Bedrooms.

Tools - small crow bar, flat head screw driver, floor scrapper, Stanley knife, dust mask and glove.

Karcher vacuum cleaner (designed for renos and very powerful), white spirit, steam mop and 80mm wood paintbrushes

As the rooms are big, I used the stanley knife to cut the carpets into strips. To make it easy to roll up and chuck out the window rather than carry down the stairs.

There are carpet grippers all round the walls that had to be carefully removed without damaging the wood. All full of tiny nails too grr

Bed back in!

2 more bedrooms to go! Then I will tackle the breakfast room and kitchen next weekend.

Total costs so far - 2 Saturdays, 1 Thursday and £180.

Ticha:
Stair lift. We also found an older stair lift mechanism behind the wall and under the stairs. Leaving that for the builders before I damage my walls

I swear this looks like my mother in law's house..down to carpets😀😀

shaybebaby:

I swear this looks like my mother in law's house..down to carpets😀😀

Ancestor’s mother still alive? 🤔

Ticha:
Stair lift. We also found an older stair lift mechanism behind the wall and under the stairs. Leaving that for the builders before I damage my walls

Are you keeping the stairlift....... It might come in handy, much sooner than later....... 😉😂😁

Ticha:
Self renovation begins. The house needs dragging into the 21st century.

It was last renovated in 1974! Every single room is carpeted including bathrooms and toilets 🤢🤢

We thoroughly vacuumed the house and I started with the upstairs toilet. Husbot stayed away as he's asthmatic. The underlay all crumbled to dust once moved.

This is some crazy shitt. Omo, people are trying o 🤢 🤮

Lexusgs430:


Are you keeping the stairlift....... It might come in handy, much sooner than later....... 😉😂😁

🤣🤣 sold it for £250 already! The extension will take care of my old aged wobbly self.

shaybebaby:

I swear this looks like my mother in law's house..down to carpets😀😀

🤣🤣 chai those are very old carpets!

Ticha:


🤣🤣 chai those are very old carpets!

It is truly giving 1970's chic😅

But for real, I am following gidigba! I love watching the transformation of doer uppers so thank you for sharing.

And well done. I was amazed at how the wooden floors came to life after the sanding and varnishing. But I have questions.

What is scope of the work that you will be doing?

How much of it are you DIYing?

Will you be knocking through some rooms? ( I'm looking at the upstairs toilet 👀👀)

Don't keep us hanging oooo. I'm already primed for Ticha's homes made perfect, episode 2..hopefully airing next Sunday.😃😃😃

shaybebaby:

It is truly giving 1970's chic😅

But I have questions.

I can’t stop marvelling at the floors 😍. I first used matt varnish (tested on toilet) and it looked a bit meh. The gloss varnish was like magic! 3 coats applied every 2 hours and 24 hours later, bone dry and beautiful! Everyone now has indoor cosy slippers cos I’m not ever carpeting those floors!


What is scope of the work that you will be doing?

Whole house – full re-wire. Our meter and fuse box is not only metal but is also dated 1923! The boiler is about 36 years old – still going!

1. All rooms back to brick, re-plastering and painting and decorating. Keeping all the character so will need to carefully remove coving and picture rails

2. Bathroom is huge so will be reduced and the space added to the smallest bedroom. The toilet will be removed too, and the space added to the smallest bedroom too. It’s currently about 7m (all the rest are 13 to 16m) and will be just under 12m when finished. So 2 walls will be moved. 1 is a load bearing wall so will need an RSJ

3. Dressing room will be converted to 2nd bathroom upstairs.

4. Loft to be fully boarded and insulated

5. Your lovely stairs carpet will go! 🤣

Downstairs

1. Sunroom will be demolished and rebuilt in the same shape and style. It’s hexagonal in shape with some serious issues – it’s coming away from the main house.

