Hello lovely readers! Long time no see. Long time, naff all to do and write about more like… To be honest with you all, I worked throughout furlough and whilst I did hike up my healthy eating and exercise, I just didn’t think you’d be interested in my new-found hobby; Hula Hooping.
So, onto the subject at hand… Kris and I have just set up a new Instagram, a house one (yes, we’ve become those people)! Its called – wait for it – ‘Let’s Décor-Sait’, ha! We are not the kind of couple to let a good pun go to waste. Kris had been joking about documenting our journey for a while, mainly when I’m being a bit ‘extra’ because he thinks its hilarious. We shall see…
Anyway, this post isn’t about furniture or lifestyle. Instead, its about the process that we’ve been through to get our house. I’ve personally found that I could never find just a list; a list of how, what and why. I’ve desperately wanted a step-by-step of what comes at each stage of the process, and couldn’t seem to find one… I suppose its different for everyone. So I’ve decided to write about how we’ve gone through the process in hopes that it may help another Sammy looking for help somewhere. Like I said, this list is purely what’s happened to US, during a pandemic… So, who knows how helpful this will actually be!
- The first step for us was to go to the building society. We chose Nationwide as I’ve been a member since I was a child and have heard good things about their mortgages rates. We did go in with the intention of booking an appointment to see how much we could borrow, but we were told by an advisor that they actually do it a little differently now. Because a Decision in Principle only lasts for 90 days, they now ask you to no apply for one until you’ve had an offer accepted on a house. They found that a lot of buyers weren’t finding their dream home within the 90 days and therefore had to reapply, thus affecting their credit rating. We were advised go online and fill out their mortgage calculator, that would give us a rough estimate of how much we could borrow. I will leave the link for the calculator below.
- So now we had our price range, we could get to the fun bit! The viewings! I’m not going to lie, that buzzing feeling quickly evaporates… I ended up quite down and despondent at viewing house after house, only for them not to be our dream home. We did view different types of houses, to get a better idea of what we wanted, which is definitely something we’d advise as you may find you love something that you initially said you didn’t like. The only thing we didn’t view was a new build. We were quite adamant about wanting an older style house for the space, although the simplicity of new builds is very very appealing! In regards to viewing houses, you’ll find that everyone will have an opinion. Focus on what you want, not everybody else. Take feelings on board, but ultimately the decision has to be yours. We viewed a fabulous house that we loved but it had a steep driveway (and I mean STEEP! My car couldn’t get up it). This would mean that my Mom wouldn’t have been able to visit safely until we’d had the drive done. Me and Kris talked it over after many tears and decided that even though we loved the house and had the cash to make it work, it was going to cause more harm than good initially. On to the next we went…
- Now you’ve got your house, put in your offer! Be realistic. Think about any changes that need to be made, building work that would need to be carried out ASAP, the ages of the bathroom and kitchen… These things will add up. Also, really think about what the house is worth. Kris and I did have heated discussions about this! Back in the day, the system was a lot calmer, you’d go in with a lower offer, spend a few days bartering. Now? We found it to be quite cutthroat! Houses would vanish off the market in a matter of days AND sell for bang on or above listed price. So really consider how much you love the house and what you can afford. Once your offer is in and accepted, the ball starts rolling!
- Once we’d had our offer accepted and received our acceptance letter from the estate agents, we contacted our Financial Advisor. He was recommended to us by a very close friend, and he was marvellous! He told me exactly what we needed; three months payslips, three months bank statements, evidence of deposit, ID’s, and knowledge of any other credit cards, loans etc that we had. Within one morning he’d applied for our mortgage, had it accepted, and we even knew how much the monthly bill would be! Cannot recommend an advisor enough. He also recommended a consurveyor to us, and sent over all of our paperwork to them, at our request. Incidentally, this is the day that lockdown happened…
- The next step for us was filling out some forms for the solicitors, general queries about both of us and where the money was coming from. If you’ve been given a ‘gift’ from a parent or family member, this will need to be declared and you’ll have to prove where its come from. Time consuming, but they need to make sure its legit. During the first week, I felt very anxious!
- We didn’t hear anything for a while after this due to lockdown… After about 8 weeks we had our valuation completed on the house and Nationwide officially offered us the mortgage. The solicitors then sent the mortgage deed to us, which we signed and had countersigned, and returned to solicitor.
- The solicitors then ordered the searches on the property and had the draft contracts through from the seller’s solicitors, for which they will submit enquiries for. I try to keep up to date with our solicitor without being too annoying (even though I’m sure I am). Every two weeks, if I haven’t heard anything I drop him an email and just politely ask if he needs anything from us, and give us a rough idea of what’s occurring. I find it really difficult to not be in the know, so doing this makes me feel productive. To be honest, our solicitor is very polite and thus far, quick at replying. He lets me know what he’s doing and what’s next; I’m happy with that! He also submitted a form to me which I had to sign regarding my Help-To-Buy.
- Two weeks went by and we received our Survey/Searches Report last Friday. Everything is okay there so now its just finalising the contracts, signing our lives away, and getting a completion date! As far as I’m aware, after that its exchanging money, setting up home insurance and… MOVING!
So there it is, its a bit iggldy piggldy, but that’s how its gone for us! And there’s still abit left. Overall, its been 14 weeks thus far for us. But then again, we have all decided to buy during a pandemic! Mom always says ‘Nothing worth having comes easy’, and my goodness, is she right!
It seems nerve-wracking and it is. I’ve been on edge and anxious for weeks because I’m terrified that it’ll fall through. I haven’t told many of my closest and dearest friends because I’ve been so scared! I’m still a bit nervous, whereas Kris is very confident. Luckily, we keep in touch with the sellers who are a wonderful couple, and she is exactly like me! She said if she sits still for long enough she convinces herself that we’ll back out and has to text me. I feel her pain! Its been really nice having that connection, very heart-warming and comforting especially during this strange time where none of us know if things are up or down! We’re popping to the house on Saturday to do a bit of measuring and have a socially distanced catch-up.
I’ve got absolutely everything crossed that the contracts come through this week, if not early next *crosses everything* I’ve also set up our Instagram page today, so if you ever get bored and fancy a browse? There’s not much there yet, but hopefully there’ll be plenty of content very soon ❤
If one person finds this page of waffle even a little useful, I’ll be happy. Obviously, for professional advice please see your bank manager, financial advisor, solicitor, or if you’re just starting out, Martin Lewis is a great go to – Money Saving Expert is great and he explains things simple terms (which, if you’re like me, is needed!).
Stay safe out there!
Love,
SSA x
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mortgages/
"Sammy Strikes Again" 