If you’re currently looking to buy your first home (And if you’re on this site, the smart money says you are), you’re probably already stressed out and fed up enough – and if you aren’t sick to the back teeth of estate agents, mortgage providers and removal companies yet, you soon will be!

In this guide, we’ll go over a few tips for first time buyers, and discuss ways that not only can you keep stress free, you can also save yourself money.

Know the language:

As obvious as it sounds, knowing the lingo and jargon of the house markets can go a long way to making your life easier. Forewarned is forearmed, as the saying goes, and knowing as much as possible about the transaction you’re making means that any demands or requests made of you are less likely to come as a shock when they happen, or can even be avoided with a little prior knowledge.

Family:

Don’t be afraid to ask for a little help when it comes to your house purchase, and not just with removals! Members of your family who are already on the property ladder can help out in other ways too; as either guarantors or partners in a joint mortgage – their standing will likely help you out significantly.

Shop Around:

It’s tempting just to go straight to your bank or building society and applying for a mortgage, but with just a small amount of searching you will often find yourself a better rate – And not just on your mortgage. Many providers demand that you have life insurance in order to cover a mortgage, and once you move in, you will want to be covered with house insurance. Home insurance comparison sites are your friends in these situations; just remember that the cheapest deal is not always necessarily the best.

Team Up:

Just because you’re single, it shouldn’t stop you from gaining a foothold on the property ladder. You and a friend could team up in order to buy a place – just make sure you write up a legally binding contract as a just-in case which will allow one of you to buy the other out. You could also consider renting a room out to somebody if you have one spare; the more people to share the bills, the better!

Location, Location, Location:

Depending on the area you live in, trying to find a place that suits you can be not only difficult, it can also be prohibitively expensive. Case in point: £150,000 would barely buy you a one bedroom flat in London, in somewhere like Manchester you can buy a house for the same money – and as such, moving away might be something to consider. Of course, the move doesn’t have to be permanent, as once you have that first step on the ladder you have the house as capital and as such can start to move upwards.

Brent council and its partners are holding an exhibition on Friday 14^th March 2008, commencing at 1pm-7pm.

The venue is: - Advait Centre, Forty Avenue, Wembley, London, HA9 9PE.

Are you a first-time buyer, or on a low or moderate income?

This exhibition is open to anyone looking to buy a home of their own.

-         Learn about affordable new homes in Brent and other areas.

-         Get information on the New build Homebuy, Open Market Homebuy and other Homebuy schemes.

-         Find out how to apply with the Homebuy agent.

-         Enquire about properties with housing associations and make appointments to view properties.

-         Talk with independent financial advisors to understand the costs involve.

Local authority searches are a crucial component of Home Information Packs (HIPs), which have become mandatory for all residential property  put up for sale from December 2007. Since their introduction, concern is now being expressed within the organisations whom responsibility it is, to retrieve searches from local authorities. Prior to its launch, the National Association of Estate Agents and others spoke out highlighting the practical issues that would result...................

An exclusive house in London is being put up for sale, after falling into the hands of administrators to Global Trader Europe (GTE). Smith & Williamson, administrator to GTE is understood to be involved in taking control of the subsidiary that owns this property. The administrators have declined to comment thus far...............

Britain’s largest homebuilder by volume and second ranked by market value, made a pre-tax loss of £19.5m last year. This was down from a profit of £405.6m the previous year. Excluding exceptional costs such as the US write-down, TaylorWimpey saw its pre-tax profit fall to £535.6m, compared with £776.5m last year. The London based company formed by the merger of Taylor Woodrow PLC and George Wimpey PLC in July 2006, said profits fell by 31 per cent as property markets in the UK, USA and Spain cooled.

Persimmon UK’s largest homebuilder increased pre-tax profits by one per cent to £585m, on a turnover of £3.02bn. Operating margin increased to 21.8 per cent as a result of cost reductions and £50 million in synergy savings following the integration of Westbury.

Barratt, Britain’s third largest house builder struck an upbeat tone to the property market. Pre-tax profit increased 10.2 per cent to £194.6m for the last six months of 2007. During the year the group completed more than 17,000 homes and 145,000 sq ft of commercial property. Completions were 14.8 per cent less than in 2006. The average selling price was £178,000, an increase of 7.9 per cent, when compared to £165,000 last year.

“We remain committed to providing affordable homes and have maintained our strong presence in the social housing sector, and will continue to support fist time buyers with our own shared equity product.”
Editor: Simon Weston myfirsthomeltd.co.uk
Email: simon.weston@myfirsthomeltd.com

Redrow’s interim results for the half year to December 2007 reveal declining market conditions. Pre-tax profits fell 34 per cent to £35.8 million on a turnover of £353 million. The profit is down 9 per cent on the previous year.

Editor: Simon Weston myfirsthomeltd.co.uk
Email: simon.weston@myfirsthomeltd.com