2. Kitchen and breakfast room will be merged into a large kitchen diner so wall coming down there too.

3. All walls back to brick - re-plastered, painted and decorated.

Again, there are lots and lots of character which we will retain. We have 3 ceiling roses downstairs and the whole hallway is panelled in dark wood. Will repaint a very light green or dusky pink.

4. Conservatory and outside toilet/laundry to be demolished and made into a glass hallway with a roof lantern which will be both a sit in (out) area and lead to;

5. Stables - which will be completely demolished and made into a full brick built extension. In here, we will have a large study with 2 full workstations (hubby and I both work from home majority of the time), a games room/ guest bedroom with an ensuite and a 2-bedroom annex for when my MIL moves in. In the meantime, we will Airbnb/ house swap the annexe till she comes. When the kids move out, we will essentially have 2 annexes as the study and games room will have a connecting door so one can become a lounge, kitchen diner and I can then retire 🤣🤣

We are thinking about a double storey extension across the back but 2 things holding us back – the main house will become too big and come in 7/8 years time, we maybe rattling in it once the kids are gone! However, I will be leaving this house feet first so have at least 30 – 40 years of living here if I live to my 80s! Secondly, it’ll mean we can only have one annexe.

We want to future proof the house so when we’re old and decrepit, we can move into the annexe as it’ll all be one level. Na my nursing home be that 🤣

How much of it are you DIYing?

As much as I can. Certainly, majority of the rip out and demolishing. We were quoted £800 for ripping out what we’ve done so far! We will also be re-using as much as we can so all the floorboards, doors (I will sand, stain and paint then rehang them) etc

Anything that does not need a specialist, I will attempt to do! I’ve enrolled for a plumbing course at our local college. Sept start!

Anything that makes it a liveable space for the next 7/8/9 months as the full external and internal reno will start March next year so we’re not renovating in the winter plus we need to build up more financial resources!


Don't keep us hanging oooo. I'm already primed for Ticha's homes made perfect, episode 2..hopefully airing next Sunday.

This is an 18-24 months project o. We’ll probably build the annexe first as we need planning permission for that. Then squeeze ourselves in there whilst renovating the main house. I promise to give updates as we go along!

Full meter shebang - re-wiring has been quoted at £11k. Abi make I go do electrician instead? 🤪🤪

Ticha:
Full meter shebang - re-wiring has been quoted at £11k. Abi make I go do electrician instead? 🤪🤪

Hehe... no be small work get u. Kudos

All this skill no suppose finish for one house. After building a capable team, you may as well leverage the knowledge into doer-uppers.

MayCar:



Thank you, they did give me the option of treating each person as a giftor but the requirements is too much. Just wondering if u could just change solicitors at this point

What requirements do they need from each person?

If you're looking at a really big sum, chances are you might run into thesame issue with another solicitor. Also, you might already have incured some bills with your current solicitor. Worth asking or looking around to see if you encounter people who got a reasonably different approach by switching solicitors.

jedisco:


What requirements do they need from each person?

If you're looking at a really big sum, chances are you might run into thesame issue with another solicitor. Also, you might already have incured some bills with your current solicitor. Worth asking or looking around to see if you encounter people who got a reasonably different approach by switching solicitors.

Thanks for the advise, on the long run, they realize without the money in question, the amount in the account is enough so they just let it go, thankfully

MayCar:


Thanks for the advise, on the long run, they realize without the money in question, the amount in the account is enough so they just let it go, thankfully

Kudos! Remember to come and testify once completed

Lexusgs430:


You don't need this policy...... You would get more value from an income protection insurance or life insurance policy..........

Chief, sorry to bring up an old post but what do you think about critical illness cover as part of the life insurance (intended primarily to cover a mortgage)?

We're definitely getting LI, but broker has suggested everything including income protection, CIC, life insurance (decreasing) so I'm trying to figure out what's essential.

We're also almost certainly getting CIC as well but trying to figure out if it should be separate from the life insurance or additional.

