Advice for potential 1st time buyer

Redgreenbin

Hi all,

Myself and my partner have been saving for our mortgage for some time now, any advice for 1st time buyers?

Any advice is appreciated

Cheers 😊

trobbin

It's a very difficult time for FTB'ers, you say you're both saving but unfortunately the amount you save is dwarfed by the increases in property prices.

FTB'ers would be advised only to buy new builds. I think the cheaper end of the market is full of overpriced rubbish that people are desperate to sell, this combined with desperate buyers is allowing movers to upgrade off the backs of FTB'ers. I really would consider waiting if I where you.

People are panicking thinking if they don't buy know they'll never be able too, but this is wrong. Fact is, if you haven't bought you've already missed the boat.

If you buy a new build you'll get your tax back. So at least it's something.

Somebody was speaking at a private meeting recently and there will be many changes in the future, young people are falling about 50k a year further away from a 300k house. This figure was based on annual increases of 10% (30/35k) added to rent of about 15k per annum.

This is certainly not a sustainable model and younger people will eventually get a break.

Remember you're already paying for the last generations mess ups in your tax and austerity measures. Don't also make their mistake. Relax.

Careful with posters advice on here as many are desperate for house prices to keep rising, so they feel richer and others still in negative equity.

MysticMonk

Where are you thinking about buying OP?

CeilingFly

There's a lot of housing coming on stream.

Look for something you'll be happy to stay in for 10 years.

Don't rush and don't be sucked in by glitzy showhomes.

Do not "fall in love" with a property - at least not until you have agreed a purchase.

Redgreenbin

MysticMonk wrote: »

Where are you thinking about buying OP?

Hi, we are looking at the Dundrum/Sandyford area

Samuel T. Cogley

Redgreenbin wrote: »

Hi all,

Myself and my partner have been saving for our mortgage for some time now, any advice for 1st time buyers?

Any advice is appreciated

Cheers 😊

- Brokers, not always required and not all of them are any good. Apply directly to the banks and only if you're running into trouble start looking at brokers.

- Area snobbery. Don't take someone's word for the fact an area is 'bad' go and hang around the area at various times and have a chat to people.

- Pick a budget for a particular house and stick to it. Don't play the couple of grand more game.

- Don't get invested in a house until you have the keys; it very difficult not to start making the house your in you head. Once you've gone sale agreed KEEP LOOKING. A sale falling through from sale agreed is probably the norm or at least very common.

- Although closing takes some time (months) don't be afraid to pull out of the sale (see point above about keep looking) and go with another property if the vendors are messing for some reason.

Grumpypants

Sort the mortgage first. Have all your ducks in a row. Life insurance, 6 months clean bank statements (no online betting at all), clear any personal loans/cars loans/credit cards. So you can move fast when you find a place. Dont have your deposit savings locked in a high interest account with a 30 day release on funds.

Look for offers on mortgages. Cash back, legal fees paid, delayed first month. Banks are lending, they want you. Not the other way around.

Find out how much you can afford to spend a month. Not how much they will give you. Then take 200 off it to cover the home owners bills that you might not be used to as a renter. Like house insurance, life insurance, servicing boilers, replacing washing machines, emptying septic tanks, hiring a plumber etc etc.

That is your mortgage amount. Then look for properties in that range. Find 5 you would be happy with, dont get locked on one dream house you will either pay way over the odds or it will break your heart if you miss out on it.


Dont get trapped by the 2 grand more bid game. Be prepared to offer what you think is fair and walk away if it goes past it. Very often you will end up bidding yourself out of 15-20 grand against someone who had no intention of buying anyway or had no finance in place. If you walk away and their bid falls through the agent will come running.

Keep about 5 grand for fees. You wont need it all but often people forget the solicitor, and engineers report, moving van will run you about 2,500-3,000ish.

If you can pay bills for a year do while you have the money. It will give you time to settle into the new monthly budget.

Finally, dont buy as an investment hoping prices will go up, or to get on the ladder.

Buy a home. Buy something you want to live in for 10 years, and the family can expand into if that is on the cards. A three bed semi is fine for a couple, it gets very small very fast when you add 2 kids.

Oh yeah, dont use brokers. They will get the deal best for them not you. Deal direct with the banks. The mortgage person in the bank will help with everything.

philderbeast

You may need to widen your net in terms of areas you are looking to buy. We have friends who have been looking to buy in Sandyford for almost a year now and are finding it extremely difficult to find any suitable houses that aren't going for crazy amounts above the asking price.

