House prices aren't your only worry when buying a home

When buying a first home, a common problem is that buyers overstretch themselves on their mortgage payments in order to afford the home they want, and find that they really struggle in the first few months (or even years) with paying utility bills, moving costs, buying new furniture and even mis-judged commuting costs.

 

So, when you're looking to buy your new home, what are the cost items you need to take into account (and how you can save on them):

 

Purchase costs

This is the bit people normally consider, but often underestimate:

- Valuation fees

- Conveyancing fees

- Search fees (sometimes included in the conveyancy fee, sometimes not, so please check)

- Mortgage set-up fee (often added to the mortgage amount)

- Mortgage deposit

You just have to shop around for all of the above. If you're buying with Joint Equity, you'll already know that many of these costs are shared between you and your Investor-Partner.

 

Moving costs

Normally vastly underestimated!:

- Removals company or van hire (get quotes that take mileage into account, as this can be the most expensive item, but also look at non-traditional companies like Taxi Van)

- Buying boxes & packing materials (DON'T buy your boxes for storage companies, they are very expensive! Go first to local supermarkets and pick up banana boxes for free - they're not huge but you will at least be able to carry them. Then hunt on the internet companies like A1 Boxes (who are the cheapest I've found) deliver a home-movers pack for a reasonable cost).

- A 'thank you' drink/dinner for the friends that you roped in to help (buying bottles of wine and fish & chips to eat in the living room is going to be a lot cheaper than taking them to the pub - however, you may REALLY need a change of scene by this time!)

- Your own transport to your new home (if there's not space in the van!)

- Take-away/convenience food for the first day or more (you won't remember which box the cutlery is in - trust me! I recommend delegating someone to get frozen pizzas from the local supermarket, as your oven is probably working and you only need kitchen roll, rather than plates. It's cheaper than picking up a Chinese take-away.)

- Cleaning materials & bin bags (unpacking makes a lot of mess and you may have to clean up after the previous occupants before you can start to unpack. This could even extend to carpet cleaning)

 

Settling-in costs

- Paint & brushes. At the very least you will want to change the colour of some of the walls (don't launch into this yet. Get yourself settled and figure out what you really want to do with the place, you own this property now so you don't have to make your mark on it straightaway for people to know that. If you just have to get painting right now, go for big pots of a simple colour, e.g. cream. It WILL be cheaper).

- New curtains/blinds (have you considered getting the old ones cleaned OR having the ones from your old flat altered or dyed? If you really want new curtains try buying them on www.ebay.co.uk to keep costs low).

- New furniture items (did you own a dining table before? No? I bet you want one now! Again, eBay is great for new and used furniture, but to spend even less, try asking family for spare items instead. This will give you a chance to find your financial feet, and then you can buy what you really want a little later on)

- New appliances (big AND small are also available on eBay. Remember - large items may need to be collected by you, so check before you buy. Also consider reconditioned appliances, as if you have a lot of these to buy, the cost will add up extremely quickly)

- Change of address cards (use email if you can, but resist the urge to text unless you have a LOT of free texts in your calling package)

 

Ongoing costs

- Utility bills - with the recent British Gas price hike this issue is a bigger one than ever (use a comparison service like Energyhelpline.com and simply pick the lowest cost providers for you. It's easy!)

- Commuting (work out how you're going to get to your job BEFORE you buy. Consider: cost to get there, are season tickets available, time taken to get there, parking/congestion charge costs if you drive, what alternative routes are available if you can't drive, for example, on a particular day).

 

There will, of course, be other costs that are specific to your lifestyle or location, but this list should get you started. It's just a case of looking at the bigger picture really, and realising that the stated amount of your mortgage payment is not the only cost implication of your new home.

 

Good luck & happy moving!

 

Tam @ Joint Equity Owner Team

Joint Equity Blogger

www.jointequity.co.uk