Buying your first home is an exciting, life-changing experience, but it can also be quite confusing and daunting too.

That’s why I’ve decided to write this little guide to getting ready to make that giant first step.

Getting on the property ladder is a great idea and interest rates are still very low so it’s not a bad time to buy.

But where most people come unstuck when buying their first home is by being under-prepared.

They rush out, fall in love with their dream home and then discover that they could never afford it in a million years and are heart-broken.

So let’s avoid all that, shall we?

What I do first of all with anyone who comes to me for their first mortgage is sit down and discuss their finances – in detail.

I need to know whether they have saved up any money towards a deposit on their home. There can be a big difference in your mortgage interest rate if you have managed to save a 10% deposit towards a house rather than 5%.

Then I’ll look at what they spend. I’m not being nosey, but it’s only by finding out what their monthly outgoings are that we can agree what they might be able to afford in a mortgage.

So I’ll look at their income and what they currently spend on council tax, student loans, utility bills, credit cards, the lot. We’ll pull together all the paperwork, bank statements, credit card statements and all your bills.

Only by getting  a true and accurate picture of income and spending can you assess what a bank or building society might be willing to lend you.

Then we’ll consider your credit score, as that will have a bearing on what you can borrow – if you have a poor score, maybe because you have missed payments on other loans, like credit cards – the amount you can borrow will be affected.

Then finally we’ll consider all the expenses involved in buying a home, like getting a valuation and solicitors’ fees, for instance.

Only then, when we’ve done all our research and, armed with a clear picture of what you can afford, will we look at the mortgage itself.

We’ll consider how long you want to take out the mortgage for – the longer the term, the smaller the repayments – and whether you want to fix the rate for, say, two, three, five or even 10 years, depending on your attitude to risk and whether you think interest rates are on an upward path.

With your mortgage sorted, that is the time to start looking for your dream home, something that you like and can also realistically afford to buy!

As I said at the outset, buying a house and getting a mortgage to pay for it, is a big financial decisions, so it’s best to get some advice and do all that I have outlined above, so that you end up with the home that you want and payments you can afford. For your free first-time buyers assessment or a no obligation discussion on any mortgage or insurance issue, please give me a call on 07767 692653.