Adam's Story
After we got married, Sally and I felt the next thing was to buy a house. We did it because we could. And thanks to the price of housing, there are lots of people who aren't in a position to say that. We see the house as a family home, in that I hope our family starts there, although we know one day we'll move on. The house we found was the second or third we looked at and we fell in love with it. We saw it needed improving, but we were prepared to tackle that, and didn't let it overshadow the sale or worse, we didn't blind ourselves to it because we wanted the house.
Adam's thoughts
We used an Independent Financial Advisor (IFA) who we didn't have to pay for, as they received a commission on the mortgage we bought through them. Although there's the risk that they simply sell you the product which earns them the most, I did extra research afterwards and I know this didn't happen to us.
The house needed a lot of work done to it once we moved in. It's something you have to factor in - both the financial cost and the time and disruption it takes.
One tip I'd suggest - research all the mortgages you can and even if you use an IFA, which I'd recommend, at least you have a working knowledge of the deals that are out there
