If you're looking to buy your first home then finding the best first time buyer mortgages is likely to be one of your main priorities. Here's what to look for.
Buying a property will almost certainly be your biggest financial commitment so it’s important that you get your finances in order.
With such a wide range of first time buyer mortgage deals in the marketplace, understanding the choices and finding the right product can be tough. So here's what you need to know:
What to look for in a first time buyers mortgage
When researching a 1st time buyer mortgage, there are three main things that you should consider:
- What interest rate will I pay?
- What associated fees and charges will I pay?
- What first time buyer mortgages am I eligible for?
There are two main types of mortgage deal; fixed rates and variable rates.
A fixed rate mortgage guarantees your repayments for a certain period of time as the rate of interest applied to your mortgage borrowing is set for a certain number of years. This means that you have the certainty that your repayments will not change during that period whatever happens to general interest rates.
A discounted variable or tracker rate is generally linked to either the Bank of England Base rate or a lender’s Standard Variable rate (SVR). These rates will go up and down as interest rates rise and fall and your repayments will change accordingly.
As well as finding the right interest rate for you, it’s also worth checking what associated fees you may incur with your chosen first time buyers mortgage deal.
Many lenders charge a booking or arrangement fee for a fixed or tracker rate deal and you may also have to pay a valuation fee and cover the cost of surveys.
The best mortgage deals for first time buyers generally combine a competitive interest rate with reasonable fees.
In addition, you should be careful to make sure that you are eligible for the first time buyer mortgage deals that you are considering. For example, check that your income fits the lender’s criteria and that you have a big enough deposit to qualify for a particular deal.
Choosing the best first time buyer mortgage deals
With literally hundreds of first time buyer mortgages available in the marketplace, there's plenty of choice.
It's simply a case of finding the best option for your personal circumstances.
You should look for the cheapest first time buyer mortgage deal for the LTV (loan to value) that you need to borrow. Most likely this will combine a low interest rate with low fees.
You can use our first time buyer mortgage comparison tables to research the 1st time buyer mortgage deals that are available from all the lenders that extend mortgages to first time buyers.
