The 5 Key Steps For Buying Your New Home In Wales

The home buying process in Wales is the same as in England, and unfortunately, it’s not always a straightforward process. For most people around the world, let alone in the UK, buying a house can seem like a distant dream and one that might always appear to be out of reach. However, it is possible to do with enough dedication and sometimes a bit of luck. Once you feel able to pursue this, there are a number of essential steps you need to take. To help you, we’ve put together these useful steps for buying your new home.

Understand The Costs
First of all, you need to have a good grasp of the overall costs of buying a property. It entirely depends on the value of a property as to how much you’re going to be spending, of course, but there are a few factors to consider during every property purchase. Initially, the most important cost is going to be the deposit. This is usually 10% of the property cost, which has to be paid upfront and tends to be the largest hurdle for people. Saving up 10% of a £180k-£200k property on a starter house isn’t easy. That £18k to £20k isn’t going to be an easy target, but if you manage to put together a deposit, you also need to understand the other costs of buying a house. You need to understand whether you can comfortably afford monthly costs and the added costs during the buying process, including legal fees, property surveyance, valuation fees, and removal costs for getting your possessions to your new home. 

Seek Mortgage Advice
While you can sort your mortgage out yourself, the process is very complicated and requires a lot of legal documentation as well as correspondence with lenders and selling agents. Having someone in your corner to handle this process is very useful and can remove a lot of stress from this process. We highly recommend getting a mortgage advisor. But remember, at the same time, that they are simply doing their job and aren’t infallible. Just because someone is a mortgage advisor doesn’t mean that they’ll make the right decisions for you, so be prepared to remain invested in the whole process, doing your own research and weighing up all of your options. A mortgage advisor will likely have a number of customers they’re working with, and the more they have to work with, combined with their specific experience and talents, the more they risk making a mistake. 

Apply For A Mortgage
Once you have taken everything related to cost into account and have identified the solicitors and advisor you’ll be working with, it’s time to give the go-ahead for your mortgage advisor to start searching for a lender for you. This would likely be a bank; however, there are a number of hurdles here. Most notably is your credit score. Unfortunately, many lenders will always deny a mortgage to those with a poor credit score. A bad credit score can make a lender think that you’re untrustworthy when it comes to making repayments. Luckily, there are brokers out there, such as Money Nest, who will search for lenders on your behalf who would be more likely to lend you the money to buy your own home. This is because they will take much more into account than credit score and will likely instead consider your current financial situation and your current spending habits. 

Decide On Your Home
Once you receive a mortgage in principle, which is basically your bank confirming that they’re willing to present you with a mortgage of a certain value, it’s time to start your search. Your mortgage in principal will be a specific amount that has been agreed upon based on your income. This means that the lender has identified that you’d be able to pay that specific monthly cost. That monthly repayment will only increase with a higher mortgage value, and this then limits your house choice. For example, a couple that brings in £40k per year is going to receive a lower mortgage offer than a couple that brings in £60k per year. Using your mortgage in principle as a guide, start having a look at homes for sale with the assistance of your mortgage advisor or estate agents in the area you’re looking to buy in. 

Make Offers
It’s important not to set your heart on a specific house when looking for a new home. The housing market is incredibly competitive, and often buyers will become disappointed once their favourite home gets snapped up by another buyer. Whether you’re looking for a property in a bustling city like Cardiff or a small town such as Brecon, you’ll likely have to deal with the disappointment of losing out on your dream home. But remember that it’s not the end of the world, and there are plenty of homes out there that will suit you. It’s worth putting in offers on every property that you like and not focusing on finding the perfect property. Perfect is rare, and you have to remember that you can make changes to a property once you own it too.