And so it begins....

Today was our second visit to the show apartment.  I still loved it as much as I did on our first visit.  Possibly even more.  We spent an age looking around, in cupboards, measuring rooms and furniture.  The ladies form Taylor Wimpey left us to it, which was great.  It felt a lot more relaxed and gave us the opportunity to really take things in.

I hadn't changed my mind about the apartment, and started the meeting by bombarding the TW ladies with the questions I had compiled from the day before.  She must have thought I was crazy, but I needed to know the answers.  To be fair, she answered them all and it did make me feel better.  There was not much left for J and I to discuss after this point.  He knew that I wanted to proceed with the reservation, and I knew he felt the same, and so we put down our £500 deposit.

But it is not as simple as just reserving the plot.  Due to the fact that we are going through the 'Help to Buy' scheme, we have to apply to be accepted.  Another selection of loopholes to jump through!  TW gave us a rather fab folder to help us schedule and organise, and assured us that we would get some help with the 'Help to Buy' application from someone at Xact Mortgages.  We just need to wait for that call so we can get the next ball rolling.

Questions!

So, all I have done today is research buying a brand new property online.  There seems to be a lot of negativity about buying a new build, which frightens me a little, and a whole load of shit being thrown an Taylor Wimpey.  I can't find anything that mentions the Diglis development in particular, so I will take that as a positive.  Many people advise against buying off plan, but what else can you do when you cannot afford anything else?  The only reason that we can buy this beauty is because of the money we are "borrowing" from the government.  At this time this only applies to new builds, so we have to take what we can get.

I have a huge list of questions to ask when we go for our second visit tomorrow.  Questions about completion, snagging (a new term I learnt today!), warranties, EPCs, and flooding.  Flooding is a big problem here in Worcester and the apartment will be approximately 25 meters from the river bank.  And not just any river; a river with the second largest tidal surge in the world.  The River Severn. 

I am worried.  I have never even thought about buying a house before, never mind one that is just a brick shell.  But I am excited about going back and seeing the show apartment again tomorrow and making sure that it is as nice as I think it was last week.  So much has happened in the last week!

Whilst wasting a bit of time this afternoon at work, I started looking at some other options around the city.  There are very few 'Help to Buy' properties in the city.  There are a few in the surrounding areas, but they are not really an option as I still choose not to drive. So I had a look around the web for shard ownership properties.  This is something that J is keen on, but I have reservations.  It just seems like hard work to pay for a mortgage and for rent on the remainder of the property.

I found a few properties that looked like possibilities, and I started to chat to the guy who sits opposite me.  He used to work for the council, and asked where the potential properties are located.  When I told him, he physically baulked!  Apparently, two of the properties are located on a street which is notorious for it's crime problems.  A big no-no then!

It seems that our options are very limited due to our financial commitments.  There has been much discussion about if we are ready, both financially and otherwise, and if we should wait.  If we wait and try and save more, house prices will keep going up, and we will need a bigger deposit and bigger mortgage.  Should we stretch ourselves and try and get on the elusive housing ladder? Decisions!

Moving On

Just six short days since the bomb dropped, we get another email from the letting agent, asking us if we have made a decision.  Of course, we have thought of nothing else since last Tuesday.  We have gone over and over our finances and what mortgage options are available to two below average salary earners.  Not enough for a deposit, and not enough earnings for the mortgage needed.

I left it a day before making the letting agent know that it would have to be a no.  To be fair to them, they were very understanding and went through our options with me at length.  It was my understanding that the apartment could not go on the market until we reached the last two months of our tenancy, but that is not the case.  It can go on the market, but we can refuse to allow anyone in to view until we get to that stage.  My initial reaction is to say "I don't want anyone in my home.  The owner can wait until August", but where would that have gotten us?

Our idea is to try and stay in the apartment for as long as possible.  We have until the beginning of October, but have the option to remain past this date on a periodic tenancy.  This works well for us as we are actually considering buying the property we saw (or didn't see) on Sunday!  Crazy, I know, but it's what we want.

