Individual mortgage advice; tailored to you

The purchase of your first home is the most important purchase you will make. This coupled with a vast choice of mortgage products could leave you with a confusing, highly stressful decision to make. A few tips to help:

• Try and take someone who is experienced with you when viewing properties, like a parent or a home-owning friend. There is a lot of detail to take in when viewing a property and you want to ensure you select the right property for you. If this is not possible, once you have selected a property arrange a second viewing and take someone with you.
• Be realistic when working out how much you can spend. There are a lot of costs that get over looked when buying a property and you need to make a full list to make sure you are well prepared. Older properties may require more extensive works like rewiring, re tiling or re-flooring and even new properties require some soft furnishings. There are also things like stamp duty, solicitors fees and mortgage fees to take into account.
• If you are used to living with friends or family you will now need to take into account things like Gas, electric and council tax, the selling agent should be able to give you an idea of the council tax charges for the property.
• If you are moving further away from where you currently live you might need to take note of the extra traveling expenses, public transport and local amenities to get you familiar with your new surroundings.