Right then all.If you would be so kind..
I'm about to start looking for a house of my own and have minimal knowledge of how it all works and the process required to obtain a house.
Where/what is the first thing I should do? ? I've been looking at a couple of houses on a couple of local new builds online and am aware of the firstbuy scheme . However as much as I like a couple of them I feel they are rather pricey for what they are . I've also had a look at 'older' houses too...Not really sure on which way to go...
Also aware that seeing a financial advisor and mortgage advisor would help.Do i 'have' to do this?
My initial thought is to go to the bank and see what they say followed by a trip to the new builds...
Really not sure what's the best thing to be doing so can anyone offer any hints/tips/warnings or recommendations I'd be really grateful as it's all a step in the right direction...

Thanks in advance
Jon

With older houses you can normally negotiate to have curtains and carpets included in the price, which may not be included in a new build house (the builders will happily quote you prices to carpet your house, put in white goods, etc., but they'll want paying up front, these aren't costs you can easily just roll into your mortgage).

So, moving into a new build can be lot more expensive, and they do tend to be smaller houses.

On the plus side there won't be any issues with the state of repair of the house (other than whatever the builders have broken/done wrong - there will be some things, I guarantee it) and you'll have a 10 year warranty covering things like the central heating.

Not sure a financial adviser is really necessary, I'm sure you can work out your own income and outgoings and determine what you can afford.

You could certainly go and have a look at new builds now - they'll be happy for you to traipse round the show home, even if you don't have a mortgage ready-approved.

Where does one start!

There are professionals on here involved in law and estate agency who'll keep you right on technicalities.

FWIW, my advice is be realistic about your budget and avoid overstretching in case interest rates bite back in the future - bear in mind they're lowish right now. These days you'll need a decent-sized deposit and as father of three who've just got themselves properties in the last year I'm reassured by their decision to use a financial adviser. You shouldn't be paying for this service but they act as a buffer if anything goes wrong - for example Halifax forgot to check vital paperwork in my daughter's case last year resulting in a cancelled entry date. He took Halifax to task and a sizeable amount of compensation was won to cover temp. accommodation, cattery costs, furniture removal and storage etc.

New builds will probably have everything you need with guarantees and minimal maintenance costs. If they're flats or semis consider the potential sound transference from noisy neighbours (or vice versa ) - construction isn't so solid as older props.

Older houses often have more character but may need repair or upgrading. If you're good at DIY or have friends/family in the trade there are potential bargains around if you're in a position to do the work.

Decide how far you're prepared to travel from work/home and you can refine your internet search accordingly after setting your budget.

A few tips:

1. Which way does the house face - north facing living room = no sun + cold.
2. Gas CH? Electric is expensive.
3. Proximity to a. schools b. shops c. sub stations d. noisy roads/railway/flightpath
4. Parking?
5. Neighbours?
6. Double glazing?
7. Guttering/downpipes/chimneys condition
8. Damp, insulation, in loft for example.
9. Lead piping in internal water supply. Check cold tap pressure.

Both my daughter and son started off looking for flats but weren't keen on any of the areas. For just a little more they've each found semi-detached/terrace houses with 3 bedrooms in better locations. Don't underestimate the importance of where your house is when it comes to resale, remember...locationx3

Finally make sure there's no statutary work needing done and see lots before deciding.

Good luck!

On the contrary, many new build sites (usually those built by big developers; Taylor Wimpy, Persimmon, et al) will allow you to choose carpets as part of the sale. Obviously you have to get in there early, normally towards the start of the build, to get the best deal but there are some good deals to be had.

Andrew's right insofar as new build houses will come with a 10 year warranty (usually NHBC) but this usually only covers serious structural or building defects. I'd be very surprised if the boiler or anything else was covered after the first year or two.

All houses have to comply with building regulations at the time they were built. Ergo, a new house will be far more energy efficient than something built when Victoria was on the throne.

I live in a flat covering the ground floor and basement of a converted Victorian house and it costs us a fortune to run. Upsides? It's bigger than any two bedroom house I've ever seen, it has lovely high ceilings, bay windows, open fireplaces and period features galore. Personally, I haven't seen anything built after the 1940s I would be happy living in, but everyone's different.

Speak to an *independent* mortgage advisor before you start properly looking at stuff. You need to know what you can afford before you fall in love with something. Make sure you don't just go to your bank or the in house advisor at any estate agent; you want someone who can search 'whole of market' (specifically ask this).

