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Specialist Advice

Buyers

This information is as relevant for first time buyers as it is for anyone who is looking to enter the property market. This information is designed to assist and direct you whether you end up buying direct from a seller featured on www.TyFi.co.uk or from an Estate agent.

  1. How much can you afford to pay for your new home?

    This will depend on what size mortgage you can afford. The easiest way to compare what's on offer is online, using a mortgage comparison site. Use a search engine to find the best deals. Alternatively, you can talk to an independent financial adviser or approach a mortgage provider directly i.e. Building Societies, banks & specific mortgage companies.
    They will be able to quickly calculate how much you are able to borrow, and will offer various methods of repayment. By seeing several different advisors you can gauge how much they are all trying to influence you. You should also check that you have the finances required for all of the other expenses that you will incur e.g. the deposit (5% to 10% is the norm for first time buyers), Solicitors fees, Surveyors fees, Mortgage application fees & removal costs.
  2. You will need a solicitor

    It is a good idea to engage a solicitor at this stage - for peace of mind that when you do find your dream house, your solicitor is already in place. You may already have a solicitor - if not then ask friends and family for one they recommend; look in your local area which will be convenient for you during the buying process.

  3. Start looking!

    Once you have established how much you are able to borrow then you can start looking within a specific price range. It is recognised that over 70% of buyers use the internet to look for property. TyFi offer a lifestyle search facility which enables you to fine tune your search. TyFi prioritise homes in Wales. You can also leave a message regarding the style of property and the location you are looking for. Most people will visit Estate agents. It costs nothing to visit them or use any of their usual services. Ask them all to put you on their mailing list for the type of property you're after.
    Remember sellers may be with an Estate Agent - so may be advertising at www.TyFi.co.uk as well as with the Agent.
    Check the www.TyFi.co.uk site - for sellers stand to save paying the significant commission fees if you contact them through TyFi.
  4. What to view?

    If you have a range of property types that you like, or a range of areas that you'd like to live in, try to see all types and view the places objectively. The marketing packages available at www.TyFi.co.uk are designed to give YOU the best possible idea of what a home is really like. This way we hope to avoid the situation of you entering a property - and realising as soon as you walk through the door that it's not for you! We base our marketing strategy on the fact we believe "People buy homes they love - not property they like".

  5. Viewing appointments

    Once you have found a home you like on www.TyFi.co.uk - you will need to contact the seller direct. For security reasons you will be required to register with TyFi before you can contact a seller direct. This involves providing some security based information which will not be used for any other purpose other than for TyFi security.
    Some sellers have chosen to include their contact phone numbers, whilst others will ask you to email them first, which introduces a level of protection on their behalf. The best person to answer your questions about a house - is the current owner. It is not in owners' interest to give false information - rather they can offer an owner's perspective on the house. Very often Estate Agents do an excellent job of 'talking up' a property. Talking direct to the owner will give you a far better idea of what it's like to live there.
    Be prepared to ask about issues that are important to you - and information about the locality, and practicalities of living there, are best coming first hand from the owner.
    Do not be shy to ask why they are moving out!
    Also www.TyFi.co.uk provides links to sites, which have information on the locality, so take some time and use them.

  6. Finding your new home

    You will make an offer direct to the seller. You have the choice of when to do this.
    Once an offer is accepted it is still only accepted subject to a satisfactory survey and contract-exchange. This is the norm & protects you.
    At this point you must now do two things:
    • Firstly apply for your mortgage - supplying any evaluation fees required.
    • Secondly contact your solicitor to work on your behalf.

  7. Survey

    Your Mortgage company will discuss the level of survey you wish to have done for the property. Mortgage companies usually employ their own surveyor to carry out the survey. The survey report is then returned to the Mortgage company.
    If the survey brought up any unexpected points now is your opportunity to renegotiate the price with the seller. Although you may be happy to live with some of the problems brought up in the survey, you may find you are forced to carry out some of the work by your lender anyway, so bear this in mind. Your solicitors should be able to advise.

  8. Going ahead with the purchase

    Once you are happy with the survey you will need to agree two dates:
    • One to sign and exchange contracts
    • Another to complete the contract by exchanging money and keys.
    A formal mortgage offer will be sent to you by your mortgage lender. Once signed you are bound to this mortgage, with hefty get-out clauses, so make sure you have secured a package that is suited to you. A copy of the offer is forwarded to your solicitor.

  9. Contracts

    Your solicitor draws-up contracts for the purchase & sends them to you when complete.

  10. Exchanging contracts

    The contracts for the property are then exchanged between the two parties' solicitors. At this point you will have to provide the funds for the deposit, which the solicitor handles. A completion (moving) date is then set. This could be anything from a week to a month.

  11. Transfer

    The mortgage company sends the remainder of the purchase funds to the solicitor ready for transfer. You can now begin to plan your move. Take a look at the TyFi 'tips for preparing to move' section which includes getting in contact with the Gas & Electric boards, the phone company, house-insurance company & post-office to arrange the reconnection of services etc. to the property. You also need to prepare to contact these services with regards your own property if you have one.

  12. Completion Day

    This is the day you take possession of your new home, and collect the keys from the seller or the seller's solicitor.

  13. Paying for the house

    On the completion date your solicitor forwards the funds to the house-seller's solicitor.

