First Time Buyer

[Jeano]

Hello,

im looking to purchase a one bedroom house in the next 6 months in the region of 130-140k, im just north of london in the south east.

im stuggling with litrature of the basic english law and also a step by step also of in which order to get the mortgage or find a property.

i bought home buying for dummies but its all america orintated not for us over here. are there any recommendations?

[Dan S]

Hi Jeano

If you're looking for a step by step guide to buying your first home then there are a few out there (UK based too!). It's very frustrating when you buy a book and 5 seconds in it starts talking about 'real estate' and 'realtors'! Fundamentally though you'll most likely get a 'Decision in Principle' from a mortgage lender, which should be valid for around 3 months, and then armed with this you can start hunting for a 1 bed flat. You don't have to do it this way round, but if you find a property first and then try to organise a mortgage it can take a while and may be frustrating when you find the perfect flat. In fact some estate agents require to see your DIP before they'll let you carry on.

I wish you the best of luck.

Where in London are you looking to buy?

[Jeano]

any ideas on books? i want to read through the details on Stamp duty etc as im going to be buying after march 2012 when the first time buyer no stamp duty under £250,000 comes to an end

[IFA]

When I bought my first property I had no idea how anything worked. Rather than trying to tackle researchng the subject with daunting 300 page books I decided to buy monthly mortgage, financial and housebuying magazines such as What Mortgage, Your Mortgage etc.

They break everything down into easily manageable articles of shorter length and will also be right up to date with current law, products, tax regulations etc. It was doing this that gave me a taste for learning about finance that has eventually led me to become an independent mortgage adviser.

Have a browse in the local newsagents to see what you can find and get yourself as well insormed as possible before you leap in. Even after reading up on the subject I would still advise you to find a local mortgage broker to discuss things with as they will have the experience that you can't learn from a magazine.

[Dan S]

The only issue with books is they go out of date pretty quickly I'm afraid. 6 months is a long time in the world of property.