Home (Not So) Sweet Home - Tips for first-time house buyers
I made a lot of mistakes when I bought my house.
I think it was a combination of being a naive first-time house buyer, doing it on my own and the fact that I was so tired of dealing with estate agents and every weekend
This is what I had learned from the process of buying a home in England.
Mortgage brokers are really useful
One thing I at least got right was using a mortgage broker. I had started a new job recently and I was still in my probation period (which some mortgage lenders do not like) and I also had some additional income from freelancing which made things a bit more complicated. Using a broker meant that they could approach the best lender for someone in my situation and use their contacts and knowledge to make the process as smooth as possible. So this was actually the less stressful part of the buying process for me. My broker also got me a much better rate then what I was offered when I approached my own bank.
Estate agents and buyers can’t always be trusted
Yes I know, It was very naive of me to think that people were trustworthy in the first place. But unfortunately I learned that an estate agent will say anything to get their commission and there are many sellers who are only too happy to hide as much as they can when it comes to the state of their property to offload it into the next unsuspecting buyer.
The conveyancer - make sure you choose your own
My advice would be not to use the conveyancer that the estate agent will try to push on to you. Instead find and use your own so you can be sure they are completely independent and will put your interests first, not the agent's. My sellers chose the conveyancer that the estate agent suggested and they were incredibly slow and chaotic.
The home buyer survey - don’t rely on the survey only
This is where I went wrong. I chose to commission the highest level (level 3) of home buyer survey available as I was buying an older house. I also made sure that I went on recommendation to hire a local RICS registered surveyor so I thought I had done everything right. It turned out later that the surveyor had missed various issues and the house needed more work than expected.
Surveys are quite general and are not done by someone who has in depth specialist knowledge of plumbing, electricity, roofing and so on.
My advice would be to first ask the seller to provide an up to date electricity and gas certificates. If they don’t have those (legally they don’t have to provide them) then pay for your own electrician and plumber to check this for you. Rewiring a house is both messy and expensive! (as I found out...).
If you are buying an old house and/or want to do some extensive renovations it is a good idea to also get the property checked by a roofer and builder. I know that sounds like a lot of expenses but you can then renegotiate the price you offered for the house based on the feedback you get from these professionals and in the long term you will avoid ending up with unexpected costly repairs. If the sellers won’t let you do these additional checks, walk away.
Other things to look at for at this stage in older properties are the presence of lead pipes, artex ceilings (you want to make sure there is no asbestos so have the ceiling tested) and whether planning permission and building regulations were followed for any extension and loft conversions.
It is quite difficult to make a complaint against a surveyor as the survey usually contain a lot of what can only be politely described as 'backside covering' writing and you will have to provide proof that the surveyor was negligent. To make a complaint fist follow the surveyor's in-house complaint procedure then if the complaint is not resolved you can then contact their regulating body the RICS .
Snail pace - You need to chase everyone regularly
The buying process in England is ridiculously convoluted and seems to take forever. Especially if you are in a chain, you will need to regularly chase your conveyancer and estate agent to make sure that everything is done and that they see that you won’t put up with endless delays.
Ask to view the house again before you exchange/complete
Another mistake that I made was not to view the house again before exchange to make sure it was still in the same condition as when I viewed it and when the survey was done. When I got the keys it turned out that the sellers had let the house turn into a mess in the past 4 months: the boiler had broken down and they had failed to fix a bathroom leak. They did not declare any of that or fixed the issues before completion.
So you really inspect the house again to protect yourself against unscrupulous sellers. My sellers also happily left a bunch of rubbish, furniture in the garden, house and shed when they moved out. Legally the property needs to be empty on the day of completion, unless you have agreed with your sellers to keep some of their furniture.
Accept that no house is going to be perfect and that you will have to compromise
As a first time house buyer, unless you have a massive budget, you are unlikely to find a perfect house and you will have to compromise at some level.
For me the non negotiable criteria was that: I wanted to live by the sea again, in a safe street in a small town with enough social and sporting activities to keep me occupied, decent access to a GP and dentist, a nice little high street with independent shops, a weekly market, a good community spirit and an arty vibe. I also wanted to be able to have reasonable transport links to occasionally travel to London. I got all of this in my small Kent seaside town and I feel very lucky to live here.
I was less specific about the house, I just wanted a decent garden, a spare room for my art and craft activities and to be within walking distance or a quick bus ride from the town centre and sea front.
Beyond that I was happy to compromise on how the house looked and I was happy to take on something that needed redecorating and some TLC. Of course I ended up with more than I bargained for in term of remedial work but there you go…
Relocating? rent first to get to know the area
I knew that I wanted to live by the sea again but I was hesitating between four different seaside towns in Kent.
So I decided to rent first for a year in one of them to allow myself to get to know the area better, see if I enjoyed spending the winter there (I was born in a seaside town and I know how different they are in the winter, you have to be able to enjoy the quiet and the wind!) and to make sure that this was the right, permanent move for me.
I viewed houses in all four towns during that year and made the decision to stay in the town where I was renting as it was the one I loved the most.
Good luck with your own home buying journey!