We're both well (me less so haha) under 30 and in the public sector for now so I think overall chances of needing income protection is very low but I don't want to be penny-wise, pound foolish.

Any insights welcome, please.

Goodenoch:


We're definitely getting LI, but broker has suggested everything including income protection, CIC, life insurance (decreasing)

Any insights welcome, please.

Broker is trying to make his money. From experience, most insurances cancel each other out because insurance companies will do everything not to pay out. So having seemingly useful (on the surface) multi insurance packages will just bleed you money.

Pick one and stick with it.

Before we had kids, we only took life and critical illness insurance as we travelled all the time. Only to find out when we started IVF that if critical illness paid out, the life insurance premiums will drastically increase 🙄

Husbot has a very generous death in service which gets more generous with each year of service so we now have no insurance for him and life insurance for me.

To throw a spanner in the works, you don't really need any of the insurances full stop. You can just save that money into stocks and shares till you need it.

Broker is trying to earn a commission so ignore him completely and think about what will meet your needs now and in the near future.

Ticha:


Broker is trying to make his money. From experience, most insurances cancel each other out because insurance companies will do everything not to pay out. So having seemingly useful (on the surface) multi insurance packages will just bleed you money.

Pick one and stick with it.

Before we had kids, we only took life and critical illness insurance as we travelled all the time. Only to find out when we started IVF that if critical illness paid out, the life insurance premiums will drastically increase 🙄

Husbot has a very generous death in service which gets more generous with each year of service so we now have no insurance for him and life insurance for me.

To throw a spanner in the works, you don't really need any of the insurances full stop. You can just save that money into stocks and shares till you need it.

Broker is trying to earn a commission so ignore him completely and think about what will meet your needs now and in the near future.

For death in service benefits, I thought the person has to kpai during a work assignment (at office or in the field), does it cover you if you at home chilling on a Saturday or God forbid suffer critical illness? because wifey and I work for a great company and have not gone through the policy yet. Just wondering out loud, if I need any of the covers.

Jamesclooney:


For death in service benefits, I thought the person has to kpai during a work assignment (at office or in the field), does it cover you if you at home chilling on a Saturday or God forbid suffer critical illness? because wifey and I work for a great company and have not gone through the policy yet. Just wondering out loud, if I need any of the covers.

His covers him 24/7. It's one of the awesome perks of his job. As well as being able to work remotely from anywhere in the world (probably why it's structured that way).
It also pays out a certain amount of money till the children turn 18 if nominated as long as you have a certain amount of shares. It's an employee owned organisation.

Ticha:


Broker is trying to make his money. From experience, most insurances cancel each other out because insurance companies will do everything not to pay out. So having seemingly useful (on the surface) multi insurance packages will just bleed you money.

Pick one and stick with it.

Before we had kids, we only took life and critical illness insurance as we travelled all the time. Only to find out when we started IVF that if critical illness paid out, the life insurance premiums will drastically increase 🙄

Husbot has a very generous death in service which gets more generous with each year of service so we now have no insurance for him and life insurance for me.

To throw a spanner in the works, you don't really need any of the insurances full stop. You can just save that money into stocks and shares till you need it.

Broker is trying to earn a commission so ignore him completely and think about what will meet your needs now and in the near future.

Thanks very much @Ticha really really appreciated.

It's surprising that LI premium goes up once one claims on CIC - those insurance companies and their shenanigans to dissuade claims as much as possible sha.

Things are much clearer now. Thanks

Hi Everyone,

Apologies for the long post.

I’ve been following this thread, and I have to say, you all are amazing, especially @Lexus. Initially, I wasn't a fan of your mantra "Rent money is dead money," but now I see your point (After I calculated my rent) that na people Dey beg me not to buy house lol.