After much discussion with a mortgage advisor (thankfully, J works in a bank) and an evaluation of our savings, we can just about scrape together enough to buy the apartment.  This is with the government backed 20% equity loan from Help To Buy, but the apartment would be ours.  I spoke with Taylor Wimpey again and have arranged to go and see the show apartment again on Sunday to have a better look, take measurements and ask questions.  An put down our reservation fee if all goes well!!

Our New Home??

Today was the day that J and I would view our very first property to buy.  I fell in love, but I am afraid that I am going to have my heart broken.  The show apartment was beautiful.  I know that they always make the show apartment look as good as possible, but it is everything that I am looking for.  Beautiful kitchen, two great looking bathrooms, just lovely.  After looking around the apartment, and having a chat with the Taylor Wimpey staff, we went to take a look at the development and the actual plot we are looking at buying.  It's just a shell!! Just the ground floor and first floor built at the moment, with an expected completion date of January/February next year.

J is being a realist.  He does not think that we can do it, being slightly short of the deposit (5%) and not sure of how much money we can actually borrow.  We spent ages on a bench outside the show apartment talking, sulking (me) and crooning over the lovely setting.  I want it, and I always get what I want.

Idea!

All J and I did last night was talk about what happened yesterday.  Going over and over our options.  The reality is that we cannot to afford to buy the apartment we are currently living in.  Realistically, looking at what our buying options are, we are very limited.  Browsing rightmove.co.uk, there are places that are within our price range, but are not where you would want to live.  Plus, we really do not have enough to match the 10%-15% deposit needed by the bank.

Something that did catch my eye is the new schemes that are being run by the government.  I hate the idea of shared ownership, but J is keen.  I am more interested in the Help To Buy scheme on offer, and in a fit of excitement, I booked an appointment to view a brand new property in an area I have wanted to live since returning to the UK in 2010;  Diglis.  

Seeing a "Help To Buy" sign attached to lamppost whilst on the bus yesterday, led me to look into our local options, and at work today I just though "bugger it!" and booked an appointment for Sunday.  I have no idea what to expect.  Taylor Wimpey, who own and build the development, were quick to call me back after I booked online, and made me feel at ease.  The only problem - we couldn't move in until the New Year.  A bit of an issue when our tenancy ends in October!

Anyway, we are going to have a gander at this place on Sunday.  I am excited, nervous, and apprehensive at the idea of buying a house (or a flat in this case), but I am keeping an eye on the rental market, just in case. 

The Beginning

Where shall I start? My husband and I rent a beautiful 2-bedroomed apartment, close to Worcester city centre.  We moved in on 2nd April 2012 after a brief viewing where we fell in love with it an decided that it was the perfect place call home. Things were going swimmingly until a few months ago when the owner started to come around with various estate agents for valuations.  There was much denial on his part that he was going to sell, but my husband and I were both convinced that there was more to this than either he, or the letting agent were willing to tell.

Last week (3rd June) J, my husband, received a call out of the blue from a local estate agents, stating that they wanted to come around the next day to take pictures and measurements.  It was only at this point did our letting agent admit to us that the owner had wanted to sell to another investor who owns other properties in our building, and as far as they were aware, that was still happening.

Well, today the bomb dropped.  An email landed in my inbox at 13:09 confirming what we already knew; the owner was selling the apartment.  I was devastated.  I knew that we wouldn't live here forever, but I wanted at least another year before even thinking about moving.  The email went on to discuss the option of us buying the apartment at a reduced price, and what our options will be in regards to continuing with our tenancy.  After forwarding the email to J to break the news, I immediately hit the web to look at mortgage calculators (can we afford to stay?) and rental properties in the area (a much more likely option).

So now I am at home, waiting for J to come home so we can discuss our options.  The thought of moving again so soon is just depressing, and house hunting, overwhelming.