OK, there’s no getting around the fact that buying a property and then complaining about how stressful it was is a little like saying “my money’s too heavy for my pocket” – but I like to think that I’m a pretty unflappable gal and wow, buying a property can push you to your limits.
Yes, get the violins out to accompany my story of house-buying. Reach for the tissues and solemnly say “oh, she’s really been through it” as I detail the emotional turmoil of what feels like a pipe dream for a lot of us. But look, there’s no denying that there’s potential for a lot of stress and tension to come along with the whole house-buying rigamarole – after all, it’s hard to be totally chill about parting with the largest amount of money you’ve ever had.
I found it enormously helpful to be organised to the point of being a pedant. When things got going, there were a lot of moving parts that seemed overwhelming to keep track of. But alas, keeping close track is basically the point, and this is where the magic of digital and the tradition of the retro-physical were my overly colour-coordinated saviours.
Annoyingly, a lot of moving-house-admin requires un-digitised, inked signatures and actual paperwork alongside printed receipts and documents. Getting myself to a stationery shop and picking out a shiny folder for “moving stuff” was one of the most helpful things I did, and became my most precious treasure-trove of reference and “of course I have that document to hand” smugness. It is somewhere to store floor plans, deeds, signed agreements and any other ye olde paperworke (or fun wallpaper samples) I needed to keep somewhere safe. Digitally, I thanked myself for downloading the Sortly app that let me easily document items in my home/storage/removal van, but honestly that wasn’t as exciting as the physical folder.
I bought a house with my then-partner, and one of the crucial things we did to help us get through the fandango of viewings, solicitor’s appointments, estate agent calls, paperwork deadlines and valuations (although you can do a lot of valuation work online, for example getting an instant valuation from Rightmove, or contacting local agents) was to sync our phone calendars. Phone models and calendars are all clever enough to have sharing and syncing options now, and you’ll want to thank me for the suggestion. Timelines and appointments get moved around all the blinking time, and syncing means that you and your purchasing partner will never again have the tense exchange of “but we agreed on Thursday”.
I also employed a key organisational tip that helps me out in so many other life areas: make a to-do list, and then make it even longer. This sounds counterintuitive and insane, I know, but stay with me. Looking at a to-do list that includes points such as “pack up the entire house” and “book removal company” is pretty intimidating, and will be sitting around for a while before you reach the satisfying strike-through of completion. Breaking the list down into “get quotes from three removal companies” or “pack non-essential kitchen items” makes everything smaller and more doable.
But listen, I’ve actually skipped over the really pernickety bit – the mortgage. There were so many abbreviations and jargony bits of terminology that I had get to grips with (may I suggest reading an everything guide – like these ones from Rightmove), to make sure I knew where I was sending my money and bank statements. One of them, the mortgage in principle, could actually help snag you a dream home.
It’s essentially exactly what it sounds like; a mortgage in theory. Not a confirmed, signed, sorted out and sealed mortgage, but an agreement that “yeah, you’ve got this amount of money so you could get this amount of mortgage if you wanted to buy a house, so you could get one that costs up to this”.
Clear as mud?
I know it can be a bit boring, but it’s the bit you’ve been saving up for, and the bit that might ultimately decide whether you or someone else gets to live somewhere you’ve fallen in love with. My partner and I ended up going on so many group viewings (they try to frame them as an “open house”, but it’s like a group job interview), which seemed to us like a one-up fest of being the most attractive buyer with the shiniest paperwork.
Shiny paperwork is exactly what we needed though, group viewing or not. When we did eventually find somewhere that tickled our pickles, we were able to email the agent with an offer and a mortgage in principle agreement that we’d secured just that same afternoon, because getting one is actually simple and easy – you can apply for one from Rightmove in around 20 minutes. With the market being as competitive as it is, the sellers of our new house were faced with a buffet of buyers to choose from. I like to think it was my freshly ironed blazer that clinched the deal for us, but realistically it was probably the very boring but important mortgage in principle.
Buying a property is a massive deal. What saved me in times of panic was sucking it up and asking my friends and family for help. One couple I know has moved a bunch of times and bought lots of property before, and asking for their advice about party wall agreements was invaluable. Similarly, I asked my parents to look over some mortgage paperwork – it felt a bit weak and feeble at the time, but would have felt a lot sillier if something had gone wrong and I’d been too proud to ask for help. Then there’s the online buying guide, if you have any unanswered questions.
None of us know what we’re doing when it’s our first time – heck sometimes even when it’s not – and people who’ve been through it all before love being able to show off their adult credentials.
I also found it hugely important to remember all the fun bits that were to come. In the middle of admin overload, it helped a LOT to take a breath and think of all the excitement that was ahead of us. Every time I did something super-serious, I did something fun to keep the momentum going. This varied from ordering paint samples after confirming a surveyor appointment, to celebrating an exchange date by creating moodboards of “quirky downstairs loos” and planning a theme for the housewarming party.
So yes, buying a house can be a huge administrative effort, but if you remember to look after yourself and take advantage of the tools and advice available to you, then you won’t annoy your friends with complaints about the burden of reaching a very exciting life milestone. Every email and document gets you one step closer to the keys in your hand, and fish ‘n’ chips on the living room floor.
With the UK’s largest choice of homes and helpful affordability tools, find out how Rightmove can help you make your move.
Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on a mortgage secured against it. The information and opinions provided in this article are not intended to be financial advice and should not be relied upon when making financial decisions. Please seek advice from a regulated mortgage adviser.
Rightmove Group Limited (RMG), Firm Reference No. 491645, is an Appointed Representative of Rightmove Financial Services Limited (RMFS), which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, Firm Reference No. 805415. This can be checked on the FCA register at www.fca.org.uk/register