Buying a property will likely be the most expensive thing you will buy!

Making a mistake throughout the process can end up costing you a fortune in both time and hard earned cash!

Chances are, if you are buying your first home you have never been told the right or wrong way to do things!

And if you have it is from a parent who bought a property 10 years ago, or even worse… Big Dave from the pub!!

Here are the 4 biggest mistakes that first time buyers make when trying to get in the property ladder!

First Time Buyer Mistake 1: Viewing properties before you have spoken to a Mortgage Professional.

This can be a massive waste of your time.

You can spend weekends after weekends looking at different properties, finally getting that house that you fall in love with, only to be disappointed to find out its way outside of your budget.

On top of that, finding out how much you can get agreed for and speaking to a mortgage advisor to get an agreement in principle before looking also puts your best foot forward when you want to make offers on properties.

Let’s say you’re selling your house and two people make an offer on your property that’s 250,000.

The first person has an agreement in principle for a mortgage in place and a solicitor ready after speaking to a mortgage broker

The second is viewing properties before they have spoken to a mortgage broker.

Who’s offer would you accept?

First Time Buyer Mistake 2: Only Budgeting For Mortgage Payments and Not The Cost Of Running a Home

As well as the new monthly mortgage payments you have to pay when you get your first property, there are a lot of other things that people forget to budget for.

You have to budget for your insurances, you’ve got your buildings and contents insurance, your life insurance, your income protection.

You need to sit down and budget for your council tax.

You’re also responsible for paying your bills, gas, and electricity.

In a meeting with a mortgage advisor, they’ll be able to go through the full ins and outs of your budget and find out exactly how much your outgoings are, so you can make sure the monthly mortgage payments are affordable.

Book A Free Strategy call with the team now to go through a budget planner!

First Time Buyer Mistake 3: Taking out extra credit during the process

The Mortgage application process from the time you find your house to the day you get the keys usually takes around 3-4 months on average.

Unless it’s vital during this time, do not take out any further credit until you pick up the keys.

It is not unheard off for a lender to carry out an additional credit search throughout the process and of they see that you have a new commitment it could impact the amount that you can borrow.

The additional credit check will be carried out if you were to take a new loan could also reduce your credit score which in turn could mean the entire application may be declined!

First Time Buyer Mistake 4: Only Viewing a Property Once

This is going to be the biggest financial commitment and probably the most expensive thing you’re ever going to buy!

You do not want to buy it after a 5 minute viewing! Some people spend longer looking for trainers.

If you have a family member who has bought a property before or a friend who is a builder it is always worth bringing a fresh set of eyes for a second opinion

Also going around the property the second time, you tend to notice things that you didn’t pick up on the first time, like any issues or anything that you need to repair or get sorted before you move in.

If you want to speak to a team who have helped 100s of First Time Buyers avoid these costly mistakes when buying their first home book a FREE strategy call below!