Buying a house is such a big step for anyone. You're spending a hell of a lot of money on a home for you, so you want it to be perfect. For those of you that don't know, my boyfriend Jay and I have been together for 6 years and have lived together for around 4 of those in rented accommodation. In January this year, we decided as one of our 2019 New Year Resolutions that we could buy our first home by the end of the year and the aim was to be in by Christmas time. We've been saving for a few years now and with the help of the help to buy ISA, in June this year we finally completed on our perfect little home.



We both learnt a lot during the process and it was more stressful than I thought it'd be so I thought I'd share with you a few of my tips for buying and saving for your first home.

1. Set a Budget

Setting your budget is probably the most important step of all. You can always fluctuate on this as you get further through the process but you need to make a starting point. When Jay and I started the process we worked out what type of house we wanted to buy and looked at the local area to see what we could realistically look to afford and we came up with a happy medium.

2. Set A Realistic Timeline

The very first thing you need once you've worked out the budget is to set a realistic timeline. When you get to the point where you've decided to finally start the process to buy, you need to think through a realistic timescale. You won't be able to just start the search straight away, it takes a lot of time to save for your deposit and you need make a plan that is achievable in whatever timescale you set.

3. Get An ISA To Increase Your Savings

Once your budget and timeline is set, you need to get some form of ISA. We got the Help to Buy ISA which basically means that the government give you 25% of what you save but it's actually not available anymore but you can benefit from the Lifetime ISA instead.

4. Work Out Your Spends And Make Any Necessary Cuts

Once you've got your budget set, you'll need to take a look at your income and expenditure to work out how to make the most of your savings. We sat down and worked out what money was going into our ISA's each month, what salary was coming in and what were our monthly outgoings such as gym memberships, food shop money and bills and rent. We decided to make some small cuts which wouldn't make much impact on our lifestyles but would help top the pot up and because we stuck to it we were lucky enough to save a bit quicker than we thought.

5. SAVE SAVE SAVE

Once you've worked out your plans, it's time to SAVE, SAVE, SAVE. It doesn't matter how long it takes, just always remember your goal and keep that in mind. Even if you go beyond your timeline, that doesn't matter, it's about being realistic and patient!!

6. Set Your Criteria, Start The Search And Find Your Perfect Home

Now the saving is done and you've got to the point where you have enough funds, the fun (but stressful) part begins! Set a criteria and pick a few key things each that you absolutely want in your home. Jay and I made a list together and then ranked them from most to least important - things like the number of bedrooms in the house, location to local transport, garden space etc. Once we had our list we were then able to tailor our search. We found RightMove was the best site for us to look on and then we went to numerous viewings. The house we ended up buying was the second we saw and nothing else lived up to it so we ended up going back to that one. Luckily for us it all worked out and we got our perfect home but don't be disheartened if you don't win the bidding war or if you loose out because your perfect home will be just around the corner!



I hope you found some of these tips useful. Follow my home account on Instagram if you want to see what we do with the house!

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