Practical tips for house hunting for the first time

Buying your first home is one of life’s most exciting milestones. But it can also be a pretty lengthy process, so it’s important to be prepared. No one wants to be caught off guard – imagine if you put an offer in on your dream home and didn’t realise how noisy the neighbours were, or that it required £20,000 worth of repairs? Put your best foot forward with our expert tips to make house hunting a breeze.

1. Give yourself enough time

Speak to people who’ve bought a house and they’ll probably tell you one thing: it always takes longer than expected. Once you’ve found your dream home, it takes, on average, 12 weeks to complete. But this depends on a range of factors, from how speedy your solicitor is to how long it takes to fix any issues found in the homebuyer survey. Plus, it can take months alone just to find the perfect pad, especially if you have a lot of criteria to meet or the housing market is turbulent.

If you don’t have a deadline (maybe you’re living with family or friends), then you’re in the lucky position to be able to take your time with the house hunting process. But if you’re due to move out of a rental property on a certain date, it’s best to work back from that deadline in order to give yourself maximum time. You might want to start looking at houses up to a year in advance – it’s usually better to have a gap between moving dates than an overlap, which can become costly very quickly.

2. Get a mortgage in principle before you start browsing

A mortgage in principle (MIP) is when a mortgage provider gives you an estimate of how much money they would lend you to buy a home. It’s sometimes referred to as an agreement in principle or a decision in principle. Having an MIP in place before you start house hunting will give you an idea of how much you can afford and shows estate agents that you’re a serious buyer.

To get an MIP, you’ll need to provide your:

Address history in the UK going back three years
Income (such as salary, bonuses, benefits, pensions or investments)
Credit cards, finance and loans (if applicable)
Outgoings (including travel costs, childcare and school fees)
You can get an MIP on most high street banks’ websites. Bear in mind that you’re not tied into a mortgage just because you get an MIP, and equally, the mortgage provider isn’t obligated to lend to you purely based on this.

3. Budget for more than you need

Once you’ve got your MIP, you’ll have a rough idea of what kind of property you can afford. But remember to factor in other costs as well. For example, Stamp Duty ranges from 5% to 12% of the house price, so this alone can put a big dent in your savings. Not to mention your house deposit, which should be at least 10% of the property price. We’ve rounded up all the costs you’ll need to factor into your property purchase here, so you can get a head start.

4. Register with estate agents

When you’re new to house hunting, it’s easy to think you can just scroll through Rightmove or Zoopla and that your dream home will be waiting just a few clicks away. In reality, that’s not always the case. These websites can be really helpful in giving you an insight into the housing market and how much properties in the area tend to sell for. We recommend setting up instant alerts so you’re the first to know about new properties to the market.

But often, the properties that end up on these sites are those that aren’t that desirable and people struggle to sell. It’s a good idea to register with estate agents based in the area you’re looking at. This way, they’ll have a more personalised picture of what you’re looking for so they can contact you about properties before they’ve even hit the market. When you’re ready to start browsing, find out which estate agents operate in your area, pick up the phone and make sure you’re registered with as many as possible.

5. Know what you’re looking for

In the first three months of 2023, there were over 620,000 homes for sale in the UK. So it’s safe to say there’s a lot of choice. To help you narrow down your search, you might want to make a list of essentials and nice to haves.

Is location a deal breaker for you? Maybe you want to be within a 10 minute walk of a train station, or you could forgo a garden in place of a driveway. It’s not just the big things like this to consider, though. When you start viewing houses, make sure you ask the agent about everything from water pressure to storage space and whether there’s any damp. Write down a list of everything you want to know, and what’s important to you, and take it to every house viewing so you don’t forget to ask.

6. Be open-minded on location

Location, location, location. Of course, it’s one of the most significant factors to consider when buying a house. Not only will it affect the price you pay for it (and one day sell it for), but it’ll impact how much you enjoy living there.

If you’ve got your heart set on a particular location, good for you! You clearly know what you want. But it might be worth researching other neighbourhoods if you’re open to suggestions – some might have lower house prices and more choice or better schools. And don’t forget to thoroughly research any neighbourhoods you like the look of. For example, you might like to research the crime rate, public transport connections and noise pollution. If you’re interested in a certain property, there’s no harm in paying the neighbours a quick visit to ask what they like and dislike about the area.

7. View properties at different times of day

This might sound obvious, but it’s crucial to view a property you’re interested in at different times of the day. If the property has a garden, you might want to get a feel for when the sun catches it. Flaws and cracks can be more easily overlooked in the evening light, for example. Or if you have grand plans to transform the reception room, maybe you want to see how it looks in different lights to know which paint colour would complement it.

And don’t just look at the property, but the neighbourhood as a whole. Hate traffic? You’d rather find out sooner than later if a huge traffic jam forms outside the property during the school run each day. Is there sufficient street lighting? If you’re planning to walk rather than drive to most places, this one’s particularly important.

8. Check the lease length and service charges

If you’re buying a leasehold property, don’t forget to check the lease length. There’s no hard and fast rule about how long a lease should be, but you might be dissuaded from buying a property with a lease that’s less than 80 years. This is because when you come to sell it, you might find not many people are interested, or you could end up forking out a lot of money to extend the lease to make it more desirable. Extending a lease can cost up to £10,000, so it’s worth bearing in mind before you put an offer in.

You’ll typically have to pay a service charge on leasehold properties, which contributes towards the maintenance and cleaning of communal areas (like shared gardens, hallways and lifts). Ask for a summary showing how the charge is worked out and what it’s spent on. And make sure you can afford the service charge payments, as these can add a substantial amount to your monthly outgoings. If the service charge is especially high, bear in mind that this might make the property harder to sell as people might not be prepared to pay it.

9. Ask lots of questions before making an offer

Before you put your offer in, make sure you’re seeing the bigger picture and that you’re not just blinded by love for what seems like the perfect pad. Here are some things you might want to find out, either from the seller or from the estate agent:

How long has the property been on the market? If it’s been up for a while, this could signal underlying problems.
Why is the owner selling? Knowing the reason can give you some buying power, for example, if you know they need to sell in a hurry.
What work has the seller done to the property and does it need any repairs? Find out whether there have been any previous issues and how much you could expect to pay to fix any problems.
Are there any local plans that could affect the property? New housing or commercial developments could affect the future sale price of the property, as well as your enjoyment living there.
What is included in the sale? For example, maybe the seller would be happy to leave the white goods which could save you money.

10. Consider your offer carefully

There’s something to be said for negotiating the sale price. And if you don’t think the property is worth it or if there are major issues you want to knock the price down for, by all means go in with a lower offer. A good rule of thumb is to offer 5% - 10% lower than the asking price.

But if it’s the perfect place – the kind of home you always dreamt of and nothing else has come close to it – then perhaps it’s not worth missing out on. If this is the case, and your budget allows, you might want to go in at asking (or even above asking) price. If you’re unsure, it’s worth asking the agent if any offers have already been put down so you can gauge what competition you’re up against.

Buying a home is likely to be the biggest purchase of your life, so tackling the process with a carefully considered plan is the best way to prevent costly mistakes down the line. As the saying goes, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Hopefully, this list sets you up to unlock the door to your perfect place, but for now, best of luck house hunting!