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First Time Home Buyers

    First Time Buyers advice and tips page

First Time Home Buyers - Buying a home

Initial costs to buying a home which need to be budgeted for include:

• The property deposit (varies according to lender and lending criteria)

• Stamp Duty Land Tax (with options to reduce in certain areas)

• Surveyor's fees (can be organised via a lending institution or independantly)

• Lenders fees and charges (may be considerable and worth shopping about)

• Land Registry fees (paid via a conveyancing solicitor)

• Conveyancing solicitor fees (acting for you as a buyer)

• Removals/or moving in charges

The best mortgages for first time home buyers 

Some of the clearest advice is provided by Building Societies and Banks who want to offer First time home buyers good financial advice to achieve an affordable mortgage. The Nationwide provide a mortgage calculator and many tips on the following:

The pros and cons of buying and renting, easy-to-understand steps to buying a first home, glossary of property buying 'jargon' in simple language, a ten point action plan on buying a house and moving in, questions to ask a mortgage adviser.

Mortgages.co.uk provides a first time home buyers checklist of Extra Costs for first-time buyers covers details of extra costs for first time buyers when buying a home. As a first-time home buyer, this checklist should help you budget for buying your first home.

Home Viewers check list is an ideal form to use when viewing houses or flats. Make notes to refer back to when comparing the different properties viewed.

Stamp Duty Rates for First Time home buyers

It was great news when in March 2010 The government scrapped tax for around 90 percent of first-time homebuyers - for the next two years, first-time homebuyers will be able to buy properties worth up to 250,000 pounds without paying stamp duty. Reuters provides more details on the Stamp duty for first time home buyers and there are latest 2011 Stamp Duty Rates maintained at the Home staging networks webpages.

 First time home buyers - getting off to a good start when buying a home

First time home home buyers are sometimes abbreviated to FTB by those offering services, financial products and   advice, so look out for this on your file notes! 

Being a first time home buyer give you a strong position when negotiating property prices. For a property seller or their estate agent you are the ideal buyer as first time buyers don't  involve in a chain. Chains can fall apart at the last minute leading to the sale collapsing. First time buyers are usually in a position to move quickly, which can be very attractive to sellers.

As a first time buyer the sellers know that the transaction will be straightforward with less likelihood of problems. Use this to your advantage when negotiating a price!

Wikipedia offers a comprehensive facts for first-time home buyers and things to consider before purchasing their first property, such as how much they will be able to borrow, how much they can afford to pay each month, how much initial cash they will need for stamp duty, solicitors fees and a deposit, which sort of mortgage

First time home buyers - Mortgage deposit deals

Despite the latest news of lower lending limits for first time buyers and higher deposits for mortgage deals there are some companies, particularly Developers and Builders who are digging into deep pockets to provide good deals and offers. Taylor Wimpey Homes for instance have offered first time buyers who have a 5% deposit that they will match the mortgage deposit

First time home buyers - conveyancing Advice

Get recommendations or good advice and shop about for a Conveyancing Solictor. There are good online deals but consider the value of a local conveyancing solicitor who has local knowledge and has built up relationships with local estate agents.

The Times gives a list of handy tips for First time buyers buying and selling property and says that First-time buyers can expect to pay a deposit of at least £20,000, according to Abbey. They suggest setting up a standing order to transfer money into a savings account every month, making the most of your annual Isa allowance in which you can invest up to £3,600 a year into a cash ISA without paying tax on the interest.

First time home buyers - Money saving Home buying advice

The biggest weapon in a first-time buyer's arsenal is knowledge about the home buying process and an awareness of what's going on in the property market according to This is Money whose mortgages and homes section is packed with advice for first-time buyers and carries the latest news and up-to-date features, which can help you achieve the dream of owning your first home.

We hope that these Tips and Advice for First Time Buyers have been useful for you!  If so please comment here or share this article with a friend on your facebook and visit again soon!

Updates latest for first time buyers:

HSBC Bank wants stamp duty to be paid by sellers, not buyers

  
Monday 4th April 2011
  
 
A new reform of stamp duty would mean that the tax would be paid by sellers and not buyers.
 
The call for reform has come from HSBC which found that 85% of non home-owning young adults (18 to 34-years-old) want to own their own home, but only 19% of the 85% expect to be able to do so within the next five years.
 
And almost half – 45% of aspiring home-owners – do not ever expect to be able to purchase.
 
In its report, First Time Buyers: Roadblocks and Ways Forward, HSBC found that the younger, 18 to 24-year-old age group was the more optimistic.
 
Around 22% expect to purchase within five years. However, 21% do not expect ever to be able to purchase.
 
For each of the past three years there have been around 200,000 first-time buyers, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders. This is less than half of the 400,000 to 500,000 of those recorded in more typical market conditions, before the 
credit crunch hit.
 
The key reasons holding aspiring home owners back from house purchase are:
69% cited “raising the required deposit”
59% cited “insufficient income to support the mortgage.”
27% said “concerns over unemployment”
12% said “concern over future falling house prices”
 
The current average FTB house price of £136,842 is 6.6 times a young single person’s average earnings of £20,654 (source: Nationwide Building Society and National Earnings Survey).
 
In order to afford a 90% LTV mortgage, a typical FTB would need to earn £30,800 – 49% higher than current average earnings for a single young adult.
 
Even then, a 10% deposit of £13,684 is equivalent to 42% of this higher annual income, a major impediment to home purchase without external financial assistance. It is therefore not surprising that 84% of young FTBs are buying with assistance, mostly from parents. This compares to 38% in 2005, according to the CML.
   
Stuart Beattie, HSBC’s head of mortgages, said: “Our study proves that the aspiration to be a home owner continues to be exceptionally strong. Over 80% of young non-home owners are aspiring to buy a home but are being prevented from doing 
so due to lack of affordable homes.
 
“The key to helping buyers back into the market is to help them obtain the cash deposit that responsible lenders require before granting a mortgage.
 
“To this end, both government and private sector interested parties need to come up with innovative schemes to help aspiring FTBs.”
 
The report says that government-supported initiatives have helped around 22,000 FTBs a year in each of the last three years.
 
HSBC is also suggesting that Stamp Duty should be applied to sales, not purchases. This would mean that FTBs would be excused it when the £250,000 stamp duty holiday ends next March.
 
The bank also suggests that 95% mortgage lending could be deemed prudent, if it could be backed by insurance to cover both lenders and borrowers.
 
source or original article Estate Agent Today eta 4-4-2011

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