I've been in the UK for 1 year and 7 months, and I believe it’s time to start looking for a house. Last week, I found a new build for about £200k with a 5% deposit contribution from the developer, which means I need £10k instead of £20k. I called the developer to inquire, and they confirmed it's available. They ask if I almost had my 5% deposit ready and I said I only have about £5k (truthfully, I have nothing saved yet) and would need about two months to complete it. I said this so they wouldn’t think I was unserious. My plan was to raise the deposit in two months as follows:

My monthly salary is close to £4k. I have ₦10 million saved in my Nigerian account and receive about ₦1.5 million monthly from my company in Nigeria. I plan to save my UK salary for the next two months, which will give me £8k, and transfer an additional £2k from my Nigerian account. I can cover my monthly bills with funds from my naira account.

The developer asked me to speak with their mortgage advisor, who said I qualify for the house. Now, they are requesting proof of my deposit and my bank statements for the past six months. I informed the developer that I don’t have the complete deposit yet, hoping they would give me more time, but they asked me to submit the information for the £5k deposit to move forward.

Here’s my dilemma: Raising the £5k is not a problem as I will be paid my salary this week, but I’m concerned that they might question why the deposit is coming from my recent salary and start asking how I will manage my expenses. If I don’t answer them, I fear they might think I’m whining them (Nigeria in me talking) and stop responding to me later on. Dem dey my neck like anything

Any help will be appreciated.

Are they aware that you are on. Visa and still want to do 5%?

leoshadow:
Hi Everyone,

Apologies for the long post.

I’ve been following this thread, and I have to say, you all are amazing, especially @Lexus. Initially, I wasn't a fan of your mantra "Rent money is dead money," but now I see your point (After I calculated my rent) that na people Dey beg me not to buy house lol.

I've been in the UK for 1 year and 7 months, and I believe it’s time to start looking for a house. Last week, I found a new build for about £200k with a 5% deposit contribution, which means I need £10k. I called the developer to inquire, and they confirmed it's available. They ask if I almost had my 5% deposit ready and I said I only have about £5k (truthfully, I have nothing saved yet) and would need about two months to complete it. I said this so they wouldn’t think I was unserious. My plan was to raise the deposit in two months as follows:

My monthly salary is close to £4k. I have ₦10 million saved in my Nigerian account and receive about ₦1.5 million monthly from my company in Nigeria. I plan to save my UK salary for the next two months, which will give me £8k, and transfer an additional £2k from my Nigerian account. I can cover my monthly bills with funds from my naira account.

The developer asked me to speak with their mortgage advisor, who said I qualify for the house. Now, they are requesting proof of my deposit and my bank statements for the past six months. I informed the developer that I don’t have the complete deposit yet, hoping they would give me more time, but they asked me to submit the information for the £5k deposit to move forward.

Here’s my dilemma: Raising the £5k is not a problem as I will be paid my salary this week, but I’m concerned that they might question why the deposit is coming from my recent salary and start asking how I will manage my expenses. If I don’t answer them, I fear they might think I’m whining them (Nigeria in me talking) and stop responding to me later on. Dem dey my neck like anything

Any help will be appreciated.

mex551:
Are they aware that you are on. Visa and still want to do 5%?

It's actually 10%, but I only need to provide 5% since the developer will contribute the remaining 5%.

leoshadow:
Hi Everyone,

Apologies for the long post.

I’ve been following this thread, and I have to say, you all are amazing, especially @Lexus. Initially, I wasn't a fan of your mantra "Rent money is dead money," but now I see your point (After I calculated my rent) that na people Dey beg me not to buy house lol.


Any help will be appreciated.

Hmmm... Do you have a matured LISA? That would have made this really easy as it was my case. I just moved most of my salary to my LISA and my wife's and showed the LISA as proof of deposit.

Know this: the Mortgage Advisor isn't trying to trap you or make you lose the house. It's the opposite. You can actually be open with them: "I have savings and income from my home Country but don't want to use that to complicate this Mortgage Application so I'd like to use my Salary for the next few months to raise the deposit while I live off my Nigerian income and savings".

