Finance For House Buying

At what point should I have my finances in place?

You should have your finances in place before you even start looking at a property. You have to understand that the best properties may have competition for that purchase, and therefore you need to be at the front of the queue. The only way to do that is to be able to show your estate agent that you've got a mortgage offering and principal agreed already.

Should I pay a deposit?

With finance for house buying, on the exchange of the contract when you purchase a property, you will pay a five or a ten percent deposit. At this stage the deal becomes irrevocable. Some estate agents, however, will try and encourage you to pay some sort of nonrefundable deposit when you're making an offer to buy a property. I'm not a believer in these nonrefundable deposits at all; I think they slow down the process, so I'd avoid them.

What if my finance falls though at the last minute?

With finance for house buying, if your finance falls through at the last minute, this illustrates just how important having your finance in place is. It's the most longwinded part of the process, and if the finance falls through at the last minute, it's going to take you about a month to get it the finance up and running again. During this time, I'm afraid there will now be other buyers in the property queue, with some jumping ahead of you because your finances fell through.