I bought a house with my girlfriend this time last year.

We were in much the same situation as yourself, we knew the area due to locations of work, but didn't have a particular view on new or old.

Firstly, we did a bit of online research into mortgages. This allowed us to see what deals are available and decided to go and see Nationwide. I would recommend going to see a mortgage providor/advisor to know what you are able borrow and how much the repayments are going to be. I asked for a few different calculations from a maximum lend (which was scarily large, and had equally large repayments) to a much lesser mortage and a number inbetween to guage how much repayments were going to be on different priced of houses. Having done this and hopefully obtained a mortgage guarantee puts you in a better position when you start to talk to estate agents or see new builds - it shows you are serious and people will give you more time (that was our experience anyway).

At this point I would set out what you would like from a house and where you would like to be, for example the number of bedrooms, garden, garage, shops nearby, quiet village, potential to add value, off street parking... etc etc etc.

Now is the point when you can start to seriously look at houses and fingers crossed, your requirements will tie up with the price of houses within your mortgage guarantee.

I looked online using Righmove, Primlocation and Home but I would also strongly recommend going to see a local estate agent(s). We had a relatively good budget and were in rented accommodation so had no chain, estate agents were very keen to show us houses and paid us a lot of attention.

We were open with the estate agents, saying we're not sure what we want but gave our requirements. One estate agent spend a Sunday morning showing us around different types of houses (new, old, in need of work, rural) and this was great, it showed us what was available and helped us decide what we did and didn't want.

We decided that we didn't want a new build. This is our opinion and I'm not trying to influence here, but for us the layout of new builds wasn't to our taste, gardens were small and there was no character. However, we did like the idea of not having work to do and new houses are often warmer due to higher building regulations on the level of insulation.

We ended up buying a house that we didn't especially like from the pictures displayed on the internet but when viewing the place, we both really liked it. It is a 1930's house and at the time of buying, the bathroom and kitchen hadn't been touched since it was built, and the rest of the house was last touched in the 70's. We liked it's original features such as stained glass windows, floor boards, doors and could see the potential to add value by undertaking a lot of the work ourselves.

Despite the house being cheap and £100,000 less than our maximum borrowing potential, it was still a stretch financially. A lot of our saved money went on the deposit (20% to get a better mortgage rate) and that meant that savings were stretched to undertake the renovation - re-roof, re-wire, central heating, bathroom, kitchen and extension to name a few of the large spend items. I don't regret buying this house, but as a word of warning if you do take on a project house, it will almost certainly be more expensive than you think and I sacrificed seeing friends on weekends, holidays and being able to buy little luxury items, and will continue to do so for the next 2 years.

A few other costs that aren't applicable to everyone but are worth mentioning so you are aware they may have to come out of your budget; removal fees, home insurance on the new house, solicitor fees and sometimes conveyancing if this isn't covered by the solicitors fees, mortgage finders fee, house surveys, white goods and furniture.

It's a bit of ramble and I could of summed it up as

-Get an idea of how much you can borrow
-Decide on what you would like in/from a house
-Go and see estate agents as well as looking online and at new builds

but I thought some of my recent experiences might be useful.

As one final recommendation. Don't rush it unless you find the perfect house! There will be more that come up for sale in the future and try to enjoy it. My girlfriend got stressed in all aspects of the search and purchase but I tried to sit back and enjoy it, you're won't be able to buy a first house again.

p.s. Use data from the land registry on the price of sold houses. If/when you find a house you like, you can see how much it and other houses in the area sold for recently which can bu useful background info when negotiationg

And remember that Estate agents are working for the Vendor not you the buyer.

Also remember - if at all possible, keep your loan below 70-80% of the nominal value of the house. If you can afford it, 60%... buying the most expensive you can 'afford' is in my humble opinion a very bad idea.

While I agree with Neil about affordability there's nothing wrong with 90% mortgage if the repayments are within your budget. We were offered mortgages which were £40k above what we ended up borrowing as we didn't want to stretch ourselves financially and got exactly what we wanted for the cash we did borrow.

The reality is that while a 70-80% LTV is very desirable, the deposit is out of reach for most first time buyers. It certainly was for us and would have meant another 2 years of saving whilst paying rent to someone else.

There is a Firefox l add on for zoopla called property bee, which lets you see exactly how long all the properties have been advertised for and any amendments to the adverts including price changes. For the life of me I can't remember what it's called though!

I echo the comments above with the main one being get gas central heating if you can!