| Congratulations you have made the decision to buy your first home! Whether you are single, married or living together you will no doubt be bombarded with well intended advice from friends, family and colleagues. All will have a different opinion on what and how you should approach the purchase. |
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You can download our First Time Buyers guide which is designed to help you the first time buyer understand the buying process involved and offers a straightforward and simple approach that will explain in a step by step guide and help you understand the terminology used in buying a property.
Although it is a difficult market for first time buyers remember you still have advantages: -
| A first-time buyer is an attractive purchaser to a seller as they come without a chain! This is where purchasers and sellers are linked together, each dependent on the other to move. If a link in the chain is broken, this will affect all concerned and can result in the sale falling through. Use this to its full advantage when negotiating with a vendor. Your estate agent will certainly market this as a benefit. |
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| Forewarned is forearmed. If you are reading this then you have already made a good move. First-time buyers need to know as much as they can about the market. What's a fixed rate, a tracker or a standard variable rate? Speak to a qualified Financial Adviser. |
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| Enlist the help of parents - The bank of mum and dad doesn't need overflowing coffers to help. Many young househunters' parents have seen their home's value rise substantially compared to their mortgage and could lend a lump sum for a deposit, enter into a joint mortgage, or act as a guarantor. |
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| Lenders may offer a 100% mortgage that doesn’t require a deposit. If this isn’t an option than look at affordability measure. Lenders will work by one of 2 formats:- Standard or enhanced income multiples which can range from 31/2 – 4 times joint earnings and secondly by an affordability calculation which has no set example but can sometimes be more generous/flexible in their lending!
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| The Bank of England base rates are usually around the 5% mark. To see how the changes in the base rate can affect your mortgage payments please go to the calculators section and “what if interest rates change” to see the answer. |
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| Shop around via a mortgage broker as this is too time consuming to do it yourself. Don't just walk into your bank and building society and ask them for a mortgage. Look at the whole market for a product that suits you. Beware mortgages with very low interest rates that often come with hefty repayment fees, or lock you in after an initial deal to the expensive standard variable rate. |
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Balance your budget -Sit down and write out the cost of your car insurance, gas and electricity bill, weekly shopping, holidays and everything else you regularly pay. Then start searching for cheaper options. You will be amazed at how much the savings add up to.
> Click here to use our printable budget planner. |
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| Use this website! We have plenty of guides and tools to help you, and when you are ready call an Adviser to get you started. |
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We are authorised and regulated by the FSA (Financial Services Authority). Our FSA registration number is 448415.
WARNING: YOUR HOME MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON YOUR MORTGAGE. There may be a fee for our service. This will be no more than 1.5% of the loan. The precise amount will depend on your circumstances but we estimate this will be £149.
Lifetime is a trading name of Lifetime Financial Management Ltd which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority for advising on and arranging mortgages and insurance.
Lifetime Financial Management Ltd, registered in England and Wales, registered Number 3652194. Registered address: 1st Floor, City Gate, 17 Victoria Street, St Albans, Herts, AL1 3JJ. Director: Paul Merrigan.
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Confused by all the key terms?
No problem, click here to find out more, or hover over underlined words.
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