Before making an offer think through everything and make a budget plan to make sure you can afford the bills, mortgage and have a life at the same time- which is key! If your buying with a partner or friend then make sure you talk together and be honest about your feelings, this will make for a smoother process.
Do Your Research-When looking at different houses to buy, make sure you do your research about the area surrounding the house, especially if it is a new area to you. I would suggest taking note of the neighbours, looking at crime rates, if in the future you wish to extend the property check your rights surrounding this (your surveyor's evaluation should help) and I'd also suggest driving up and down the street a couple of times at different times in the day (not going cray cray stalker-ish) but it gives you an idea of the activities going on in your potential new neighbourhood that may not be clear to start with.
Get An Independent Mortgage Advisor/Broker- In the whole process getting our mortgage advisor was our best decision(thanks dad!), and it is my most top tip of them all. Even though we did a lot of research about the whole buying process and what mortgages were available to us ourselves, our advisor had access to much better mortgage deals and was able to assist us along the whole process with expert knowledge and guidance.
It is much better to get an independent advisor as they give you honest opinions about what bank/building society have the current best deals, and can link you up with them all with impartial advice. Where as if you go to a specific company they only give you their current deals, not everything that is available on the market.
Budget- Even I roll my eyes when I hear this word but unfortunately is a harsh reality of adulting that has to be done. My personal advice is to create a spreadsheet with all of your incomings and outgoings each month, putting in things like food shopping and petrol down- this way you get a realistic overview of what you can afford. Although buying a house will eat your money like no tomorrow it is important that you give yourself room to still have a life and live it, don't buy a house with a massive mortgage that is going to leave you scraping the pennies together in the middle of the month as it will only get you down and most likely put strain on relationships.
Have Fun- The whole process of buying a house is daunting but remember to try to have fun and not let the stress get on top of you. I'm loving shopping for new furniture and creating mood boards for each room at the moment, a great way to get excited about the future and relieve stress!