I have a feeling the Mortgage Advisor would even want to delay application till you're 2 years in the UK so they have more lenders willing to lend on a 90% LTV. So you don't have much of a problem.

That Developer would most likely still have houses in a few months so take your time and do it right.

Solumtoya:


Hmmm... Do you have a matured LISA? That would have made this really easy as it was my case. I just moved most of my salary to my LISA and my wife's and showed the LISA as proof of deposit.

Know this: the Mortgage Advisor isn't trying to trap you or make you lose the house. It's the opposite. You can actually be open with them: "I have savings and income from my home Country but don't want to use that to complicate this Mortgage Application so I'd like to use my Salary for the next few months to raise the deposit while I live off my Nigerian income and savings".

I have a feeling the Mortgage Advisor would even want to delay application till you're 2 years in the UK so they have more lenders willing to lend on a 90% LTV. So you don't have much of a problem.

That Developer would most likely still have houses in a few months so take your time and do it right.

Thank you for this. I will call the mortgage advisor and explain.

leoshadow:
Hi Everyone,

Apologies for the long post.

....

It's unclear from your post if you're single or married (with kids), the current cost of rent and what region of the country you are in as all these would affect advice given and decision making.

Your main advantage is that you have a good financial base and you're a first time buyer.

It appears you have only started looking. I'd say it's worth not being in too much of a hurry except your rent is quite high that'd it'd prevent you from saving or other individual issues. As a first time buyer, you have upto 450k before paying stamp duty which is worth maximising to the best of your ability.

What you're able to borrow is largely based off your gross wage. It'sunclear if your 4k is net or gross, but your annual gross multiplied by 4.5 gives you a general idea of what most banks would lend +/-.

Giving yourself a one year time frame could give you certain advantages

1st, you can bring over the 10 mil and chuck it in a LISA
2nd, a LISA opened today, could afford you 2k in govt rebate in a years time. All you have to do is chuck 4k this yr and another by next April.
3rd- you can hypersave for the next 12 months to build a deposit. Chucking another 16k into an easy access cash isa at good rate should yield another grand at least tax free.
4th. Most banks would ask for 6 months of accounts hence your 10 mil brought over now should not even be on the radar in 1 yr.
5. In 1yr, you have the potential to have 50k ish in deposit. That could afford you 2 things- a lower LTV with hence reduced interest payments or a better house. I'd go for the latter. A nice 3-4 bed detached in most parts of the south would be north of 300k. Good base now and if you come to sell in future, going for a nice property now would count.
6th- That one year can afford you time to really decide on what town and what part of that town you want to buy. Consider closeness to transport links, good schools e.t.c. which is something many immigrants tend to overlook initially. In every town, some areas would always be more expensive than others.

The downside is that property prices may rise. With no one knowing the future, I'd say any potential rise is less likely to be steep over the next year. Even if it is, the potential benefits should outweigh risks.

I have a couple of questions. Please help a brother 🙏🏿

1. If I'm buying a house in an onward chain, and all contracts are signed. My question is: When do mortgage payments start? Is it right away, or when I move in? This is especially confusing especially if the current owners haven't found a new home yet.In this case, who pays the mortgage if they're still living there after the sale closes?

2. For those who recently bought a home within the £300k mark, what is your monthly mortgage payment? I understand interest rates vary by lender, but I'm curious about actual figures people are paying, not estimates on Zoopla (which I've heard can be inaccurate).

kwakudtraveller:
I have a couple of questions. Please help a brother 🙏🏿

1. If I'm buying a house in an onward chain, and all contracts are signed. My question is: When do mortgage payments start? Is it right away, or when I move in? This is especially confusing especially if the current owners haven't found a new home yet.In this case, who pays the mortgage if they're still living there after the sale closes?

