Buying your first home? Then here are our top five tips for how you can save money, from improving your credit rating to seeking the advice of an experienced mortgage advisor. Read on to find out more:
- Your credit rating
The better your credit rating, the more likely you are to be accepted for a mortgage and the broader the range of mortgage products from which you’ll have to choose. So, to save money on buying your first home, get the best mortgage deal by improving your credit rating as much as possible. There’s lots of advice available online on how to check your credit score and how to improve it.
- Home buyers schemes
If you’re struggling to save a deposit for your first home, then look at the various home-buyers schemes available. Help to Buy schemes can assist first-time buyers like you, to get on the property ladder, with as little as a 5% deposit. The Government will lend you up to 20% of the purchase price, whilst you borrow the rest from a mortgage lender on a repayment basis. The best aspect of this scheme is that you don’t pay any interest or fees on the government’s equity loan for the first five years, making it a cost-effective way to purchase your first home.
- Choose your mortgage with care
When buying your first home, it is crucial that you find the right mortgage. That’s why it makes sense to go to an experienced mortgage advisor to find the right deal for you. They’ll have access to a much wider range of mortgage products than a single bank or building society would. If you are looking for a mortgage advisor Barnsley based, then try Mortgage Solutions, who have 17 years’ experience helping clients in and around West Yorkshire and further afield. They’ll use their expertise to find the right mortgage solution for you, offering you free advice and a no obligation service.
Whoever you choose to arrange your mortgage, just ensure that they are fully qualified, regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and have access to a wide variety of mortgage products.
- Location and condition considerations
You may not have much flexibility when it comes to location, but draw up a list of your properties (like distance from work, a railway station or good schools) and help these inform your home search. One way to save money on your first home is to look for a property that needs doing up, which can not only help you afford a home with more space (benefiting you in the long term) but it can also provide you with a way to afford your preferred location.
- Saving money on moving
If you are buying your first home and you don’t yet have much furniture, then moving should be relatively easy and inexpensive. You may be able to undertake the whole process simply with a little help from your family and friends. If that’s not the case, and you want to get professional removers in to help, then be sure to shop around and get some quotes to compare. When it comes to packing, save money by doing this yourself and use recycled packing material wherever you can, you may find some available on the freecycle network.
So there you have our five top tips, we hope you’ve found them useful and that you are soon well on the way to buying your first home.