National law firm, Stephensons Solicitors LLP, has created a guide of top tips for first time buyers.
The award-winning residential conveyancing team at Stephensons has many years of experience in helping first time home buyers. The guide, which is available via the firm’s website, www.stephensons.co.uk, provides ten tips to help smooth the process of searching for and buying a home, and offers guidance on instructing the experts after the sale of a house is agreed.
Since the introduction of more stringent guidelines for mortgage affordability which came into force in April, coupled with the steady increase in house prices, any first time buyers are turning their backs on the property market. According to the National Association of Estate Agents first time buyers between the ages of 18 and 30 made up only 3% of house sales in June.
Tom Bridge, managing partner of the residential conveyancing team, said: "Buying your first house can be a very exciting yet daunting experience. There are many hurdles first time buyers encounter before they can move into their new home.
"We’ve released this guide to help make a first time buyer's purchase feel more within their control and ensure that everything goes to plan as much as possible.
"We also understand the financial strain first time buyers can encounter so we also offer 10% discount on legal fees exclusively for people purchasing their first home."
For residential conveyancing clients, Stephensons also offers a Homebuyer Plus package to protect clients in a number of events if, through no fault of their own, their house purchase was to fall through. Homebuyers Plus has reimbursed client's out of pocket expenses in a variety of situations, including being gazumped on a property, defects on the properties survey, the property being withdrawn from sale and even issues with Japanese knotweed.
Stephensons' guide for first time buyers can be viewed at: Top Tips for First Time Buyers.