If You're Saving For A House

 If you've been reading Suitcase and Sandals for a while, you'll know that Dan and I are currently saving to buy our own house. This can be exciting, and disheartening all at once, because I don't really need to remind everyone how expensive buying a house can be these days...Although I'm not 100% clued up financially in any way at all, I thought it might be helpful to share what I have learnt since starting to save for a house. I've actually written a separate post about saving money, so this one is more focused on the practical tips and things you can do to prepare for buying a house. We're a little way off actually buying one but everything you do now, will help you buy later!

If only I could afford this beauty of a house...

Check your Credit Score

Some sights may require payment for this but if you use noddle, it is completely free. Always a bonus! Checking to see if you have a good credit score will be beneficial because the better your score is, the more attractive you will be as potential buyers. Things like being on the electoral roll will improve your credit score so this is something worthwhile doing - obviously for more reasons than just getting your credit score - use your vote wisely!

Get a Credit Card

 This is something that has been recommended to us a few times. If you are worried about it, you could always set up a direct debit so that you know you will pay it back every single month. If I decide to get one, I'll definitely only be putting things like my petrol on it so that it's not a huge expense. This will help boost your credit score too so that is definitely a plus.

Know your stuff

Before researching into it a little bit, I didn't really understand all of the hidden costs of buying a house. Obviously, a deposit is necessary but naively, I didn't even consider the solicitor's costs which are going to be very important. You'll also need to consider things like buying a lease-hold property (usually flats) or a free-hold property. There are lots more things I need to learn but even having a vague idea helps.

Saving Strategies

There are so many schemes out there for first time buyers. I'd recommend doing some research and then making a choice about the type of scheme you want to go for. There are some where you can add a government loan to your mortgage, and others where the government will give you a quarter of what you are saving when you buy the house. There will be a right one and a wrong one so everyone, so do you research!

Look into your mortgage

Despite being a little way off yet, I know how much of a mortgage I am likely to get from a few different places. I think this is important because it cements a goal of saving. Even though you will have a rough idea anyway, this will help you to realise your budget for buying a house - which in turn will help you have an idea of places you can afford i.e where I live absolutely nowhere!

These are most practical tips about preparing yourself to buy the house, although you'll probably want to find a blog post about the actual process as I haven't done this yet of course. I'd love to read some more posts about this so if you have one please link it to me.

What advice would you give to someone either saving for, or buying, a house?