AD | 5 things to consider when buying your first home

My husband and I are in the ‘zone’ of adding up everything required to buy our first home. It’s an exciting prospect to finally get out of the renting rabbit hole. When you rent, you might as well throw money into the wind! Buying our first house together has been on our minds for quite some time. We have both saved very hard and this year {2020} was meant to be the year. But we all know the turn 2020 took and after certain global pandemics and nationwide closures, buying our first house was not going to happen for us. This year. But I guess, a positive note could be taken from that and in turn gives us more time to add to our savings and to research our options further. Which is never a bad thing! 

When it comes to buying your first home, there are a few things that need to be seriously considered. For example, the five things {for us} when in the ballpark to buying our first home, we need to consider the following:

• Purchase price
• Location
• Number & size of bedrooms
• Kitchen layout
• Size of the back garden

Purchase price

The homes for sale in our area range between £60,000 & £150,000. We can afford, somewhere in the middle of those two, I think. So the cost of the property is very important when it comes to making sure we can afford it. When buying your first home, the last thing you want to do is bite off more than you can chew! Especially when there are so many other things to consider and pay for when purchasing a house. Such as looking into surveyors, estate agent fees, solicitor fees, mortgage protection and forgetting hiring someone to help you move! 

Location

The location for us is most likely, the most important thing to be decided on. We have lived in the same area for over ten years now and it’s the area we’d like to stay in, preferably. It is close to some family members, shops, other local amenities and of course, the children’s schools.

We would be daft to move out of this area in all honesty, so it is hands down an area we will aim to buy our first home in. 

Number & Size of bedrooms

We have quite a large family. I am a mother of five and even though my two eldest boys are all grown up now, I still always include them when it has come to buying our first home. At home, I have my two daughters who share a bedroom and my youngest son who occupies the box bedroom.

I would love to get a four-bedroom house, but we are unsure if our budget will stretch to that. However you never know, we may get a good deal when our time comes to put an offer on somewhere. But the size of the bedrooms is just as important to how many bedrooms the house comes with. 

Kitchen Layout

The kitchen {to me} as I am sure it is with a lot of people – is the heart of the home. I love a good spacious kitchen with a good amount of storage and natural light.

The only two things I look for in a kitchen. We have lived with a small, outdated kitchen with no drawers and minimal space for a decade now and it’s time to change that. So, the kitchen size and amount of storage space is a big requirement for me when it comes to viewing properties. 

Size of the back garden

Our toddler days are very much over, but that doesn’t mean to say we wouldn’t love a good-sized back garden space to enjoy.

We have teenagers, so it would be a space for them to hang out with their friends. It would also be a space to enjoy BBQs and sunny afternoons with family and just somewhere else to enjoy together. I can already envision festoon lights, rattan furniture and wildflowers sprinkled around the edges. 

More information on Mortgage Protection

As a non-home-owner {yet!} I never knew anything about Morgage Protection. I honestly didn’t even know it was a thing. So, what is Mortgage Protection? Apparently Morgage Protection is also known as ‘Morgage Life Insurance’. So, in a nutshell, is protects your mortgage by covering the cost if something was to happen to the homeowner{s}. It is quite a morbid thought but it is something very important to have in place. Mortgage Protection lasts the length of the mortgage you have in place and is designed to unburden your loved ones of the mortgage payments in the event of your passing. Again, morbid thought, I know! 

When it comes to taking our a mortgage protection policy, you will need to choose a level term or decreasing term, much as you would with a life insurance policy. The level term gives you the same amount of cover and the same payout throughout the entire duration of the policy. Whereas decreasing term decreases as the amount left on your mortgage does. 

Just to add, not everyone with a mortgage needs to take our mortgage protection. This option of coverage is in place for those with families and who wish to protect those families from the financial burden in something was to ever happen to you. So, if you live alone and your the only one who pays the mortgage, then you really don’t need to take out a mortgage protection policy. 

So, I have shared my 5 things to consider when buying our first home. Is there anything else I am missing? I’d love to know in the comments below. 

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