Are you tired of renting, and are ready to take the first few steps towards becoming a homeowner? Many people seem to get stuck in the ‘rent trap’, which leads to them struggling to get themselves in a place to buy their own property. Take a look at this blog, which gives information on how to take the first few steps to become a homeowner.
Get Your Credit and Debt In Order
Boosting your credit score before looking to buy a property can put you in a much better position to buy. The higher your credit score when looking for a mortgage, the more options you will have available to you.
Make sure your credit score is up to date, and accurate to your best knowledge. If there are things that negatively affect your credit score, and can’t be removed, there is one more option. You should be able to add a 100-word statement to explain why this item is on your credit report. Adding this to your credit statement can help you, it won’t improve your credit score. However, it may help the person reviewing your credit report understand why it is there and decide accordingly.
If you have any debts that you are still paying off, aim to pay these off or at least pay these off regularly. This can benefit you when coming to applying for a mortgage, try to do this as long before applying for a mortgage as possible.
Learn About The Process Of Buying Your First Home
It is best to educate yourself before going out looking for your dream house. So many people rush to find a property before trying to understand the process. The first and most important step is to find out how much you can afford to spend on a property. If you don’t know much about the process, you are constantly going to be wasting time during the process trying to understand what’s happening.
Educating yourself beforehand can help you save for potential expenses that the process entails. Also, research to find the best-rated professionals in your area, whether this is solicitors or a mortgage broker.
Saving Your Deposit
Buying your first home is all about saving for the deposit. However, this is one of the main barriers stopping people from buying a home. Saving for a deposit, whilst still paying rent can be challenging. However, making sure you are saving in the right way can be a big help in reaching your goal sooner.
A good way to start saving is to open a savings account. There are many different types of savings accounts available. Look for one that pays good interest and takes advantage of tax breaks such as with an ISA. When looking to open an account, check how long you get paid interest for, some rates can change after having the account open for a year. Also, look at how easy it is to access the money. Sometimes if you put your money away for a longer period you may receive a higher interest rate.
Different banks will have a range of savings accounts available to their customers, below is an example of the savings accounts that Lloyds bank has to offer.
