A friend of mine at work today announced that she’s now in the market for a new house and is looking around as a “first time buyer”. She asked a bunch of us if we had any advice. It got me thinking about it so I sent back my top tips when looking for a new house. In no particular order these are….
A House I'd like.... but can't afford
- Understand that you can tailor your monthly repayments to exactly what you want by splitting your mortgage into “interest only” AND “capital repayment” in the proportions that fit you.
- Come to peace with the fact that you will hate estate agents. When they ask what your MAXIMUM budget is and you tell the 150K, the first thing they’ll do is show you an AMAZING house for 160K. They will only return calls when it suites them and they are NEVER on your side (their commission is a percentage, thus the more you spend, the more they make. Of course they have to make a sale to cash in so they’ll push you to buy). Come to peace with their overpaid, immoral, egocentric ways and work out how much of it you’re willing to put up with.
- Be aware that all your relatives and friends will use the opportunity to offload all the the crap that they can’t bring themselves to throw out and expect you to be thankful that they’re giving you their 1980s paisley curtains that have sat in the garage for 15 years. Politely decline and buy some crap from Ikea.
- Ikea can be OK but mostly they wont have what you want when you want it. The staff will be clueless and less available than the yeti. You’ll come out late at night at the end of your tether and broke. You will have a cheap hotdog. 3 months later you will remember the hot dog and go back. You still wont fit the things you buy in your car.
- Fixed fee solicitors are never fixed fee. They will always have “additional” fees that will take them (sometimes over double) their estimates. Often these are fees that they must pay directly on your behalf.
- When someone says “don’t worry, you will probably remortgage after 2 years” calculate how much that extra “arrangement fee” will cost. It wont be worth it.
- You will plan to “overpay” on your mortgage and will spend a long time asking difficult questions to the advisor about what the penalty will be and how much you can overpay per month. You will not overpay.
- See if you can pay bi-weekly rather than monthly. Most companies wont let you do this now, but if you can, you’ll shave about 7 years off a 25 year mortgage whilst paying the same monthly amount.
- Don’t be tempted to redecorate all rooms at once or your spend 6 years with a half finished flat/house. Do one room… move on… next room… move on etc. Otherwise you’ll get overwhelmed.
- Don’t go for the cheapest workmen you can kind, if it’s too cheap to be true, it is. Go on personal recommendation and inspect work they have done for other people. This will save you money in the long run.
- Simple things can change the appearance of an old flat more than furniture. New doors/handles, carpet, recessed lighting etc all look good. If not, get a pet and your house will look shit anyway.
- Decide if it’s a house or a home. If it’s a house, do stuff that will help resale (make sure you have a bath, neutral colours etc). If it’s your home, don’t give a stuff about what anyone else says, go with what you like and deal with it when/if you ever sell.
- Location is important but so is the feel you get when your inside your house.
- Babies don’t like stairs. If you’re planning on having one, think about that before you by a 10th floor flat.
- Use the opportunity of moving to throw out crap. Go in as empty as possible and build something you love.
- Housewarming party BEFORE you decorate, housewarming dinner AFTER.
- Minimalist is not the same as being tidy.
- Dark colours make places smaller, mirrors make things appear bigger.
- Chase cables into walls. It’s worth the effort.
- Write a will.