Quotes & expert comments on house buying and mortgages

You can visit dozens of different lenders' websites to complete their online calculators, or ask a broker who can do this faster. Some websites (eg. www.houz.co.uk) have an affordability calculator which is directly plugged into lenders - so you get an accurate & live result yourself in one place.

Potential fees include a broker fee & lender fees, including for a valuation. If buying a house without a warranty it's worth paying to upgrade for a more in-depth report of the condition. You will also have solicitor costs for the legal work - it's often best to avoid the cheapest! Find a firm whose service comes recommended. You may also have stamp duty to pay - you can learn if & how much on the government website.

Mortgage payments are calculated differently depending on the type taken. Best to ask your adviser about this one!

The best thing you can do when starting your home buying journey, is to work with a great mortgage broker. We work with clients throughout every stage of the process - to ensure they know exactly what to do at each step. By the end of an initial meeting with a broker you will know how much you can borrow, what your monthly payments will look like, what your budget is and how the house buying process works. Ensuring you have enough funds to cover the costs as well as your deposit is crucial, and is something that can be overlooked by first time buyers. We will always ensure our buyers know how much they need to have in terms of deposit, and associated buying fees. Our buyers then head off into their property search feeling prepared and confident, which in a buyers market is absolutely key.

The first step when looking to buy is always to speak to a mortgage adviser, as they can tell you accurately what your maximum buying budget is. If you don't do this first and just use a simple online calculator or just go to one lender, you can end up with either a budget which is too high or not high enough.

The main costs involved are deposit, solicitor fee's and a survey fee if you would like your own independent survey to take place

Your mortgage payment depends on the loan amount, the % deposit, the mortgage term and the fix period itself.

The buying process is, firstly speak to an advisor and then start viewing and offering. Once an offer is accepted go back to the advisor to start the mortgage application. Instruct your solicitor and then both these processes run side by side to exchange and completion

When buying a home it’s all about preparation, making sure you have all your ducks in a row before you even start looking

The first thing you should do is engage with a mortgage broker, work out what you can actually afford to make sure that when you do buy your home, it’s affordable

You need to do this before you even start looking at properties so you can manage your expectations. There’s no point in looking at £500,000 houses if your budget only stretches to 100,000

Here is a couple of videos that might help. The process and costs - https://youtu.be/kYg1JT73j74. How much you can borrow - https://youtu.be/7b-ZmWlhqk8

You have spent the boxing day looking at rightmove, You have read somewhere that your mortgage affordability is 4.5x Income, and you have been on your bank's calculator, but you are still none the wiser whether you can afford the property.
I would highly recommend that you speak to a mortgage broker, Lenders have different affordability calculators, and credit scorecards and an hour appointment with a mortgage broker will save you hours and will provide you with an accurate figure and an agreement in principle, which most estate agents require when you offer on a property.
The fees mortgage brokers charge will vary from broker to broker, at Verve Financial we believe that mortgage and financial advice should be more accessible and for that reason, we don't charge a fee, saving you potentially hundreds.

The ins and outs of the entire house buying process are too many to list in the limited space I’m allowed here; but it distills down to one simple step - get a really good mortgage broker and solicitor working for you. Use recommendations from family and friends, use review sites like VouchedFor to check them out, they will be the experts in your corner able to help and guide you through.

We advise buyers to speak to a mortgage broker as early as possible, as they will determine your budget.
Don't register with an estate agent; it's a waste of time that's coming from an estate agent. Set up alerts on Rightmove, Zoopla and On The Market with your criteria and then book viewings.
Place an offer on your ideal property but remember the estate agent works for the seller, so you need to know how to negotiate well. Once accepted, instruct a good solicitor, not the cheapest, because the few months after this will make you not want to buy a house; it can be that stressful.
A good broker will keep you updated regarding your mortgage offer, a good solicitor will keep you updated regarding the legal, and a good estate agent will keep you calm.

We've written a blog here with further info: https://bit.ly/3Ci8Thk