Martin Lewis’s team highlight the “small mistakes that can cost large” and help readers understand how to “squeeze sellers for info”. The first piece of advice Money Saving Expert gives is to answer a simple question – should you buy? The 2019 article warns that buyers can fail to evaluate whether the property they are looking to buy is affordable. Crucially, they also say you shouldn’t worry too much over fluctuating prices in the short term, and concentrate on the “bigger picture”.
It adds: “Few people accurately predicted the end of the house-price boom in 2007 and no one really knows what is going to happen to house prices over the next few years.
“It is better to concentrate on bigger-picture financial security than risk financial ruin in a desperate attempt to get on the housing ladder.”
In regards to costs, Mr Lewis and co also say that buying a home will always cost more than originally estimated due to additional fees and admin.
The article adds: “It’s not as easy as get a mortgage, grab the keys and, bish bash bosh, you’re in.”
Among additional coasts are mortgage arrangement fees, legal fees, removal costs and repairs.
When lending to help purchase a property, Mr Lewis recommends you to find out how much you can borrow before you start house hunting.
The article adds: “Don’t just trust what lenders say you can afford to borrow. After all, struggle to repay and some may gleefully give you credit cards to make up the shortfall.”
Money Saving Expert has its own mortgage calculator to see how much you can borrow.
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Another tip is to try and boost your credit score before and check your credit files before applying for a mortgage, as “small mistakes can cause rejection”.
It adds: “For example, active accounts registered to old/wrong addresses can hurt badly, so whip through your credit files and ensure any active account (even historic and unused) is registered at the correct address.”
As for property finders, the article recommends sites such as Zoopla and Rightmove, but warns that “asking prices are often wildly optimistic, showing what the seller wants for the property, not what they’ll get”.
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A key tactic recommended is to request the property be taken off the market.
This prevents “gazumping, where the seller accepts another higher offer after the sale has been agreed. Until contracts are exchanged, either party can pull out at any time”.
On top of this, Martin Lewis and his team warn that you can pull out of an offer at any time as long as contracts have not been exchanged.
If the seller pulls out before you exchange contracts, you have no legal right to recover any costs from them, the article adds.
Additionally, you can even claim indemnity insurance for wasted costs.
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