2. For those who recently bought a home within the £300k mark, what is your monthly mortgage payment? I understand interest rates vary by lender, but I'm curious about actual figures people are paying, not estimates on Zoopla (which I've heard can be inaccurate).

Cannot answer 1 but for 2, it's not the property size that matters primarily - it's the loan size, so based on your deposit. Anyway, for a loan of 289, it's ¬1660 at 4.87% (5 year fix), so for a property of 300 with 10% deposit and so a 270k loan, it should be around 1550.

Ticha:


1. Check the rules in your area. Parts of Wales (Cardiff especially and the Valleys), Scotland (Glasgow, Edinburgh), Cornwall, Devon and London have a ban on short term lets in varying degrees. You will even need planning permission in certain areas which takes months and some serious dosh spent to get. Neighbours will rat you out so ensure you have your Ts crossed!
2. It can be a rented property but make sure you have clearance from the landlord and in writing where possible. A normal BTL mortgage expressly forbids using the property as a short let or as a residential property. Some landlords don’t care and some do – so be upfront with the landlord so they can decide for themselves if they’re happy for you to run a short let
3. It can be your own property but a. if you have bought with a residential mortgage, you will be breaching the terms (na who know go open ya yansh). If you have bought with a specialist short term let mortgage, then you will be breaching the terms by living there as well. Some lenders (Halifax for example) offer a residential mortgage where you can also use the house for short lets for short periods of time thus allowing people to rent out their homes when they go on holiday etc rather than as a proper business.
4. Interest rates for short term let mortgages are way higher than regular BTL or residential interest rates. Deposits are also higher -most lenders want between 35-50% deposit. Most lenders class it as commercial lending so the mortgage term is usually also short (between 10 to 15 years max)
5. To be profitable, you may have to be in locations that may not really be family friendly – city centres, near airports or event centres, touristy areas. These areas will also have competition, so you then have to spend money to up your game. Luxury does not usually equal profit
6. If you live in the house and run STL from it, you will benefit from the government rent a room tax free scheme.
7. People are less likely to misbehave and be shady if you live there and just rent out rooms but then you’re sharing bathrooms, toilets, kitchens and shared spaces with strangers daily – think of family safety.

Pitfalls
1. You need to either have a good cleaning crew or be open to spending a good chunk of your time on cleaning otherwise the reviews will kill your business pretty quickly
2. Location, location, location is key – which again ties into the above
3. Most residential flats expressly prohibit short term lets and where they allow it, other flats will also be STLs so there will be competition.
4. On average, you need to be booked for at least 20 days every month to break even. Expenses to think about off the bat - all the house bills are paid by you, updating furniture and fittings as the wear and tear is a lot higher, higher cleaning expenditure, fees to booking platforms (Airbnb takes an average of 18% of all bookings, booking.com takes 15%, VRBO takes 15%), linen and laundry costs (at every booking), providing and replacing toiletries and tea stuff then rent or mortgage.
5. You are not guaranteed a booking. People will cancel last minute. You will have to reduce prices to keep it competitive. There will be down periods – usually December to March that your expenses will keep running when your bookings are down.
6. The booking portals can shut you down at any time and sometimes for frivolous reasons. Airbnb is very good at this. They can also withhold payments to you and refund customers without your approval and there’ll be nothing you can do about it.
7. Neighbours will intensely dislike you – guests are not usually very considerate. They will park anyhow, party, thrash the property, make noise and you will be called out to break up issues.
8. It can easily become a full time job without the commensurate full time pay unless you outsource it and then that eats into your profits.
9. Reviews even when malicious can make or break you.

