide – you could soon be on your road to becoming a home owner and, who knows, one step closer to eventually buying that property you’ve always dreamed of.