Q&A: The exciting transition from First-time buyer to home mover.

We sat down with Emma our Head of Marketing, to chat about her experience of going from a first-time buyer to home mover. Read the Q&A below!

What made you decide it was the right time to move?

It was a number of things.

The first one was that our mortgage was coming to an end. We had a fixed rate for five years, and had a great rate of 2.9%, so we knew that was approaching.

We also had an opportunity to purchase a house within the family – my grandmother’s house. That’s kind of what made us decide to put the house on the market and move.

It was definitely a hard decision for us because we spent a few years renovating the property we were in. But it was definitely the right decision.

Have you got a good mortgage rate for the next house?

Until our fixed rates end, which end in December, we’ve ported the larger portion of the mortgage, and we’ve got a higher fixed rate on the smaller proportion.

So, our mortgage adviser has diarised for us in late September to talk about amalgamating our mortgages come January, once that fixed rate ends. This will maximise our savings.

It can be challenging to get on the ladder as a first-time buyer. Was it easier than the first time around, or was it different?

It was very different, but I think the market is also very different at the moment. When we bought our first home, we actually bought during COVID, so we benefited from a great deal on the house. It was really straightforward; it went through within eight weeks. 

It was very quick, and the whole process was pretty seamless. The people that we were buying from were no-chain, so for a first-time buyer, it was the ideal entry into the property market. 

However, this time around, the timeline has been significantly longer. We are still no-chain, and the people who are buying our house are also no-chain. So, in theory, the property should have gone through very quickly, but what we’ve noticed is more significant time solicitors require because of caseloads. 

We actually sold within one week, but we still ended up with a 21-week process from start to end.

What financial lessons from buying your first home helped you with your second one? Anything you remembered or any preparation you were able to do because you’ve been through it before?

When we bought our first property, it was within the Stamp Duty holiday, so we didn’t actually have to pay that. But we were aware when we bought our second property that we would have to save that additional money.

Moving for the second time, you don’t usually realise how much things can total up, so making sure you have a good advisor who can look at that for you and combine this into the mortgage, should you require it, is a great way to go.

Additionally it’s important to make sure you’ve got that good advice from an adviser who can look at your finances and say, “Okay, this is the best option for you based on your deposit and based on your equity as well.”

Going back to selling your home, you mentioned an offer came through pretty quickly, but with regards to the whole sale, how was it selling your home whilst trying to buy at the same time?

For us, you put a lot of love into a home, so getting it ready to sell felt quite strange, knowing that it was not going to be yours for much longer. So, that was interesting, but we worked with great estate agents locally, and they were fantastic. 

They really supported us through our sale process and made it really easy.

On the other side, we were buying privately, so we were buying from family. That was an interesting landscape to navigate. You’re obviously not dealing with a middleman; you’re dealing directly with family members. 

The sellers had to get the house valued via multiple local estate agents, and then the value of the home is the purchase price. 

So, that’s how it went on the purchase side of things. The house was valued around three times by independent estate agents, and then you go down the route of negotiating the price within that bracket, set by the agents.

So what was the most significant difference between being a first-time buyer and a second-time buyer?

Knowledge. For me, being a first-time buyer, I was extremely apprehensive about going into the buying process. There were a lot of unknowns – I was unaware of the timeline. Whereas, being a second-time buyer, I went into it with the knowledge of the process. 

So I knew, if the solicitor said, “We’re at this stage.” I can think, “Right, that is here in the process.” That definitely was different for me and also made the process less daunting. 

You have a lot more confidence going into something for the second time. 

If you could give one piece of advice or a tip for someone who’s about to move from their first to their second property, what would it be?

Go with the flow. It can be incredibly frustrating when timelines are extended or disrupted, but they are out of your control, and you can’t influence them. 

What you can do is chase to keep the timeline moving and just enjoy the ride, really.

You can spend so much time worrying about when things are going through. But, ultimately, it is the nature of the beast; you have to go with it. That would be my advice.

Regarding your home insurance, were there any new things you had to consider for your new policy?

No, not really – nothing additional. We already have certain specifics of cover on there anyway previously, so nothing needed to be added.

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