We turned our family home into an Airbnb when we first left the UK. We restricted bookings to a minimum of 3 nights. It was a larger home (5 bedroom) and could sleep 12 people, so we got large bookings and were able to charge accordingly (£300 a night and fixed so if it was 1 person or 12 people, you paid the same price. Otherwise, people book for 2/3 and sneak the reast in)

2 bookings was break even for us. So we aimed for a min of 3 bookings a month. Even though we didn’t target tourists (it was near a military base, close to a motorway, a speedway and a nuclear power plant), Nov to March was absolutely brutal! So, we targeted contractors and track racers, those would wake, head off to work, come back, drink, sleep and repeat and they were filthy! OMG! The cleaner always had to take rubbish to the tip -which cost money as well.
Christmas and NY were always booked so we often upped the charge for that time to cover us till March. There is a large number of retirees (67% of the population of the town) so their families would book and stay at ours when they came to see, visit or bury their family member.

There’s was always something to be repaired after every booking. People would put the heating on in the summer and just leave it on all day. Our cleaner lived 2 doors away and would hand over keys so they knew she was nearby, people still tried to have parties, sneak people in, hide broken stuff.

Guests will message at all hours of the day for basic things even when we had a comprehensive house manual detailing every single thing. I can’t find the thermostat for the heating – it’s on the wall by the controls. The lights won’t dim – use the dimmer nau! I’ve forgotten the pin to get in (it’s always the last 4 digits of the booking person’s phone number and they can change the guest one to any 4-digit number), I’ve locked myself out (just use the 4-digit pin that you set! It’s a digital lock o! I can unlock remotely but still!), your spoons are not shiny enough, could you please buy round pasta bowls? Can you get me cots? My baby will only sleep in a cot (we don’t provide cots and it’s detailed in our listing and the booking rules), your bedsheets are not Egyptian cotton, I only sleep on cotton sheets – ogbeni carry your favourite sheets follow body o
You will have your customer service face and voice on 24/7. Knowing what I know now, I’ll take Mon- Fri lodgers over short term let guests if I am not doing it full time.

PS - You can check prices and availability in your given area by checking calendars of hosts on Airbnb or VRBO by month (booked dates will be greyed out), open dates will show prices. Play round with weeks (7 days discounts), months (long term booking discount), check how lax their rules are - strictly no refunds or usually means bookings are generally slow. It is more difficult to do that on booking.com so to check viability for booking.com, use the search function and check which cheap hotel chains are in the area - Travel lodge etc as those will be your direct competition

Madam Ticha, thanks for this evergreen insights.

Please, based on your experience doing airbnb and also longer term rentals of part of a home, which would you say you had a better experience with and which would you do now? Also, any issues you'd be more wary of - especially the long term rentals since you've covered airbnb pitfalls here.

Looking at converting a garage/extension into a separate self-contained studio flat so trying to figure out which route may be best.

Thanks!

Goodenoch:


Cannot answer 1 but for 2, it's not the property size that matters primarily - it's the loan size, so based on your deposit. Anyway, for a loan of 289, it's ¬1660 at 4.87% (5 year fix), so for a property of 300 with 10% deposit and so a 270k loan, it should be around 1550.

Thank you, this calculation makes sense. That means if in 5 years, the interest rate goes up by like 3%. I’d be paying more monthly. Hmmm thanks

kwakudtraveller:
I have a couple of questions. Please help a brother 🙏🏿

1. If I'm buying a house in an onward chain, and all contracts are signed. My question is: When do mortgage payments start? Is it right away, or when I move in? This is especially confusing especially if the current owners haven't found a new home yet.In this case, who pays the mortgage if they're still living there after the sale closes?

From completion date. Once monies have fully exchanges hands, you become liable for the mortgage. Most lenders have set dates that the mortgage goes out so your first payment will be higher than usual. Then it was settle into the monthly payments.

For example, we moved in 22nd June, Santander takes payment on the 1st of the month so our June payment has been pro rated and added to July payment. Our first payment date is 1 Aug.

Make sure your home insurance is also set up correctly. Santander, Natwest and Nationwide (where we have mortgages) expect your insurance in place from completion date. We once had a mortgage with Accord who expected us to have insurance from the exchange date.