Screen Saver
Walworth is near central London, south of the Thames, offers a variety of property types, and is not expensive.
Young and cool: Start hunting by visiting internet sites.
Old-fashioned: ogle property particulars in estate-agent windows.
Supercool: do both.
Put or Get it in Writing I
When you identify the area - preferably, areas - you are interested in and can afford, register with several agents in each location. Tell them your requirements: price range, kind of area, what characteristics the property must have (near a school, for example, or have a south-facing garden or off-street parking), and what it must not have (not near a school, for example, or busy road). Some property experts suggest that you list your preferences on a sheet of paper and give it to all of the agents you are working with.
Put or Get it in Writing II
Make a similar list of your list of likes and dislikes, your must-haves and don't-wants, for your own use when viewing. Use a scoring system for each property you view, and give a grade for each quality.
Put it in Writing III
Consider writing at least two kinds of documents: casual and formal. Use your casual notes as reminders for yourself of important facts or statements or promises. Especially if you view many properties, the volume of information will need managing. And if, for example, one of those promises is important, confirm it in writing (email if not an actual letter) with the individual making the promise. If the buyer in this Diary had written to his surveyor that the survey would be conducted in the buyer's presence, the surveyor might actually have stuck to his agreement.
(stumbling toward completion)
A first-time buyer with a limited budget, Lesley (real name, true story) would have loved a house with garden but, being realistic, thought that she could afford only a flat. Local estate agents agreed.
She saw flats, lots of them. Most were pokey conversions with small shared gardens. She viewed many, and not a single one grabbed her - until her companion happened to notice a set of particulars at the bottom of the display.
The price was right; the property was a house with garden. Lesley arranged a viewing, and was instantly charmed by the clean compact two-storey house with secure garden. She offered the asking price, and the seller accepted.
Instead of a flat, she bought a house. Instead of a shared garden, she has her own garden. Instead of neighbours above, below and to the side, she has neighbours only to the side. Instead of a lease, she owns the freehold outright.
Thinking that houses would be out of her price bracket, Lesley had specified only flats - and the estate agents complied. Without realising it, she and her agents had been limiting her choices.
Danger Zones
It really is a jungle out there: smooth-talking salesmen; vanishing vendors or solicitors; mortgage mayhem. For a taste of what might await you, read Diary of a First-Time Housebuyer.
Own Worst Enemy
A problematic chain or incompetent or dishonest agent or surveyor or solicitor can do plenty of damage to your property quest. Often, however, we are our own worst enemy, buying a property we really can't afford, or wasting time, money or energy viewing - and re-viewing - inappropriate or unaffordable flats and houses.
Don't exchange contracts—don't sign on the dotted line—until you are sure that you can afford the property. And if you have doubts or questions (either about the property itself or the area or other factor), don't exchange contracts until you have resolved your doubts and received satisfactory answers to your questions.
Be Cautious with Cheap and Cheerful Hi-Rise Flats
Ex-council flats in high-rise buildings can be very tempting indeed: attractively priced and, if located on an upper storey, offering panoramic views. But such properties can be hard, even impossible, to mortgage. Even if you can afford to buy one and obtain a mortgage, you may have difficulty selling it. Sound legal advice is essential.
Ex-Council: Blessing or Bedlam?
By being more affordable, ex-council flats and houses have enabled many people to happily, successfully get onto the property ladder in the first place, or obtain a larger house than they otherwise could afford. However, in a market downturn, ex-council properties tend to lose more value, and lose it sooner, than traditionally private homes.
Remember, too, that an ex-council property that is attractive today can change its spots tomorrow. If an ex-council property is part of a block or estate that still has council properties, neighbours-from-hell could be installed in one or more units near yours.
An ex-council property can be a genuine godsend, but you must research the property and the area carefully before you buy one.
Government-sponsored financial help
Home ownership schemes A new HomeBuy scheme replaces the old Voluntary Purchase Grant Scheme, Homebuy and Conventional Shared Ownership. The site also has information on key worker housing. There is also a First Time Buyers’ Initiative (FTBI), with sites providing a buyer's guide and, from English Partnerships, general information.
Buying With a Friend
Buying with a friend is one way onto the property ladder. However, make sure your co-buyer has a good credit rating. Good arrangements, and good relationships, can quickly sour: when one of the parties inherits big money, for example, or gets seriously involved in a romantic relationship. Legal advice and written agreements may be advisable, certainly if one of the parties is putting up more money than the other.
Affordable London
If you are a first-timer hunting for a home in pricey London, this reprint - Capital Gains for First-Timers in The Independent on Sunday (September 2006) - identifies some affordable areas.