Additional information

  1. Mortgages

    There are several basic types and many special schemes all designed to entice you to a certain company. Be careful to shop around and ask friends and family for advice.

    How much can I borrow?

    You can estimate using this assumption that almost all lenders stick to are:-
    For a single buyer: 3 x Gross Salary
    For a couple: 2.5 x Joint-Gross Salary OR
    3 X Higher Gross Salary + 1 x Lower Gross Salary

    What type of Mortgages are there?

    There are basically three types of mortgage available:
    1. Repayment Mortgage
      Deemed the simplest and safest form of mortgage. Essentially just like a loan. This mortgage ensures that the full mortgage will be paid off in full at the end of the mortgage period (normally 25 years).
    2. Endowment Mortgage
      Endowment mortgages typically comprise two separate payments, one is the interest on the loan and the other a premium on an endowment held with a life assurance policy (although not 100% of endowment policies have one of these). This is done so as to build up a lump sum which aims to repay the mortgage. The risk is that after the mortgage period has elapsed there may not be enough to pay the mortgage off. This type of mortgage is very flexible however and is more easily added to, to accommodate house-moves etc.
    3. Pension Plan Mortgages
      This is a popular choice for self-employed people and people who cannot join company based pension schemes. It basically combines mortgage payments with pension payments. There are also various tax savings for a mortgage of this type.
    There are other types of mortgage, which can be obtained from any lender.
    TyFi can offer mortgage advice and recommendations. Contact us for further advice at info@TyFi.co.uk
  2. Choices

    There are special options to reduce the repayment figure for a short period of time.
    1. Discounted rate mortgages.
      This rate will reduce whatever the present mortgage rate is (e.g. 7.5%) by a fixed percentage (say 2%) for a fixed pre-agreed time, say 2 years.
    2. Fixed rate mortgages.
      Fixes the interest rate that you pay for a specified time period. The reduction possible is less than that of discounted schemes but has the main advantage of rigidly setting your monthly payment for a reasonable period.
    3. Capped rate mortgages.
      Combines the above two ideas to give a slight reduction in rate under normal circumstances but prevents your rate rising suddenly. These mortgages run for a preset time period.
    The only downside to any of these options is that it is generally difficult to move house in the allotted time period, and these types generally incur a fixed charge to set them up

  3. Estate Agents

    As a buyer, the estate agent's services to you are free. It is the seller who pays fees and service costs. A recent WHICH? Magazine investigation found evidence of Agents allegedly favouring buyers who were also arranging mortgages through the Agent.
    Sellers may be advertising their homes at www.TyFi.co.uk as well as with an Estate Agent. This means that they are free to find a buyer themselves and avoid paying commission to the Agent. However if the buyer approaches the seller via the Agent then the seller will be eligible to pay the Agent a commission fee of anything
    up to 2%. Some sellers chose to use www.TyFi.co.uk with the view to use the saved commission to raise the standard of their homes in preparation to sell. Alternatively they may be in a better bargaining position to accommodate a lower offer, or indeed to set a lower selling price.
  4. Solicitors

    Buying a house involves legal work known as conveyancing.
    A solicitor or licensed-conveyor can do this for you. The solicitor will check contracts, perform local-authority & title searches, liase 100% with the seller/their solicitor and look into lease's for leasehold properties.
    Even for the cheapest of houses expect to pay several hundred pounds in costs, much of which you will not see the benefit of as they are hidden.
    If you're buying a property valued at over £60,000 you will incur stamp-duty.
  5. Surveyors

    Before buying a property a survey must be completed:
    1. For the Lender - to satisfy the mortgage company that the property is worth the asking price and that it is re-saleable!
    2. For you - To determine how much work is required on the property.
    3. There are three main survey types:-
      1. Valuation for Mortgage purposes.
        This is the minimum required and is purely for satisfying the lender of worth etc.
      2. Report on condition & valuation.
        Encompasses the search above and also looks at basic state of repair and condition of the property.
      3. Structural survey.
        The most thorough survey checks the property for all major and minor defects. This type of survey may take several days to complete overall as there is a large amount of paper- work to produce.

    Surveyors are bound by law to tell you every detail. In full-surveys this will be pages & pages of information. This is because that if you later find out a defect in the property that the surveyor should have found but missed, you can take legal action against them.
    The level of survey that you take is dependant upon the type of property you're buying. For a fairly new property (say less than 10 years old) you probably only need a valuation. For somewhere a little older but still essentially a mainstream place a type(2) is probably wise. For old, character cottages etc a full structural survey is a must.
    The cost of the surveyors fees is obviously related directly to the level of survey and the cost of the property. For a £50,000 property a basic valuation will be around £150.
  6. Insurance

    The are principally three type of insurance recommended for a homeowner:-
    1. Building Insurance.
      To protect you against fire, flood, storm damage etc to the actual building itself. This may be provided in any building- maintenance charges levied by the free-holder for leasehold flats.
    2. Contents Insurance.
      To protect you against the loss of your belongings in the property.
    3. Mortgage Repayment/Loan Repayment insurance.
      This ensures that if you are no longer able to pay the mortgage for some reason i.e. ill health or death, the mortgage will be paid-off in full preventing hardship to family etc. Endowment & pension-plan mortgages have this insurance built-in.
    The amount that it costs to insure is dependant upon property price and area.
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