Bigus

philderbeast wrote: »

You may need to widen your net in terms of areas you are looking to buy. We have friends who have been looking to buy in Sandyford for almost a year now and are finding it extremely difficult to find any suitable houses that aren't going for crazy amounts above the asking price.

I'd agree with this , how are you going to compete with a second time buyer who's is taking 100 or 150 k equity they are taking tax free out of the chape house they bought and now sold in a less desirable area 3 years ago, plus savings.

myshirt

Some very sensible advice from Grumpypants.

+1

theboringfox

Use the ppr website to get an idea of prices in the area. Often if you google the property the ad is still up and you can get sense of value in the area. You need to allow for the fact ppr is date it legally sold which could be 3 to 6 months after sale agreed so might lag market. Also need to realise you dont have all the info so you may see what seems like inconsistencies in sale prices that could be issues with house that are not obvious. I agree with other posters you should pick a max you will bid and stick to it. Also when I bought I was wary when 3rd last bidder drops out. If price rocketed way higher just on us last 2 bidders I got sense we might be 2 bidders overly attached to house and divorced what rest of market thinks. I wasted months in Cork not knowing what area or type of house I wanted. Everything is a balancing act between house quality/size and location. So set your budget and then find where suits you best for that. We started out thinking detached house with big garden so then that pushed us out to commuter towns and we wasted months looking there. We then realised we actually wanted location and so made sacrifices on house. No right or wrong but just need to be honest on what you really want.

xDisneyDivax

Sorry to butt in, wondering how having dependents would affect how much mortgage you can get?

cullenswood

xDisneyDivax wrote: »

Sorry to butt in, wondering how having dependents would affect how much mortgage you can get?

BOI took ?400 a month out of their ability to pay calculations per child when we were applying for a mortgage. That was 2 years ago.

Tomek398

trobbin wrote: »

I think the cheaper end of the market is full of overpriced rubbish that people are desperate to sell, this combined with desperate buyers is allowing movers to upgrade off the backs of FTB'ers.

The best and accurate summary of the current housing market!

Right2Write

trobbin wrote: »

Careful with posters advice on here as many are desperate for house prices to keep rising, so they feel richer and others still in negative equity.

I think this is always a problem - there are so many people with vested interests in property markets, you need to think things through for yourself to some extent. Everyone's needs are different. Try and fulfill as many of your own but you can probably never match all your needs.

Aim to buy a home that will fit you for the foreseeable future, not just an investment.

Ayuntamiento

My advice is to use a broker. We initially applied ourselves to the bank that we did all our banking with-Ulster bank. We dealt with the most shockingly incompetent mortgage adviser (it was like a full time job answering her requests every 5mins) and we were given an AIP amount that was about 2 times our salary for some inexplicable reason. We could literally afford nothing on that budget.

We then went to a truly excellent broker and our budget immediately increased by almost 200k which was exactly 3.5 times our income so not unafforadable at all. We had minimal contact with him although I'm sure he had to field lots of bull**** questions from mortgage advisers on our behalf. It was as stress-free as possible and cost us zero. We also ended up with the mortgage provider who has the lowest interest rates on the market so he didn't screw us over for the sake of a commission.

Grumpypants

xDisneyDivax wrote: »

Sorry to butt in, wondering how having dependents would affect how much mortgage you can get?

They dont look at what you earn, they look at your ability to repay. Having kids eats up your spare money. Those pesky kids keep eating lol.

Dunston

Grumpypants wrote: »

Sort the mortgage first. Have all your ducks in a row. Life insurance, 6 months clean bank statements (no online betting at all), clear any personal loans/cars loans/credit cards.

I keep on hearing this advice regarding no online betting at all. It's a myth. If your gambling is not having a negative impact on your current balance then it's not seen as a problem by the mortgage providers. If you can show that you are able to make money consistently and long term from online gambling it is in fact seen as a positive in your application. Tired of hearing this common misconception that a few betting transactions can scupper a mortgage application when in reality the opposite is true.

Samuel T. Cogley

Solicitors - Cheapest almost always means they are too busy to deal with the client properly, and any issues will have the solicitor either taking ages or suggesting pulling out (which isn't always bad advice to be fair).