I am 30 years old and have always lived in a house share. If you didn’t gasp with shock, you should, because living with a load of strangers (and friends at times!) sucks. It’s all fun and games till someone nicks your cheese or leaves a hairy mess in the shower. A housemate we had last year (I won’t name names, but he looked a bit like Ryan Gosling which is why I think he was let in in the first place), would throw out plates and glasses (he didn’t pay for surprisingly), instead of washing them up! Lazy sod – still makes me angry!
My boyfriend and I have been together for over 10 years and feel its more than about time we live alone. BUT, we live in London, and in London you have a choice. You can either a) rent your own flat and spend at least £1,200 or b) live in a shared house and spend about £600-800 for a room depending on the area, which would leave you money to save up a deposit.
We decided pretty early on, that we would try and buy if possible as I really don’t like the idea of handing over more than a grand to a filthy rich landlord. So we pay £750 between us now for our one room, in a house of six, which means we can save up for a deposit. Three years later, after faffing around saving (frankly, we weren’t very good at it for a long time), we have a decent deposit, and thought, why not!
The bit where I admit I don’t know what I’m doing
Thought you were going to get expert advice on buying a house eh? Oh no – not from me, I’m totally clueless, so I did my usual and asked Twitter!
Twitter, as usual, is full of amazing people who have experience I don’t and got the advice to start looking at flats (to see what kind of thing we want and what we don’t), and to contact a mortgage broker. A mortgage broker is a professional who will ask you about your finances to find out what you can afford, and then find the best mortgages out there for you. Though, its wise to check out what deals you can find yourself too – just incase!
Now, the big mortgage broker question is, do you go with a small broker who can give you lots of attention, or a big one who looks after thousands of applicants? I don’t know the answer, but you can choose between a free one (they will get commission though) and one that charges a fee. Also be aware that some cover the whole of the market, while others don’t. Do your research. I have looked at reviews and have recommendations, and decided to talk to the ultimate big boy – London and Country (although haven’t 100% decided if we actually proceed yet) – and have got a decision in principle.
If you have strong feelings on what kind of mortgage broker you should use, please let me know in the comments. Anyone you recommend?
The flat viewing
I’ve spent years looking at potential houses online (and ones that were never going to happen), as well as being obsessed with such shows as Location, Location, Location. I even applied to be on the show, because I trust Kirsty and Phil to help me. Spending this much money on something is terrifying. But nope, the show never got back to me! I promise we’ll argue and be good TV!
So I just got to the point where I thought, sod it. Lets arrange some viewings with some properties and inquired. That very next day we got a million bloody phone calls from estate agents and was booked in to view two properties that evening! ARGH! GROWN UP STUFF!
We were shown around two flats in the Southfields area of London and to be honest, could see myself in both. The thing is, I’ve never really lived anywhere nice before (apart from my parents of course). From student housing, straight into dodgy house shares with mold and peeling paint. So is that normal? If you see a house that’s ok (and this is London, there isn’t a lot out there for the money we have), do we just go with it? The estate agent has panicked me a bit saying that it will go soon. So how do you know when do you pounce?
Also, we couldn’t have been more than three minutes in each flat looking around. Is that it?! That’s all the time you get to decide if you’re going to drop hundreds of thousands of pounds on a property. Sure, I know you get to go back for a second look (cheers Kirsty and Phil), but even then. Doesn’t seem enough time for such a big decision!
Will keep you updated! Please do let me know if you have any tips.
Want some deals?
The best mobile phone tool on the web – fact!
Hi Lotty,
Missed your request for info on Twitter. London and Country are definitely the people to speak to. Taken out 2 mortgages through them and 2 life insurance products and happy all four times with the service. Also, I’ve had the same contact throughout my time with them and I spoke to him only last week about a remortgage later in the year. Feels like a much more personal service than when I previously used 2 different independent advisors that charged me a fee and didn’t get me any better deals (comparatively in the market they were operating) to London and Country.
I take a very different view to many of the experts in terms of buying property to live in as I have never viewed it as an investment but my home. As with any purchase, I do not want to pay over the odds, but it is difficult to find direct comparatives to determine a price. Yes the flat next door may have sold for £200k last week, but that is no longer available and you cannot be sure when another flat in the block will become available.
Set yourself a budget and view, view, view. I looked at well in excess of 20 properties each time I moved. And I was looking at certain areas in Worcester, north of the river in Hereford / just outside the city, and catchment areas for Cradoc and Llangynidr schools near to Brecon – not as densely populated as London and therefore with far viewer potential homes, particularly with a restricted budget.
This may seem like a chore, particularly when you have to travel to make the viewings but only by looking at lots will you be able to evaluate what is important and justify parting with all that cash.
I only viewed the house I’m sitting in now once. After so many viewings we knew immediately it was right but hadn’t sold our house. 2 months later we eventually sold our house and rang up immediately to make an offer at the top of my budget as a take it or leave it and secured the house. I did pay for a homebuyers report from a surveyor but I’m not sure how much they tell you really and probably not necessary if buying a flat as you don’t own the structure (although it would be nice to know it won’t fall down).
Did I pay too much? Who knows. Was there a better property out there for me? Probably not given the viewings I had done. I am happy with my purchase? Definitely.
One thing I would add is that shared ownership is always an option in London. Although I wouldn’t normally suggested taking on full maintenance responsibility for only a share of the property, sustained property inflation in the South East makes this a price worth paying. There will always be peaks and troughs but with demand outstripping supply and continuing to do so for the foreseeable future and beyond this will march on and on as successive governments continue to fail to address the housing need.
Sorry for getting a bit political at end. 😉