Caitlin’s first home-buying journey

At TSPC, we’re passionate about sharing knowledge and expertise and always ready to answer any of your property-related questions. With decades of experience across our member firms, we’ve yet to be stumped! So, when our marketing expert Caitlin Taylor (22) purchased her first home with her boyfriend, Josh (21), we were excited to hear about their first home-buying journey – from the highs to the lows, and everything in between.

So, what led Caitlin to buy instead of rent?

“I was living with my grandparents before, but they were moving to another area to be closer to the rest of the family. I wanted to stay in Dundee because my life is here – my partner, my job and my friends.  Josh and I had been discussing buying somewhere for a while, so it felt like the natural time and, in many ways, it gave us the push we needed.  My grandparents were kind enough to gift me the deposit, and Josh had been saving in a Lifetime ISA for years, so we were in a good and fortunate position.”

Knowledge is power!

Once her grandparents sold and left their home, Caitlin moved in with Josh’s parents.

On a mission to get moving, they sourced quotes from a range of TSPC member solicitors, opting for one who had supported Caitlin’s family growing up.

Caitlin explained, “I was lucky that my TSPC grounding gave me amazing knowledge of what to expect but, when it came to the legal side, having a local solicitor made it completely transparent and clear. They were great from the get-go, explaining the process and how long the different stages might take. We also did lots of research through TSPC’s website and various social media channels. We made it our business to find out as much as we could!”

Around the same time, the couple made an appointment with a local mortgage advisor.

Caitlin added, “TSPC offers free consultations with various mortgage advisors which is brilliant when you’re trying to hold back as much money as possible. We had a rough idea of what was involved but needed expert advice to get an agreement in principle so we knew exactly how much we could afford. We wanted to go to viewings knowing what we were doing rather than just going along blind.  They were a huge help, advising us and keeping things simple.”

Setting expectations

Caitlin and Josh took a strategic approach to house-buying, nailing their exact requirements before setting foot in a property!

Caitlin continued, “It’s hard to find the perfect home on a low budget. You’ve really got to sit back and think about what you need and how you want to live going forward. You could max yourself out but have no money left to enjoy life, but that wasn’t for us. We still wanted to go on holiday, on nights out, go out for tea and so on. You’ve got to factor that in and set your priorities. The same applies to the actual property – it’s worth drawing up a list of what you need in terms of rooms but also things like parking, a place to work or outside space. You don’t get everything you want, but going in with a clear wish list helps and something I’d recommend to others.”

Viewing time!

With their vision and priorities mapped out, Caitlin and Josh got stuck into the viewing process.

Caitlin explained, “We saw around 10 to 15 properties in total. It might sound a lot, but it helped us decide what we wanted and didn’t want – it helped refine the search a bit.  At first, the natural choice was a flat, and we did find one which we put an offer on, but we didn’t get it, so that was that.  We then found an amazing house through a developer that was in our price range. It had a great garden and everything we wanted, so we went for it and put an offer in.”

So where was the ‘but?’!

The property Caitlin and Josh were set on was of non-standard construction, which can present challenges when it comes to securing a mortgage.

Caitlin explained, “We hadn’t factored it into our spending but we had to get a survey, which cost £700. When our mortgage advisor took that to our proposed lender, they said it wasn’t in-depth enough, and they’d need more information, which would cost even more. That added to our nerves and we were also concerned that we might struggle to sell it on, so we pulled out.  As much as we loved that house, it probably was a blessing in disguise.”

Onwards and upwards

Despite the financial and emotional costs of their first attempts, Caitlin and Josh dusted themselves off and continued their search. Indeed, just four days later,  they found the house that would become their first home.

Caitlin said, “We pulled out of that house on the Monday and found this on the Friday! We sent the details off to our mortgage advisor who was happy with it and went ahead and submitted our offer. At this point, having been bitten before, we were pretty nervous. Although we had saved a lot of money before we started the process, we’d already been hit by fees for the house we backed out of but thankfully, everything went according to plan. Much to our amazement, the offer was accepted that same day!”

Fast forward a few weeks and completion day arrived.

“It was amazing when the day to collect our keys finally came!  It was a much longer journey than anticipated, but well worth it.  We’ve been in just over a month and have already redecorated most of the house, with help from family and friends. We put new flooring down, installed a new cooker and hob, and are now planning to re-carpet, paint kitchen units, and fit a new bathroom. We’re lucky that Josh has lots of tradesmen friends who were up for doing homers, and we’ve found some amazing pieces of furniture on Facebay, which has saved us a fortune.”

Top tips

So, what would Caitlin’s top three tips be for first-time buyers?

1. Save as much as possible – you never know what costs are around the corner!
2. Be realistic and prepare to compromise – you won’t get everything you want
3. Consider buying pre-owned furniture and other household items, rather than new