Top tips for preparing to buy your first home
Becoming a homeowner for the first time can be a stressful and at times confusing process, and we hope that sharing these top tips can help make it run more smoothly.
Audit your incomings and outgoings
One easy method to understanding how and when you might be in a position to purchase your first home is to focus on the amount you can put aside each month. Breaking down monthly incomings and outgoings and consolidating them in one place can allow you to settle on a desired figure to save, and how many months it will take for you to reach the ideal amount for a deposit. This will not only help facilitate a routine of living without spending a set figure, simulating a monthly mortgage payment, but you with a time-sensitive goal to work towards which can be rewarding once achieved.
Age is just a number
Long gone are the days of all first-time buyers being young people a couple of years out of college or university – the average age of a new homeowner in the UK has been on a steady incline for many years. With the mean age of a first-time buyer now quite some way above 30, there are plenty of people in the same boat seeking something to call theirs after years of renting, house sharing or living with parents. Those over 30 are more likely to have more savings accrued and therefore more capable of putting down a higher deposit or entering a shorter mortgage period.
Bromford Shared Ownership
There are plenty of first-time buyer schemes within the property industry designed to help people get onto the ladder, with many methods available to those for whom a traditional mortgage approach might not be viable. One wise way to purchase is to explore our Shared Ownership, which gives first-time buyers and those who do not currently own a property the opportunity to secure a new build home. Homebuyers pay a mortgage on the share that they own and pay rent on the remaining share, meaning a smaller deposit is required.
No Stamp Duty up to £425,000
Between now and March 2025, first time-buyers will not pay any Stamp Duty on a new home, up to the value of £425,000. This means that, when under this threshold, new homeowners can save 5% on the value of their home that is above £250,000, leaving space for those funds to be redistributed elsewhere, i.e into a larger deposit or furnishing their home.
Securing an asset and staircasing
Signing the papers to become a homeowner instantly changes the game in terms of the buyer’s position in the housing market, making it a savvy move. With Bromford’s flexible approach to homeownership, buyers have the opportunity to staircase, which is gradually increasing the amount of their home that they own, from originally owning between 25% and 75% to eventually owning 100% of it. When buying your first home, you take ownership of a profitable asset which can increase in value over time, giving you the opportunity to sell when the time is right and put that value towards your next property.
We provide a range of Shared Ownership and outright sale homes across the Midlands and South West. Click the 'our homes' tab in the menu above to find out more.